Ana Gasteyer on AllMovie

Perhaps most famous for her notorious Saturday Night Live characters, Ana Gasteyer is also recognizable for her Hollywood feature roles and dexterity as a performer. Born May 4, 1967, in Washington, D.C., where she grew up, Gasteyer attended college at Northwestern before joining the L.A.-based sketch group the Groundlings.

In 1996, she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, and spent the late '90s fluttering through various TV series cameos including NYPD, Party of Five, Mad About You, Seinfeld, and Just Shoot Me. In 1999, she appeared in Women on Top and the Nixon-inspired film Dick, and then in 2000 with Mel Gibson in What Women Want. She was then featured in the 2001 comedy What's the Worst That Could Happen with Danny DeVito and Martin Lawrence.

She became the first pregnant woman to ever be a cast member on Saturday Night Live, but left the show after giving birth. She worked intermittently in films after that with her most prominent role coming in the comedy Mean Girls. However, she scored a huge hit on the stage when she originated the role of Elphaba in the Chicago production of the phenomenally successful musical Wicked in 2005.