Initially known as one of the cast members of Saturday Night Live (she joined in 2005), comedian Kristen Wiig cemented her reputation as a schtickmeister with hilarious and memorable SNL characterizations of such personalities as Drew Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn, and Megan Mullally, and performed a particularly memorable recurring bit on that program as an overanxious Target employee. Like Will Forte, Will Ferrell, and others, Wiig arrived on SNL as an alumnus of The Groundlings, Los Angeles' legendary comedic ensemble. Wiig broke through to feature-film acclaim in 2007, with supporting roles in the comedies Bill, Knocked Up, and The Brothers Solomon. Brothers, a picture co-starring a number of Wiig's fellow SNL cast mates including Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett, told the story of two socially backward loser brothers seeking a woman to have their baby. In 2007, Wiig also showed up in the music-biopic spoof Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, playing the rock star's first wife.
She continued to work steadily in films even as she became one of the most celebrated SNL performers in that show's rich history, becoming one of the few performers to get nominated for an acting Emmy for her work on the program. Big-screen credits like Whip It, MacGruber, and Date Night, eventually led to her starring role in Bridesmaids, the R-rated comedy that not only became a box-office smash, but garnered Wiig an Oscar nomination as well as a WGA nod for Best Original Screenplay. In 2012 she left SNL, getting a memorable send-off where she was serenaded by Mick Jagger and danced with every other member of the cast. In the years to come, Wiig would continue her upward trajectory in the comedy world, appearing in numerous projects as well as continuing to flex her muscles behind the camera as a writer and producer.
