Sausage Party

Sausage Party, the first R-rated CG animated movie, is about one sausage leading a group of supermarket products on a quest to discover the truth about their existence and what really happens when they become chosen to leave the grocery store. The film features the vocal talents of a who's who of today's comedy stars - Michael Cera, James Franco, Salma Hayek, Jonah Hill, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Danny McBride, Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Kristen Wiig.

Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures present a Point Grey production, Sausage Party. Featuring the voices of Michael Cera, James Franco, Salma Hayek, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Kristen Wiig. Directed by Conrad Vernon & Greg Tiernan. Screenplay by Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg. Story by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Jonah Hill. Produced by Megan Ellison, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Conrad Vernon. Executive Producers are Jonah Hill, James Weaver, Ariel Shaffir, Kyle Hunter, and David Distenfeld. Co-Producers are Pilar Flynn, Alexandria McAtee, and Jillian Longnecker. Visual Effects Supervisor is Bert Van Brande. Editor is Kevin Pavlovic. Music by Alan Menken & Christopher Lennertz. Music Supervisor is Gabe Hilfer.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have been the masterminds behind some of the world's most outrageous, inventive, and hilarious comedies - from Superbad to Pineapple Express to This Is the End to The Interview. Now, they go into the world of animation for Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures' Sausage Party, the world's first R-rated CG animated comedy, about a group of supermarket products on a quest to discover the truth about their existence and what really happens when they become chosen to leave the grocery store.

"There's an old tradition in animated films - especially the CG ones - about the secret life of the things around us", says Goldberg. "We've seen cars, we've seen toys... we love all of those movies. "And eventually we realised there's an extremely comedic version of it in the secret life of food."

"It's a very bizarre take on a hero's journey", says Rogen. "More than any of our other movies, it allows that structure of the outcast who has a call to release the masses from their shackles. "We could do a movie with these incredibly structural ideas - and at the same time, a lot of insane stuff happens."

The film began its conception back in 2008 as one of the first three projects at Point Grey. There was the film that became This Is the End, the hit comedy that took in over $100 million; the film that became 50/50, the critically acclaimed comedy-drama; and Sausage Party, the outrageous, anything-goes animated movie about the raunchy life of our food.

"The concept of the movie was 'what if sausages could live out their dreams of getting in buns?'" says executive producer Kyle Hunter, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

"It's about a sausage, Frank, that's in love with a bun named Brenda", says Shaffir. "They believe they're going to get 'chosen' to leave the store together, and getting out of the store is their version of what they believe to be heaven. But then Frank overhears a product who has actually been out of the store, who says it's not what everyone thinks - it's actually terrible, more akin to going to hell. They fall out of the shopping cart instead of getting chosen, and Frank goes on a journey to find out the truth about what actually happens."

Hunter says that while the plot itself was loaded with laughs, they also looked for comedy to come through in the style, tone, structure and form of the screenplay. "We looked at some of our favourite animated movies and then put a real subversive twist on it", he says. "We wanted it to look and feel like the animated movies you know, but with horrible things coming out of these characters' mouths."

Hunter and Shaffir also did their own research as well. "We went to a supermarket, just browsing together - 'Should we use this? How about that?!" recalls Shaffir.

To direct the film, Rogen initially approached Conrad Vernon in late 2009. "Vernon had recently directed the animated hit Monsters vs. Aliens, in which Rogen voiced a role. "Seth called me out of the blue", he recalls. "He sat me down and said, 'What do you think about doing an R-rated animated feature?'. And it's something I have wanted to do since I was 13 years old and I saw the trailer for the movie Heavy Metal. I only had to wait 30 years to be offered the opportunity to do it."

As his directorial partner, Vernon brought in Greg Tiernan, who is the co-owner along with wife and producer Nicole Stinn, of Nitrogen Studios, the Vancouver animation studio that was the home of Sausage Party. "Conrad and I had worked together years ago on a Ralph Bakshi movie Cool World, which was sort of a pseudo-adult movie - it was PG-13", says Tiernan.

Tiernan, who hails from Ireland, said he was intrigued by the project not just because it was funny, but because it was a chance to work in animation for adults - a genre that has much more exposure in world cinema than in the US, where animation is mostly family fare. "The 'South Park' guys had obviously made a good stab at it, but nobody else has done it on a large scale - and there's no reason why that should be. "In Europe and Asia, there's a much more free-and-easy attitude toward animation, and I've worked on adult animation projects before - but none that saw the light of day in North America."

When the Point Grey team brought the film to Annapurna Pictures' Megan Ellison, who stepped in to make the film a reality, Annapurna teamed up with Columbia Pictures as co-financier and distributor. "She agreed to give us the budget to do a proof of concept", executive producer James Weaver recalls, giving a little insight into how the Sausage gets made.

"There was no pitch - there was the movie", says Goldberg. "We had spent our own money, and Megan spent a bunch of her own money before there was a commitment for distribution, because we all believed in it so much and wanted it made so badly. "We were able to shop it with a script, directors, animation studio, and cast."

Weaver says that although the film is most definitely rated R and delivers what adult audiences are looking for from a comedy, Sausage Party is also more than one joke. "It's everything audiences love about animation - it has real heart and unforgettable characters", he says. "We just added a super-funny layer for grown-ups."

With the film taking place in a grocery store, the lead actors take on the roles of the products. Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera play sausages (Frank, Carl, and Barry, respectively); Kristen Wiig plays Brenda, a bun; Salma Hayek plays Teresa, a taco; Danny McBride plays Honey Mustard; Edward Norton plays Sammy, a bagel; David Krumholtz plays Lavash; Bill Hader takes on Firewater; Craig Robinson plays grits; and Nick Kroll plays a douche. James Franco and Paul Rudd play human beings: Franco as Druggie and Rudd as Darren, a store clerk.

Frank leads the foods' quest. "Frank is searching for the truth", says Hunter. "All of the other sausages in his package believe that out of those doors is heaven, and he's the only one who questions things. "When he gets a nugget that something might be amiss, that's where his journey begins."

Kristen Wiig plays Brenda, Frank's bun of his dreams. "We found the Brenda character during the first recording session", says Shaffir. "We had the general idea, but as Kristen started riffing a bit, she started throwing in these cheesy jokes. That's when we realised, oh, Brenda is a jokester, one who thinks she's funnier than she really is. We went and rewrote the character based on what she had done, and she took a whole new shape. It was awesome."

Frank's journey is set in motion when Honey Mustard spills the beans on what really happens outside of the store. "Honey Mustard is a southern war veteran type", says Weaver. "Danny McBride just kills that part."

Jonah Hill and Michael Cera join the fun as fellow sausages in Frank's package. Hill plays Carl, "a super-supportive friend of Frank's, who meets his demise", says Weaver.

Cera, on the other hand, is Barry - "He transforms the most", says Hunter. "He starts out meek and going with the flow, and through this journey finds his inner strength. "He's the one who gets outside the store and learns the truth in the worst possible way."

Edward Norton plays Sammy Bagel, Jr., having called dibs on the role from the beginning and refusing to let anyone else be cast in the part. "Edward was one of the first people we ever told about the project, and he kind of lost his mind for it", says Goldberg. "He became obsessed very quickly."

Norton also acted as something of a casting director - according to Rogen and Goldberg, Norton was instrumental in bringing Salma Hayek on board. "We didn't really know her at all - I'd been at a dinner with her once", says Goldberg. "She came in and went as hard as anyone else. She was literally sweating in the booth from jumping around. You understand why she's such a successful, awesome star - she gives it her all."

David Krumholtz plays Sammy's nemesis of sorts, Lavash. "David Krumholtz has been attached to this project pretty much from the beginning", says Hunter. "He formed this character with us for maybe six or seven years - he was in all the table reads we did. He's wanted to play this role - he lived it. And he's probably the funniest person I've ever seen in my life."

Bill Hader, who has voiced film roles in countless animated features, takes on the role of Firewater. "He's the master of this stuff", says Goldberg."

Nick Kroll would end up performing his role of Douche twice. "Nick originally did the role in a Shakespearean fop accent", remembers Vernon, noting that the direction didn't really work. "It felt like he was from a different movie", he continues. "Nick agreed, so he came back in and in one killer four-hour session, went right through and did the entire script."

Goldberg says that casting Nick Kroll was not only inspired - it was an inspiration that has struck before. "Before this movie, Nick already had two credits on IMDB for a character named 'Douche,'" says Goldberg. "We gave him his third."

Craig Robinson plays Grits, bringing what Shaffir describes as the performer's "smooth, cool demeanor" to the character.

Finally, James Franco plays a human character, Druggie. "I think people will watch the movie and not know it's him, the same way they don't think it's Edward Norton as a bagel", says Hunter. "Franco was the first actor who recorded with us, and he's just a madman. It really worked."

As the performers recorded their lines, the video cameras were rolling. "It was specifically for the animators so they could try to capture as much of the actor's performance as possible", Tiernan explains. "We look at their faces - you can see it when their eyes flare up when they're doing a comedic bit; you get all sorts of little facial tics and expressions, and the animators pick up on all of that and try to put it into the performance of the characters. Seth even once asked us if we studied film of him to get expressions for Frank, because, he said, 'That just reminds me of me.'"

In creating the R-rated comedy, finding what Vernon calls "the line of taste" was a constant discussion. "That line moved all over the place", he says. "We would step over it, and then we wouldn't be going far enough..."

"But", says Tiernan, "pushing the envelope came naturally, because for an animator, it's just what you do. In animation, you always want to push - whether it's the story or the execution of the animation - because it's always easier to pull back", says Tiernan. "We had that ingrained in us from the first day we were in the animation business. "Don't censor yourself, because other people will do it for you."

Still, as the directors, they did have to be responsible for making sure that on balance, the film delivered as an entertaining movie experience. "We had to be careful that the movie wasn't just about shock value", says Tiernan. "That was never the intent - it was supposed to have heart and soul and be a great story. "We could go as far as we wanted, but we always had to ask, 'OK, is it funny? What's it adding to the story?'"

One of the places that the filmmakers decided to push was in the character design of Brenda. "Everyone howled when they first saw the design", says Vernon. "Our character designer, Craig Kellman, popped that vertical mouth in there - he's not one to hold back. I took that over with a bunch of other designs to Seth and Evan and they were flipping through - 'cool, cool, cool' - and then it was just laughter and 'Oh my God.' Finally, there was one point where we asked ourselves, should we really be doing this? Can people relate to her if she has a vertical mouth? And Megan Ellison said, 'If you don't do a vertical mouth, I'm not making this movie.'"

As comedic as the movie is, it also has a scope that the directors brought to the entire film. "We wanted to make this movie as big, cinematic, and glorious as possible", says Vernon. "Not only does it contrast beautifully with the subject matter, but we wanted people to feel like they had to see it in the theater."

With that in mind, the directors were inspired not only by other animated movies, but big, epic live-action films of the past. "All along, the approach was to make this like a live-action movie that happened to be animated", says Tiernan. "Other than Conrad and I, everybody involved in getting this movie off the ground had no animation experience. "They came at it from a live-action movie perspective, which was really fresh for us."

Vernon continues, regarding the filmmakers' inspirations, "For the Mexican aisle, we went straight to Sergio Leone, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, High Plains Drifter, Once Upon a Time in the West... we looked at the way those movies are huge and cinematic. We looked at Jackie Chan's old kung fu movies, because they're all shot beautifully. And of course, Saving Private Ryan was a no-brainer for us. Everything we did, we tried to reference from a point of view, of cinema scope, of huge vision."

One of the challenges of Sausage Party was for the animators to deliver a CG-animated movie that had a look, quality, and feel that could stand alongside any other animated movie in the marketplace, but one that could work on the economics of an adults-only comedy. "On most animated movies, if something doesn't work, they can go back and reanimate it - they can just change it", says Goldberg. "Initially, the plan was that we couldn't do that - we had to nail it really well in the script. And we still didn't stick to it."

So the animators found ways to make it work. "All of the characters are jars and boxes - there's not a lot of hair, which takes a long time", notes Vernon. "There's not a lot that you need to do to make these things animate believably. There are hundreds of products on the shelves - so we made sure our rigs were scalable, and we could use maybe eight different rigs for 500 different characters. That kind of choice gave us the room to go back and tweak. And you'd never know - we have friends who are animators who watch the movie and ask, 'How the hell are you getting this kind of quality for the budget you have?' And the answer was, Greg's studio, Nitrogen."

One more way that Sausage Party pays homage to the animated movies that came before it was in the hiring of Alan Menken to co-score (with Christopher Lennertz) the film and write the music for a song. An eight-time Oscar® winner and 19-time nominee, Menken has brought memorable music to such family classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, Enchanted, and Tangled.

And now Sausage Party? Maybe it's not as offbeat a choice as it seems - after all, Menken (along with his late partner, Howard Ashman) was also behind the subversive classic Little Shop of Horrors.

"He actually came to us with several different songs", says Vernon. "It was incredible, the number of songs he gave us - all of them great songs, by the way. And then, we were listening to one of them, and we just went, 'That's the one'. Because of one word: longing. It felt like they were singing about something they were longing for - you can feel it in their hearts that they were so happy that someday they were going to go out those doors."

To Menken's melody, the lyrics were written by Oscar® and Tony Award nominee Glenn Slater, along with Rogen, Goldberg, Shaffir and Hunter.

"The song is kind of like a prayer that outlines their belief system", says Rogen. "The food sings this song every morning to reaffirm the thought that it's good to get chosen. As it turns out, the firewater and the other non-perishables wrote the song, because they were so bummed out about the truth and didn't think there was anything they could do about it."

Michael Cera's (Barry) work includes the role of George-Michael Bluth in the Emmy Award® winning Fox series Arrested Development, as well as lead roles in the feature blockbusters Superbad and Juno. Other film roles include Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and comedy hit This Is the End.

Cera made his Broadway debut in Kenneth Lonergan's award-winning play This Is Our Youth following a sold-out and critically acclaimed run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater.

Cera starred in Crystal Fairy and Magic Magic, two films directed by award-winning Chilean director Sebastian Silva. Both films premiered to standing ovations and critical praise at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013.

James Franco's (Druggie) metamorphosis into the title role of the TNT biopic James Dean earned him career-making reviews, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture made for Television. "He also received nominations for an Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award for this memorable performance. Franco earned an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead as well as nominations for an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award and recognition from numerous critics' associations for his starring role in Danny Boyle's critically acclaimed drama 127 Hours. His performance alongside Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's Milk earned an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor and he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in David Gordon Green's comedy Pineapple Express, where he starred opposite Seth Rogen. He is also known for his starring role as Harry Osbourne in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.

Franco made his Broadway debut in the revival of the American classic Of Mice & Men to rave reviews. He was nominated for a Drama League Distinguished Performance Award for his performance, as was the play for the Outstanding Revival Award. The play was also shot for a theatrical release worldwide. He also directed the off-Broadway play The Long Shrift.

He can currently be seen in the title role of Hulu's original television event series 11.22.63 based on Stephen King's novel. He will also star in Fox's Why Him with Bryan Cranston this year. Franco is currently working on HBO's The Deuce, not only as an Executive Producer, but he is also playing two twin characters and directing some of the episodes.

He recently starred in The Adderall Diaries with Amber Heard, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, Wim Wenders' Everything Will Be Fine, which premiered at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, and The Sound And The Fury, which he also directed and produced, and the film screened at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals. His show Making a Scene is also on AOL's digital platform, which he also produced.

He also recently shot his own major productions of The Masterpiece, starring with Dave Franco and Josh Hutcherson, the fraternity drama Goat with Nick Jonas out this fall, and King Cobra, which recently premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. He also directed, produced and starred in Zeroville with Seth Rogen and Will Ferrell as well as an adaptation of John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle with an all-star cast including Selena Gomez, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston and Danny McBride.

He has racked up an impressive number of additional starring roles including the comedy This Is The End with Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride, The Interview again with Rogen, Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, Paul Haggis' Third Person, Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and The Powerful, the thriller True Story with Jonah Hill, Gia Coppola's Palo Alto, based on the book he wrote of the same title, and Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's Howl, where he played the famous poet Allen Ginsberg, among many others. On television, he appeared in the critically acclaimed series Freaks and Geeks, again with Rogen and Jason Segel and had an arc on General Hospital. On the small screen, he also produced and shot a small role in a re-vamp of the cult classic Mother, May I Sleep with Danger for Lifetime.

Aside from his acting accomplishments, Franco has also established himself as a producer and director on several films. He produced and starred in Carter's Maladies as well as the film As I Lay Dying, based on the classic novel by William Faulkner, which he also directed. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival before its theatrical release. He also produced and starred in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Child of God, which he also co-wrote. The film premiered at both the Venice and the Toronto International Film Festivals before being released.

He also produced and directed Sal, a bio-pic based on the life of Sal Mineo, which screened at the Venice Film Festival before its release. He directed Saturday Night, a film documenting the production of an episode of "Saturday Night Live", and The Broken Tower, among many others. Additionally he produced Kink, a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, The Color of Time, which he shot with his student directors, and I am Michael, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and is still making the rounds on the festival circuit.

Franco has been published several times in magazines and through his own books and is currently teaching college courses at UCLA, USC and CAL ARTS and acting classes at STUDIO 4.

Actor, writer, comedian and producer Bill Hader (Firewater/ Tequila/ El Guaco) has become one of the most sought after comedy minds in Hollywood. In 2013, Hader finished production of his eighth and final season as a regular cast member on NBC's venerable comedy institution Saturday Night Live. Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hader made an early splash on "SNL" in 2005 with his uncanny impressions including, most notably, Al Pacino and Vincent Price. Heralded by New York Magazine as, "SNL's new secret weapon, Hader boasted impersonations and sarcasm delivered with eviscerating deftness." In 2012, Hader received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on the show. In 2013 he was again nominated for an Emmy in the same category.

Hader had a full slate of film work in the summer of 2007 that began with a role in Judd Apatow's box-office hit and critically-acclaimed Knocked Up, which grossed over $219 million worldwide. Hader immediately followed this up with a performance in another Apatow release as a wayward policeman opposite Seth Rogen in Superbad for Columbia Pictures which grossed over $169 million worldwide.

Hader found great success in 2008 with his role as Jason Segel's compassionate and hilarious step-brother in the box-office surprise hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Hader also made a memorable cameo role in the summer action/comedy Pineapple Express. Later that year, Hader appeared in the summer blockbuster comedy Tropic Thunder as the insecure studio executive Rob Slolom who has to contend with the antics of Tom Cruise's crazed studio head character, Les Grossman. Nominated "Best Comedy" for the BFCA Critics' Choice Awards, the film was directed and written by Ben Stiller, who also starred in the film. Tropic Thunder opened #1 at the box office for two weeks in a row and earned over $188 million worldwide. Hader was joined by Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey to earn "Best Ensemble Cast" by the 2008 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards.

In 2009, Hader reunited with Ben Stiller for the worldwide hit, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. The film generated over $413 million worldwide. He also appeared in Miramax's Adventureland, reuniting Hader with his Superbad director, Greg Mottola and SNL cast mate, Kristin Wiig. Hader also won an Emmy Award in 2009 for his work as a producer on Comedy Central's South Park.

Hader released Paul in 2011, another Mottola-directed film in which he appeared alongside a star-studded cast of Jane Lynch, Simon Pegg, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, and Seth Rogen, who voices the title character, an alien named "Paul".

In 2012, Hader co-starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Sony Pictures' Men in Black 3, which has grossed over $624 million worldwide.

Hader has also voiced several animated characters such as "Flint Lockwood" in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which earned "Best Animated Feature" nominations for the Golden Globes, the Annie Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Satellite Awards. In 2013, Hader returned as Lockwood for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 which has grossed over $274 million worldwide. Other voiceover films include: Turbo, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Doogal, and Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil. Other film credits for Hader include You, Me, and Dupree, Hot Rod, and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.

In 2013, Hader was seen in the CBS Films comedy The To Do List, written and directed by his wife, Maggie Carey, and co-starring Andy Samberg, Rachel Bilson, and Aubrey Plaza. Hader was also seen opposite Larry David, Jon Hamm, Danny McBride, Eva Mendes, Kate Hudson and Michael Keaton in Clear History on HBO.

In 2014, Hader starred opposite Kristen Wiig and Ty Burrell in The Skeleton Twins, which was purchased by Lionsgate at The Sundance Film Festival and currently boasts an 87% on RottenTomatoes.com. The film earned Hader a Gotham Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor.

In May 2016, Hader was heard in Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation's The Angry Birds Movie, the animated adaption of the hit mobile video game. He also starred in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's children classic The BFG, which debuted on July 1st.

This fall Hader will be starring in the second season of his IFC show, Documentary Now! Following its debut season, New York Times named the mockumentary-style series as one of the best TV shows of 2015 in its year-end roundup. The show is a joint effort between Hader and his former SNL castmates, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers. The cast aims to parody real, celebrated documentaries by focusing on fictitious subjects.

A Second City Los Angeles alum, Hader currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, filmmaker, Maggie Carey, and their three daughters.

Academy Award® nominee Salma Hayek (Teresa) has proven herself as a prolific actress, producer and director, in both film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award®, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and a BAFTA award for her leading role in Julie Taymor's Frida.

Hayek devoted herself to another recent passion project as a producer and actor for Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, an animated feature inspired by the book of the same name by the beloved Lebanese artist and poet. She voices a character in the film alongside other talent such as Liam Neeson, John Krasinski, Quvenzhané Wallis, and Alfred Molina. The animated film debuted at Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014 and released domestically on August 7. Following The Prophet, she starred alongside Pierce Brosnan and Jessica Alba in the romantic comedy Some Kind of Beautiful.

She will next be seen starring in Tale of Tales by acclaimed Italian director Matteo Garrone. The film premiered at the 2015 Festival de Cannes to the longest standing ovation in the festival's history and will open on April 22.

In 2013 Hayek reprised her role as Adam Sandler's wife in Grown-Ups 2, alongside Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade and Maya Rudolph. It was the sequel to the successful 2010 film, Grown-Ups. Hayek also starred in Oliver Stone's Savages opposite Blake Lively, John Travolta and Benicio del Toro. She also appeared in Here Comes the Boom opposite Kevin James.

On television, she was last seen guest starring on NBC's critically acclaimed show 30 Rock. Hayek won an Emmy for her directorial debut, The Maldonado Miracle, which she also produced. The film, which starred Peter Fonda, Mare Winningham, and Ruben Blades, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and later aired on Showtime. She has also directed music videos for both Prince and Jada Pinkett.

Hayek's other film credits include: Alex de la Iglesia's La Chispa de la Vida; Mathieu Demy's Americano; the Academy Award®-nominated Puss In Boots with Antonio Banderas; Paul Weitz's The Vampire's Assistant, released by Universal; Todd Robinson's Lonely Hearts, opposite John Travolta and James Gandolfini; Robert Towne's Ask the Dust, alongside Colin Farrell and Idina Menzel; Luc Besson's Bandidas, opposite Penelope Cruz; Brett Ratner's After the Sunset; Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico; Mike Figgis' Hotel and Timecode; Kevin Smith's Dogma; From Dusk Till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriquez and written by Quentin Tarantino; and Robert Rodriguez's Desperado.

Hayek served as the Executive Producer on ABC's award-winning program Ugly Betty, starring America Ferrera, and based on the enormously successful Colombian series Yo Soy Betty, La Fea. In 2001, she starred in and co-produced Showtime's In the Time of the Butterflies, for which she was nominated a Broadcast Film Critics Association's Award. Also produced by Hayek's Ventanarosa Productions was the Mexican feature No One Writes to the Colonel, directed by Arturo Ripstein, and based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. No One Writes to the Colonel was selected for official competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

Born and raised in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, Hayek studied International Relations in college in Mexico. Her additional Mexican credits include, Midaq Alley, based on a novel by Nobel Prize recipient Naguib Mafouz.

Noted for her acting career, Hayek has also dedicated much of her time to social activism. Hayek served as spokesperson for the Pampers/UNICEF partnership worldwide, to help stop the spread of life-threatening maternal and neonatal tetanus. She also served as the spokesperson for the Avon Foundation's Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program, which focuses on domestic violence education, awareness and prevention, as well as support for victims. In 2005, she spoke in front the US Senate, encouraging its members to extend the Violence Against Women Act. In January 2006, the legislation was passed, ensuring that 3.9 billion dollars will be allocated to thousands of domestic violence crises and intervention agencies throughout the US. In April of 2005, Hayek visited the Arctic Circle for the celebration of Earth Day, in an effort to bring attention to the dangers that global warming is putting on the lives of the Inuit people and the rest of the world. In November 2005, she served as co-host, alongside Julianne Moore, at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, which honored Nobel laureate Mohamed el-Baradei and the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. She was also part of the One campaign that singer and activist Bono created, as well as a member of Global Green, and Youth Aids.

In 2013, Hayek, alongside Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Frida Giannini, the then creative director of Gucci, co-founded CHIME FOR CHANGE, an organization dedicated to improving the education, help and welfare of women and girls around the world.

Two-time Academy Award® nominee Jonah Hill (Carl / Story / Executive Producer) possesses an acting prowess that has allowed him to exist at the forefront of Hollywood, in both the comedic and dramatic realms.

Hill received critical acclaim for his role in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. The film chronicles Jordan Belfort's dramatic rise and fall on Wall Street, along with his hard-partying lifestyle and tumultuous personal life. Hill's portrayal of Donnie Azoff, Belfort's (DiCaprio's) close friend and partner in both business and debauchery, garnered Hill his second Academy Award® nomination for "Best Supporting Actor". The Wolf of Wall Street was released by Paramount Pictures and made over $392 million worldwide. The film received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Picture, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Critics' Choice nominations for Best Picture and Best Acting Ensemble, was honored by AFI as one of the best Movies of the Year, and was recognised by the National Board of Review as one of the year's Top Ten Films. Additionally, Hill received Variety's Creative Impact Award for Acting honor on behalf of his performance in the film.

Hill will next star in Todd Phillips' War Dogs, in which he stars alongside Miles Teller. The film tells the true story of two young men who were contracted by the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. Warner Bros. will release the film on August 19, 2016. He will also produce and star in the upcoming The Ballad of Richard Jewell with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Additionally, it was recently announced that Hill will make his directorial debut with Mid '90s, a coming-of-age film that he also wrote. The film will be produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush with A24. Hill will not act in the film.

In the summer of 2014, Hill starred opposite Channing Tatum in 22 Jump Street, which was released by Sony Pictures and grossed over $330 million worldwide. The film is the sequel to 21 Jump Street, which opened at number one at the box office and went on to make over $200 million worldwide. In addition to starring in both films, Hill serves as a writer and producer of the franchise. Hill and Tatum will both return for the third installment, 23 Jump Street.

In 2011, Hill starred opposite Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Bennett Miller's Moneyball. This performance earned Jonah his first Academy Award® nomination for "Best Supporting Actor", in addition to a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture" and a SAG Award nomination for "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. Moneyball was also nominated for an Academy Award® for "Best Picture" and Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Drama."

Other film credits include: The Coen brothers' film Hail, Caesar!, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's This Is the End, Jay and Mark Duplass' Cyrus, and numerous Judd Apatow films, including his breakout role in Superbad, Get Him to the Greek, Funny People, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has also lent his voice to a number of animated projects including The LEGO Movie, How to Train Your Dragon, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Megamind, and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!.

Hill co-wrote, created, and voiced the title character in the critically acclaimed animated series Allen Gregory for Fox Television in 2011. He also directed the Sara Bareilleis music video Gonna Get Over You the same year.

As a writer and producer, Hill is working on The Adventurer's Handbook, for which he will co-star with Jason Segel, and Pure Imagination, an Apatow-produced comedy which Hill will executive produce. Hill was as an associate producer of the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy Bruno and an executive producer of The Sitter.

Hill began his career performing one-scene plays that he wrote and performed at the gritty Black and White bar in New York City. His first feature role was in David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees with Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin.

Nick Kroll (Douche) is the creator and star of the critically acclaimed Comedy Central series Kroll Show, and he co-starred as Ruxin in the hit FX series The League. He will next be seen on the big screen in Jeff Nichols' upcoming feature Loving, which premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the New Line feature The House. Kroll can also be seen in the Jeff Baena film Joshy, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, in addition to Sophie Goodhart's My Blind Brother, which premiered at South by Southwest. Kroll has voiced roles for several animated films awaiting release, including Illumination's Sing and DreamWorks' Captain Underpants. Kroll also has a new animated series titled Big Mouth, which is based on his own teenage adventures in puberty, coming to Netflix in 2017. Kroll recently completed his rave-reviewed off-Broadway run of Oh, Hello, which he co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in alongside John Mulaney. Kroll and Mulaney will be taking their hit show to Broadway's Lyceum theatre this upcoming fall.

David Krumholtz (Lavash) is known for his vast array of characters over the many years, most notably starring in CBS' highly successful and long-running series Numb3rs. He was most recently seen in the IFC comedy series Gigi Does It, written, executive-produced and starring Krumholtz as a 76-year-old woman, and on the big screen in the Coen Brothers feature Hail, Caesar! and I Saw the Light, opposite Tom Hiddleston. He previously co-starred in Warner Bros. The Judge, opposite Robert Downey Jr and was also in the ensemble cast of This Is the End.

Krumholtz has recently recurred on the CBS series Mom and The Good Wife as well as the highly regarded HBO series The Newsroom opposite Jeff Daniels, playing Daniels' therapist.

Other big-screen credits include the smash-hit comedy Superbad and Columbia Pictures' Walk Hard alongside John C. Reilly. Krumholtz was seen in yet another highly acclaimed movie, Universal's Oscar®-winning Ray, opposite Oscar® winner Jamie Foxx.

Additional big screen credits include Serenity, Joss Whedon's feature-length adaptation of the sci-fi drama "Firefly", The Santa Clause 1 & 2, Slums of Beverly Hills, The Mexican, Sidewalks of New York, Ten Things I Hate About You, Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, and Barry Levinson's critically-acclaimed Liberty Heights.

Other television credits include Netflix's Master Of None, Freaks & Geeks, ER, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU, amongst many others.

Krumholtz can next be seen in Oliver Irving's Ghost Team and in the Amazon Studios pilot The Interestings directed by Mike Newell

Actor/Writer/Producer Danny McBride (Honey Mustard) first gained industry awareness with his starring role in David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls, winner of the 2003 Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. However, it was when he returned in 2006 to the Festival with the smash hit comedy The Foot Fist Way that he became a known name in Hollywood and desired by its top producers and directors. McBride, who starred and co-wrote the film with his fellow college classmates Jody Hill (Observe and Report) and Ben Best, caught the attention of Will Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Productions. Released in May 2006 by Paramount Vantage, the Los Angeles Times proclaimed the film "is the sort of nimble oddball discovery that one wishes would come along more often." In 2008, McBride found continued success by starring opposite Seth Rogen and James Franco in Pineapple Express. McBride was nominated for Best Newcomer for his role as Red by the members of the Detroit Film Critics Society.

Most recently McBride joined comedians Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis in Columbia Pictures' animated film The Angry Birds Movie, which is based on the wildly popular app. Released in May, the film has grossed over $340 million worldwide.

McBride recently completed production on the feature film The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter, which he co-wrote with Hill and fellow Eastbound & Down scribe John Carcieri. Directed by Hill, it tells the tale of a father-son hunting trip gone awry and is set to be released in 2017. Josh Brolin stars with McBride, and his Rough House Productions is co-producing with Scott Rudin Productions.

On the small screen, McBride starred in HBO's critically acclaimed comedy, Eastbound & Down, which he also co-created, wrote and produced with Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. McBride portrayed Kenny Powers, a vulgar, loud-mouthed ex-professional baseball player fighting his was back to the major leagues. Since premiering on the network in February 2010, the show has gained an enormous cult following and aired four successful seasons. Following the success of Eastbound & Down, McBride and Hill have gone on to create and co-write HBO's comedy series Vice Principals, which premiered July 17. McBride and Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight) play two unconventional vice principals caught in a power struggle. Each thinks he should be made principal when the current principal (Bill Murray) retires, and is willing to do whatever it takes to destroy the other and secure the promotion for himself.

Immediately following the success of Pineapple Express, McBride was back on top of the box office a week later with the Paramount release of Tropic Thunder. Directed and written by Ben Stiller, the film was #1 for two weeks in a row and earned over $100 million domestically. McBride was joined by a star-studded cast including Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey. In April 2011, McBride starred in Your Highness, which he also co-wrote and produced, starring James Franco, Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel. In 2013, McBride acted alongside Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Emma Watson and Jay Baruchel in Sony's This Is the End, directed by Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film has grossed over $126 million worldwide to date and was nominated for Best Comedy at the Critics' Choice Awards.

McBride was featured in the Academy-Award® nominated Up in the Air and has also starred in such comedies as Hot Rod, The Heartbreak Kid, Drillbit Taylor, and Observe and Report.

Born in Statesboro, Georgia, McBride grew up in Virginia. He attended the North Carolina School of the Arts along with Jody Hill and David Gordon Green, where he received a BFA in filmmaking. McBride currently resides in Los Angeles.

Edward Norton (Sammy) has acted in the films Primal Fear, Everyone Says I Love You, The People vs Larry Flynt, American History X, Rounders, Fight Club, Keeping the Faith, The Score, Death to Smoochy, Frida, Red Dragon, The 25th Hour, The Italian Job, Down in the Valley, The Kingdom of Heaven, The Illusionist, The Painted Veil, The Incredible Hulk, Pride & Glory, Leaves of Grass, Stone, Moonrise Kingdom, The Bourne Legacy, Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman, and the soon-to-be-released Collateral Beauty.

Norton has been nominated for three Academy Awards®, for Primal Fear, American History X and Birdman, and won a Golden Globe along with numerous other awards for his performances. In 2002 he won the Obie Award for his performance in the Signature Theater production of Lanford Wilson's Burn This.

His last two films were each nominated for 9 Academy Awards®, including his nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Birdman, and each won 4, including Best Picture for Birdman.

He recently wrapped shooting on Collateral Beauty for New Line Cinema, in which he co-stars with Will Smith. Upcoming projects include Isle of Dogs, Wes Anderson's next animated film and Motherless Brooklyn, for which he wrote the screenplay and will also direct.

He directed the film Keeping the Faith and also produced Down in the Valley (Cannes Film Festival selection), The Painted Veil, Leaves of Grass, Thanks for Sharing and the documentaries By The People: The Election of Barack Obama and My Own Man, a Netflix Original documentary.

Norton also founded and runs Class 5 Films in partnership with Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Stuart Blumberg and producer Bill Migliore. Class 5's first two features, Down in the Valley (Cannes Film Festival) and The Painted Veil, were released in 2006. Class 5 more recently produced Leaves of Grass (written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson) and Blumberg's directorial debut, Thanks for Sharing. The company is developing adaptations of American Hippopotamus and Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn for which Norton wrote the screenplay and will direct.

Class 5's documentary, By The People: The Election of Barack Obama, was released by HBO in November 2009, and was nominated for 3 Emmy awards and won one. The company's most recent documentary production My Own Man, by David Sampliner, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix.

Class 5's other documentaries include: The Great Rivers Expedition, a film by Jim Norton, and Dirty Work, a film by David Sampliner that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on the Sundance Channel. Class 5 also collaborated with the Sea Studios Foundation on their highly acclaimed, multi-million dollar series about earth system sciences for National Geographic, Strange Days on Planet Earth, which Norton hosted and narrated, and which premiered on PBS in April 2008.

Beginning as a stand-up comedian, Craig Robinson (Grits) first made his mark in the comedy circuit at the 1998 Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. Now headlining venues and festivals across the country, he does both solo acts as well as full-band sets with his band "The Nasty Delicious." Before deciding to pursue his comedy career full time, Robinson was a K-8 teacher in the Chicago Public School System. He earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and his Masters of Education from St. Xavier University. It was while Robinson was studying education in Chicago that he also discovered his love of acting and comedy when he joined the famed Second City Theatre. Robinson is best known for his portrayal of Daryl Philban in NBC's The Office but has also starred in such movies as Knocked Up, This Is the End, Hot Tub Time Machine, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and Morris from America. Robinson also starred in his very own sitcom, Mr. Robinson, on NBC.

Seth Rogen (Frank / Sergeant Pepper / Screenplay / Story / Producer) has emerged as a prominent figure in a new generation of multi-hyphenates, as an actor, writer, producer and director with the ability to generate his own material. In 2011, Rogen, along with lifelong friend and writing partner, Evan Goldberg, founded Point Grey Pictures, the production company behind such movies as The Interview, Neighbors, This Is the End and 50/50.

Most recently, Rogen produced and starred in Universal's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, the sequel to the hugely success 2014 comedy Neighbors. Point Grey's first TV show, Preacher, based on the popular graphic novel series by Garth Ennis, is currently airing on AMC and has been picked up for a second season.

Paul Rudd (Darren) was last seen as Ant-Man in Marvel's Captain America: Civil War. He debuted as the character in Ant-Man, directed by Peyton Reed. The film also starred Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly and opened number #1 at the box office. Rudd was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in an Action Movie and a MTV Movie Award for Best Hero on behalf of his performance in Ant-Man. The blockbuster film grossed over $500 million worldwide and Marvel will release its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, in 2018. Rudd co-wrote Ant-Man with Adam McKay, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish and is currently writing the sequel.

Rudd stars opposite Selena Gomez and Craig Roberts in The Fundamentals of Caring, written and directed by Rob Burnett. The film centers around Rudd's character, Ben, who is suffering an incredible amount of loss and decides to enroll in a class about care-giving that changes his perspective on life. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and will be released by Netflix this fall.

Rudd will next begin production on Andrew Fleming's dramedy An Ideal Home opposite Steve Coogan, which is about a troubled married couple with an extravagant lifestyle. He will also star in Duncan Jones' Mute which will go into production later this year.

Rudd starred opposite Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and David Koechner in Adam McKay's Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, reprising their roles from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy for Paramount. Anchorman 2 grossed over $170 million worldwide and received a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite Year End Movie, as well as two MTV Movie Award nominations.

Rudd's other film credits include: Role Models (co-writer), Wanderlust (producer), Our Idiot Brother, I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Clueless, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Wet Hot American Summer, Cider House Rules, The Object of My Affection, They Came Together, Prince Avalanche, Admission, Dinner for Schmucks, How Do You Know, Monsters Vs. Aliens, The Ten (producer), Night at the Museum, Diggers, and The Chateau, among others.

Rudd returned to the Broadway stage in Craig Wright's Grace starring opposite Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, and Edward Asner at the Cort Theatre. Grace was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play and Rudd was nominated for a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance Award. His other stage credits include starring opposite Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper in Richard Greenberg's Broadway production of Three Days of Rain, Neil Labute's Bash in both New York and Los Angeles as well as Labute's The Shape of Things in London and New York. Rudd made his West End debut in the London production of Robin Phillips' Long Days Journey Into Night opposite Jessica Lange. Other Broadway credits include Nicholas Hynter's Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center Theater with a special performance which aired on PBS' Great Performances and in Alfred Uhry's Tony Award winning play, The Last Night of Ballyhoo.

On television, Rudd was the co-writer and co-creator of the critically acclaimed series Party Down on Starz. He also garnered wide recognition with a recurring role as Mike Hannigan on the TV sitcom Friends. Rudd was recently seen reprising his role as Andy in David Wain's Wet Hot American Summer along with the original cast for an 8-episode limited television series based on the cult film on Netflix.

Kristen Wiig (Brenda) has become one of the industry's most versatile actresses of her generation. From her breakout performance on Saturday Night Live to the Oscar®-nominated film Bridesmaids, Wiig has transitioned from television to film as a writer and producer. In 2012, Time magazine honored Wiig in their esteemed Time 100 issue, and in 2009, Entertainment Weekly acknowledged her as one of the top 15 great performers for her work on Saturday Night Live. Wiig has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, a SAG Award, and received her first Oscar® nomination for writing Bridesmaids. Currently, Wiig and her Bridesmaids writing partner, Annie Mumolo, are writing a comedy feature film together, which they will both star in.

Most recently, Wiig starred in Paul Feig's Ghostbusters, alongside Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. The film was produced by Ivan Reitman and Amy Pascal.

Wiig was also recently confirmed to star in Alexander Payne's social satire Downsizing, alongside Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz. Paramount Pictures will release the film on December 25, 2017.

This past winter, Wiig starred in Zoolander 2, alongside Ben Stiller (who also directed), Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson. Written by Justin Theroux and produced by Scott Rudin, Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld, the film was released by Paramount Pictures on February 12, 2016.

In 2015, Wiig starred in Twentieth Century Fox's and Ridley Scott's Golden Globe winning and Oscar®-nominated The Martian, alongside Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon. The film chronicles the story of an astronaut struggling to live on Mars. Wiig also starred in Sebastian Silva's Nasty Baby. Written and directed by Silva (Crystal Fairy), the film follows the lives of a gay couple (Silva and Tunde Adebimpe) who embark on a failed mission to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly (Wiig). Nasty Baby screened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and was released by The Orchard.

Also in 2015, Wiig starred in the critically-acclaimed Sony Pictures Classics drama The Diary of a Teenage Girl, directed by Marielle Heller. Wiig appeared opposite Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgard in the coming of age story, based on the graphic novel written and illustrated by Phoebe Gloeckner. The story follows a teenage artist living in 1970's San Francisco who enters into an affair with her mother's (Wiig) boyfriend. The Diary of a Teenage Girl screened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics in August 2015. That same year, Wiig starred in Alchemy's drama Welcome to Me, directed by Shira Piven (Fully Loaded) and produced by Wiig and Gary Sanchez productions. The film screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. It tells the story of Alice Klieg (Wiig), a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder who wins the lottery, quits her medication and buys her own talk show. In July, Wiig appeared as Courtney in the Netflix remake of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp. In June, Wiig starred alongside Will Ferrell in the Lifetime dramatic thriller A Deadly Adoption. The film tells the story of an author (Ferrell) and his wife (Wiig) who welcome a pregnant woman into their home with plans to adopt her unborn child, until things go terribly awry.

In 2014, Wiig starred in the IFC film Hateship Loveship, directed by Liza Johnson and alongside Guy Pearce, Nick Nolte, and Hailee Steinfeld. The film is based on the short story by the Nobel Prize winning Canadian author Alice Munro. Wiig portrays Johanna: a shy, introverted housekeeper hired to care for Mr. McCauley (Nolte) and his granddaughter Sabitha (Steinfeld). Through the act of a mean spirited joke, Johanna is forced to deal with the repercussions of falling in love with an illusion. Also in 2014, Wiig starred in the critically-acclaimed The Skeleton Twins, directed by Craig Johnson, opposite Bill Hader and Luke Wilson. The Skeleton Twins chronicled the story of twins Maggie (Wiig) and Milo (Hader) who cheat death, prompting them to reunite after ten years. The film screened at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate released the film in September 2014.

Wiig received an Emmy nomination for her performance in the epic IFC television miniseries spoof, The Spoils of Babylon, written and directed by Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele and executive produced by Will Ferrell. Wiig, starring opposite Tobey Maguire and Tim Robbins portrayed Cynthia Morehouse, the daughter of the rich and successful patriarch, Jonas Morehouse (Robbins). The Spoils of Babylon was one of the highest-rated debuts ever on IFC television. Wiig received a SAG nomination for her performance in the second season, which IFC premiered in July 2015, titled Spoils Before Dying.

On Christmas 2013, Wiig starred in the Twentieth Century Fox drama The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, opposite Ben Stiller, who also produced and directed the film. Based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber, the film is a breathtaking look into the world of fantasy seen through the eyes of Walter (Stiller) and his daydream sequences. Wiig portrays Cheryl Melhoff, Walter's co-worker at Time Magazine who inspires him to take action into his own hands when their jobs are threatened. Also in December 2013, Wiig starred in the box office smash, Anchorman Two, The Legend Continues portraying Chani Lastname opposite Steve Carell. Wiig also voiced the character of SexyKitten in the Oscar® nominated film, Her.

In 2012, Wiig finished her seventh and final season as a cast member on NBC's revered show Saturday Night Live. During her time on "SNL", Wiig received four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, playing such memorable characters as the excitable Target Lady, Lawrence Welk singer Doonese, the irritating one-upper Penelope, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Suze Orman. In 2013, Wiig was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her return as a host on the show earlier that year. Also in 2012, Wiig voiced the character of Lucy in the Oscar nominated Despicable Me 2 opposite Steve Carell.

In 2011, Wiig starred in the critically acclaimed breakout film Bridesmaids, which she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo, and for which they were nominated for an Academy Award®, Writers Guild of America Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. Directed by Paul Feig and produced by Wiig and Judd Apatow, Bridesmaids is Apatow's highest-grossing production and is the top R-rated female comedy of all time. Wiig was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Lead Actress in a Comedy or Musical, along with the film being nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. Bridesmaids also received a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Other film credits include Apatow's Knocked Up: Girl Most Likely, Friends With Kids, written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt; Greg Mottola's Paul and Adventureland, All Good Things with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst; Macgruber alongside Will Forte; Mike Judge's Extract with Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore's Whip It, Ghost Town and Walk Hard (another Apatow-produced film in which she starred opposite John C. Reilly). Voice acting credits include the Cartoon Network's The Looney Toons Show, for which Wiig received an Emmy nomination, Fox's The Simpsons and the animated feature films Despicable Me (1 and 2) and How To Train Your Dragon (1 and 2) - She will also lend her voice for the third installment (releasing in June 2018). Wiig has also guest-starred in the NBC television series 30 Rock, HBO's Bored To Death, Netflix's Arrested Development, Comedy Central's Drunk History and IFC's Flight of The Concords and Portlandia.

A native of Rochester, New York, Wiig began her career as a main company member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy group, The Groundlings. Wiig currently resides in Los Angeles.

Sausage Party

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