Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph has built a career around comic flexibility: she can disappear into an impersonation, play the grounded center of an unruly ensemble or give an animated character a personality that lands within a few lines. Born in Gainesville, Florida, on July 27, 1972, she is the daughter of singer Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph. Music was part of her own early career too. Before joining Saturday Night Live, she performed as a backing vocalist and keyboardist with the Rentals and was the original drummer for That Dog. Rudolph came to Saturday Night Live through the Groundlings, joining the show near the end of the 1999–2000 season and remaining through 2007. Her impressions included Oprah Winfrey, Christina Aguilera and Donatella Versace, but her range has never depended solely on mimicry. She later returned to SNL to portray Kamala Harris, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the performance. Her film work shows how easily she moves between broad comedy and something more understated. After early small parts, her first prominent film role came in Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion. She went on to star in Away We Go, join the ensemble of Bridesmaids and take supporting roles in films including The Way, Way Back, Inherent Vice and Sisters. In Grown Ups and its sequel, she worked in a bigger, looser comic register, while Disenchanted gave her the antagonist role of Malvina Monroe. Rudolph’s voice work has become another substantial part of her screen career. Her animated roles include Aunt Cass in Big Hero 6, Linda Mitchell in The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Daniela Paguro in Luca, alongside multiple characters in Big Mouth. On television, she has brought her particular mix of warmth and oddball authority to The Good Place and taken the lead in the Apple TV+ comedy Loot. Across live action, sketch comedy and animation, Rudolph’s performances are connected by sharp timing and an instinct for finding the human beat inside even the strangest joke.