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Kristen Wiig is considered to be one of the best female comedians in the entertainment industry today. The comedian made her debut in the big screen in 2006 for the film Unaccompanied Minors. She went on to appear in numerous box office films soon after such as Knocked Up, Walk Hard, Whip It, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and many more.
Despite working on the industry since 2005, she had her career breakthrough after starring in the 2011 film Bridesmaids. 2011 is the year when she started gaining commercial success in Hollywood, and was definitely the turning point of her life. The actress who’s now indulging a net worth of $25 million is definitely grateful for the outcome of the film. Take a look at how the comedian started.
A Diligent Normal Student With No Interest In Acting
Kristen Wiig, whose real is Kristen Carroll Wiig, was born on August 22, 1973 in Canandaigua, New York. Her mother Laurie is an artist while her father Jon Wiig used to run a lake marina in Western New York. She only has one sibling, an older brother named Eric. Kristen has a mixed blood of Norwegian and Irish ancestry from her father while she got the English and Scottish blood from her mother.
Her ancestors were originally from the Norway until his paternal grandfather named Gunnar Wiig immigrated to the United States and eventually grew up in New York. His father had found some fame in the entertainment industry as a well known broadcaster for the Rochester Red Wings baseball team. He later became an executive at the WHEC-TV, WROC-TV and WHEC radio.
When she was three years old her parents decided to move to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where the famous abandoned school is located. She ended up attending the Nitrauer Elementary School and Manheim Township Middle School until she reached the eighth grade. At the time, their family decided to move back to Rochester so she end up attending Allendale Columbia School until tenth grade and then went on to attend the Brighton High School.
After she finished High School, she decided to go to Roanoke College but eventually returned to Rochester. At the time, she decided to just attend community college while doing a three-month outdoor-living program. At the time, she had no interest in the performance arts. However she then decided to attend University of Arizona majoring in art.
How She Eventually Pursued An Acting Career
While she was majoring in art, she took an acting session since it was a requirement of her class. Upon seeing that she had potential, her teacher at the time encouraged her to continue acting. At the time, she was probably hesitant to take that route. She went on to finish her degree and eventually got hired by some plastic surgery clinic. She was supposed to draw post surgery bodies, however a day before her job was supposed to start, she flew to Los Angeles to try her luck and pursue an acting career.
It was not an easy feat for Kristen Wiig when she relocated to Los Angeles where famous actors reside like Ben Affleck who owns a contemporary home. to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She started working odd jobs to financially support herself. At the time, she started performing at The Groundlings and Empty Stage Comedy Theatre. While performing there, she realized that she was fonder of improvisation rather than acting. She believed that being part of a comedy group greatly improved her skills.
With luck on her side, she finally appeared on Spike TV's The Joe Schmo Show which is a spoof of reality television. Since then, she started her career as a comedian and began appearing and auditioning at various comedy shows. Since her manager at The Groundlings saw her potential, the manager encouraged her to audition for Saturday Night Live so she sent an audition tape to the program where she played as a Target Lady.
Her hard work finally paid off as she got in on as a cast member of SNL and debuted on the 31st season on November 12, 2005. After a year of being a member, she became a full cast member in 2006. While working at SNL, she also started appearing in numerous films. She debuted on the big screen through the Christmas movie Unaccompanied Minors in 2006.
Despite appearing in multiple films such as Knocked Up, Walk Hard, Whip It, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, she is still not that popular. She patiently waited for her turn and had supporting roles in numerous comedy films.
Her Career Breakthrough That Made Her A Household Name
After about five years of playing multiple roles, she finally had her biggest career break. She starred in the 2011 film Bridesmaids where she worked alongside American actress Melissa McCarthy. Bridesmaids is the catalyst of Kristen Wiig’s career as it made her a household name in Hollywood. Due to the popularity of the film that grossed over $280 million at the box office, the entertainment industry finally took notice of her.
It was the turning point of her career and it is the first film where she played the main character. She finally broke the barrier to fame and started becoming a prominent figure in Hollywood, landing both leading and supporting roles.
She went on to star in big films such as Despicable Me 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Martian, Ghostbusters and a lot more. She continued grinding and at the moment, she already accumulated a massive net worth of $25 million. She is also considered to be one of the most beloved comedians in Hollywood.
Sources: Celebrity Net Worth, Hollywood Reporter, Biography