Kate McKinnon

Kathryn McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her characterwork and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series The Big Gay Sketch Show (2007–2010) and Saturday Night Live (2012–present). McKinnon has appeared in films such as Balls Out (2014), Ghostbusters (2016), Office Christmas Party (2016), Rough Night (2017), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), Yesterday (2019), and Bombshell (2019).

McKinnon has been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and seven for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.

Early life

McKinnon was born and raised in the Long Island town of Sea Cliff, New York, to Laura Campbell, a parent educator, and Michael Thomas Berthold, an architect. She has a younger sister, comedian Emily Lynne, with whom she has collaborated on the Audible series Heads Will Roll, as well as the digital series Notary Publix. Their father died when Kate McKinnon was 18 years old.

As a child, McKinnon played several instruments. She started playing the piano when she was five years old, the cello when she was 12, and taught herself how to play the guitarwhen she was 15.

McKinnon’s knack for accents began when she was in fifth grade. She auditioned to be “the queen of reading week” and used an English accent. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she says, “I think the genesis of my entire life, probably, was the smiles I elicited doing this British accent. I’ve been chasing that dragon ever since.”

She graduated from North Shore High School in 2002, and from Columbia University in 2006 with a degree in theatre. There she co-founded a comedy group, Tea Party, that focused on musical improv comedy. At Columbia, she starred in three Varsity shows: V109 Dial D for Deadline, V110 Off-Broadway and V111 The Sound of Muses. She was also a member of Prangstgrüp, a student comedy group which set up and recorded elaborate college pranks.

Career

In 2007, McKinnon joined the original cast of Logo TV’s The Big Gay Sketch Show, where she was a cast member for all three seasons.

Since 2008, she has performed live sketch comedy regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. She has also worked as a voice-over actress, and has voiced characters for series such as The Venture Bros., Robotomy, and Ugly Americans. In 2009, McKinnon won a Logo NewNowNext Award for Best Rising Comic. She was nominated for an ECNY Emerging Comic Award in 2010. In 2014, she appeared in the Kennedy Center Honors as part of a tribute to Lily Tomlin. In 2016, she starred in the reboot Ghostbusters, alongside Melissa McCarthy, and fellow SNL cast members Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones. In 2017, McKinnon is attached to star in Amblin Entertainment’s Lunch Witch, an adaptation of a young adult graphic novel by Deb Lucke. She has been set to play the title role of Grunhilda, an out-of-work witch who takes a job in a school cafeteria to make ends meet.

McKinnon has made appearances as a voice actress in series like The Simpsons (as Hettie in season 27, episode 14 “Gal of Constant Sorrow”) and Family Guy (a voice in season 14, episode 15 “An App a Day”, as Karen / Heavy Flo in season 14, episode 6 “Peter’s Sister”, and a voice in season 15, episode 9 “How the Griffin Stole Christmas”), and films such as Finding Dory (as Stan’s fish wife), The Angry Birds Movie (as Stella / Eva the Birthday Mom) and Ferdinand (as Lupe). McKinnon currently voices the character of Ms. Frizzle in the reboot of the Magic School Bus children’s series. McKinnon also voices Squeeks the Mouse In The PBS Kids TV Series Nature Cat.

McKinnon is known for her character work and celebrity impressions of pop singer Justin Bieber, comedian television host Ellen DeGeneres, and numerous political figures, including Hillary Clinton, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Senator Lindsey Graham, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Kellyanne Conway, Robert Mueller, Angela Merkel, and Rudy Giuliani. She has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and six for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.

Saturday Night Live

McKinnon joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on April 7, 2012, following a March 28, 2012, report of her being hired. She was promoted to repertory status in season 39 in 2013.

In 2013, McKinnon was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Comedy. McKinnon won the 2014 American Comedy Award for Best Supporting Actress, TV for her work on SNL. In 2014, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics along with four of her colleagues for the song “(Do It On My) Twin Bed”. She was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the second time in 2015. She won the following next year, becoming the first actor from SNL to win the award since Dana Carvey in 1993.

McKinnon began appearing as Hillary Clinton on the series leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The real Clinton appeared alongside her in a sketch during the show’s season 41 premiere. McKinnon has said that her impression of Hillary Clinton comes from a deep admiration, and that she “unequivocally want her to win” the 2016 presidential election. On November 12, 2016, which was the first show after Clinton’s loss in the election, she reprised the role to open the show with a solo performance of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, whose death was announced two days before her performance. After the election, McKinnon began to impersonate Kellyanne Conway alongside Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump. On February 11, 2017, she debuted her impression of Elizabeth Warren during Weekend Update and Jeff Sessions in the cold open.

McKinnon’s return to season 46 officially makes her the show’s longest tenured female cast member, surpassing her cast mates Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant by five episodes.

Saturday Night Live characters

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• Olya Povlatsky, a Russian woman who voices her opinions on current events, comparing them to the outrageous struggles she faces in her village. She also appeared in a cold open with Beck Bennett as Vladimir Putin reading a prepared statement against her will.
• Sheila Sovage, a heavily intoxicated woman at a bar who meets and hooks up with a heavily intoxicated man or woman, played by the host, at closing time.
• Jodi Cork, The Art of the Encounter and Women in the Workplace co-host with Donna Fingerneck (played by Cecily Strong).
• Barbara DeDrew, a lesbian volunteer at the cat shelter Whiskers R We.
• Deenie, a.k.a. “Somebody’s Mom”, a middle-aged woman who attempts to recap shows she’s been watching, but only knows the characters by self-applied nicknames, such as “Big Boobs” and “Mustache”. She is always eating some foul concoction out of Tupperware, such as Brussels sprouts and imitation crab, which generally both revolts and breaks up Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost. The character is based on longtime SNL writer Paula Pell’s mother.
• Mrs. Santini, an apartment dweller who writes passive-aggressive notes to her neighbors. Originally performed as Effie Villalopolus on Comedy Bang! Bang!
• Colleen Rafferty, a twenty-seven-year-old woman (despite looking middle-aged, impliedly due to her repeated traumas) who appears in panels with two of her friends (played by Cecily Strong as a hippie named Sharon, alongside the episode’s host). The three friends recount their experience of a shared paranormal event (such as being abducted by aliens, having a near-death experience, discovering that Santa Claus is real, being visited by ghosts, and discovering that time travel is possible). The other two friends always have an idyllic experience, while Rafferty instead goes through a different, traumatic experience during the event and invariably loses her pants.
• Les Dykawitz, a lesbian cop from the 1970s who works for Chicago PD along with her partner Chubina Fatzarelli (played by Aidy Bryant) in “Dyke & Fats”.
• Debette Goldry, a senile elderly actress whose harsh experiences with being an actress in old Hollywood (including the on-going issues of equal pay, sexual harassment and abuse, racial diversity in film roles, and actresses getting involved behind the camera as directors and writers) are more outrageous than what modern actresses have gone through.
• A member of Woodbridge High School’s theatre troupe who make their performances obsessively and solely about social justice issues that they know very little about.
• Noelle LeSoup, the co-host of the French show “America’s Funniest Cats” who appears on the American version of the show along with Joelle LaRue (played by Cecily Strong).
• Shud, a crass mermaid who is based on a blobfish, and makes sexual advances on an unfortunate marooned sailor.
• Dr Wayne Wenowdis, a strangely accented middle-aged medical doctor, who debuted in 2020, as part of the Weekend Update segment with Colin Jost.

• Madame Vivelda, a fortune teller who predicts people’s 2020 experiences

Saturday Night Live impressions

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Work as a creator

Aside from SNL, McKinnon also co-created and co-stars in the web series Notary Publix with her sister Emily Lynne. In addition to Aidy Bryant (who stars in the series), McKinnon’s SNL co-stars Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah and SNL writer Paula Pell all guest-starred in the six-episode first season of the web series.

McKinnon and Lynne also created and released the fantasy-comedy Audible audio series Heads Will Roll, which premiered in May 2019. The show features guest appearances from Meryl Streep, Peter Dinklage, Audra McDonald, Bob the Drag Queen, Queer Eye’s Fab Five, and Tim Gunn. Additionally, many of McKinnon’s SNL co-stars are featured, including Aidy Bryant, Alex Moffat, Heidi Gardner and Chris Redd.

Other work

In 2015, McKinnon appeared in a number of commercials for the Ford Focus.

In 2016, McKinnon co-hosted the 31st Independent Spirit Awards with Kumail Nanjiani.

In 2019 she played a supporting role in the movie Yesterday.

Personal life

McKinnon is in a relationship with photographer and actress Jackie Abbott. While presenting Ellen DeGeneres with the Carol Burnett Award at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, McKinnon opened up about being a lesbian and thanked DeGeneres for making it less scary for her to accept her sexual orientation while watching her TV sitcom Ellen. While attending Columbia University, she dated future journalist Bari Weiss.

McKinnon has a cat, Nino Positano—named after a pizza restaurant where he was found—whom she jokingly refers to as her son. Nino recently appeared in a “Whiskers R We” sketch filmed from McKinnon’s home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, playing the role of all the cats up for adoption.

She does not have any social media accounts, citing fear that she will “misrepresent real feelings”.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Mr. Ross	Debby	Short film
2011	Elizabeth Taylor’s Video Will	Elizabeth Taylor	Short film
	Pudding Face	Amy	Short film
2012	My Best Day	Heather
	Hannah Has a Ho-Phase	Nicky
2014	Life Partners	Trace
	Balls Out	Vicky Albrecht
2015	Giant Sloth	Nina	Voice role Short film
	Ted 2	Herself
	Staten Island Summer	Mrs. Bandini Jr.
	Sisters	Sam
2016	The Angry Birds Movie	Stella / Eva	Voice roles; Cameo
	Finding Dory	Inez	Voice role
	Ghostbusters	Dr. Jillian Holtzmann
	Masterminds	Jandice Gartrell
	Office Christmas Party	Mary Winetoss
2017	Rough Night	Pippa
	Leap!	Régine Le Haut / Felicie’s Mother / Mother Superior	Voice roles
	Ferdinand	Lupe	Voice role
2018	Irreplaceable You	Glass Half Full Kate
	Family	Jill
	The Spy Who Dumped Me	Morgan Freeman
2019	Yesterday	Debra Hammer
	Bombshell	Jess Carr
2020	The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Kids in Space	Miss Fiona Frizzle	Voice role
TBA	The Lunch Witch	Grunhilda	Announced

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007–2010	The Big Gay Sketch Show	Various	23 episodes
2008	Mayne Street	Olga Svenson	Episode: “Parking Tickets”
2010	We Have to Stop Now	Angela	Episode: “Celesbianism”
2010	Concierge: The Series	Mary	3 episodes
2010	Vag Magazine	Bethany	6 episodes
2010–2011	Robotomy	Additional voices	5 episodes
2010–2016	The Venture Bros.	Nikki and Margaret Fictel / Additional voices	10 episodes
2011	The Back Room	Susan Boyle	Episode: “Todd Barry”
2011	The 40-Year-Old 20-Year-Old	Kate	5 episodes
2012–present	Saturday Night Live	Various	Main cast
2012	Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday	Various	2 episodes
2013	Toy Story of Terror!	PEZ Cat (voice)	Television special
2013	Hudson Valley Ballers	Just Jamie	2 episodes
2014	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Effie Villalopolus	Episode: “Nick Offerman Wears a Green Flannel Shirt & Brown Boots”
2014–2015	The Awesomes	Lola Gold / Additional voices	7 episodes
2015	China, IL	Sunshine (voice)	5 episodes
2015	The Spoils Before Dying	Dallas Boudreaux	Episode: “That’s Jazz”
2015	Difficult People	Abra Cadouglas	Episode: “Pledge Week”
2015	Moonbeam City	Panache Miller (voice)	Episode: “Lasers and Liars”
2015–2016	Family Guy	Karen Griffin / Additional voices	3 episodes
2015–present	Nature Cat	Squeeks (voice)	31 episodes
2016	31st Independent Spirit Awards	Herself (host)	Television special
2016	Maya & Marty	Heidi Cruz	Episode: “Jimmy Fallon & Miley Cyrus”
2016	The Simpsons	Hettie Mae Boggs (voice)	Episode: “Gal of Constant Sorrow”
2017	Friends from College	Shawna	Episode: “All-Nighter”
2017–2018 2020	The Magic School Bus Rides Again	Fiona Felicity Frizzle (voice)	Main role
2018	Sesame Street	Mother Goose	Episode: “Elmo’s Nursery Rhyme”
2019	Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner	Herself
TBA	Joe Exotic	Carole Baskin

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2015	LEGO Dimensions	Dr. Jillian Holtzmann

Audio series

Year	Title	Role	Production role
2019	Heads Will Roll	Queen Mortunana of the Night Realm	Co-creator and star

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2009	NewNowNext Awards	Brink of Fame: Comic		Won
2010	ECNY Awards	Emerging Comic Award		Nominated
2012	Ashland Independent Film Festival Award	Special Jury Mention for Acting Ensemble: Feature	My Best Day	Won
2013	EWwy Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Saturday Night Live	Nominated
2014	American Comedy Award	Comedy Supporting Actress – TV		Won
	Dorian Award	Wilde Wit of the Year		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Saturday Night Live	Nominated
		Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics		Nominated
2015	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2016	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Won
	Critics’ Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Comedy Series		Won
	The Advocate Awards	The Advocate‘s Person of the Year		Finalist
	USA Today Awards	USA Today‘s Entertainer of the Year		Won
	Critics’ Choice Award	Best Actress in a Comedy Movie	Ghostbusters	Nominated
	San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Best Comedic Performance		Nominated
	Women Film Critics Circle	Best Comedic Actress		Won
		Best Female Action Hero		Won
		Best Ensemble		Nominated
2017	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Comedic Collaboration	Saturday Night Live	Nominated
	Dorian Awards	T.V. Musical Performance of the Year		Won
		Wilde Wit of the Year		Nominated
		Wildest Artist of the Year		Won
	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Nature Cat	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Saturday Night Live	Won
2018	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Comedic Performance		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2019				Nominated
2020				Nominated