American comedian
Heidi Gardner
is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Gardner has been a cast member on the
NBC
sketch comedy
series
Saturday Night Live
since
season 43
in 2017, when she debuted as a featured player. She was promoted to repertory status on the show in
2019
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Gardner was born and raised in
Kansas City, Missouri
.
[2]
She grew up with an older brother, Justin.
[3]
Growing up, Gardner worked part-time at the Tivoli Theater, where she did everything "from selling tickets to making popcorn". She later credited the theater as "setting the tone in her life".
[4]
Gardner was not interested in acting as a child, only performing on stage as a flutist for the school band and doing comedy sketches in school talent shows.
[5]
Gardner graduated from the all-girls
Catholic
high school
Notre Dame de Sion
in 2001. In her senior year, her classmates voted her "most likely to be a cast member of
Saturday Night Live
".
[3]
Upon graduation, Gardner followed a friend's footsteps and enrolled at the
University of Kansas
for two years before transferring to the
University of Missouri
for a semester. She became uninterested in school and often skipped classes, but discovered a fondness for haircutting.
[5]
Career
[
edit
]
At age 21, Gardner dropped out of college and left Missouri for Los Angeles, where she worked at a hair salon for nine years.
[6]
Before moving, she saved up $600 over one summer.
[7]
A friend encouraged her to attend a performance at
The Groundlings
theatre, where she became inspired to become an actress.
[6]
Lacking acting experience, Gardner enrolled in community workshops to learn the basics of improvisation. Once she was comfortable, Gardner auditioned for the Groundlings basic class and was accepted.
[5]
In 2014, Gardner joined the Sunday Company, and a year later, after a promotion to the Main Company, she quit her job as a hairstylist to focus on acting.
[5]
During that time, she became a voice actress,
[8]
regularly appearing on animated series such as
Bratz
,
SuperMansion
, and
Mike Tyson Mysteries
.
[9]
In 2017, Gardner joined the cast of
Saturday Night Live
(
SNL
) along with
Luke Null
and
Chris Redd
for its
forty-third season
.
[7]
After her first year on
SNL
, Gardner was hired to play Leonor in the
Ben Falcone
-directed film
Life of the Party
, alongside
Melissa McCarthy
.
[5]
On August 28, 2019,
TVLine
reported that Gardner would have a guest role on the
NBC
comedy series
Superstore
,
playing Dina Fox's nemesis Colleen who is transferred to Store 1217 after Cloud 9's Bel-Ridge location gets shut down.
[10]
In 2019, Gardner made her stage debut in
Michael Frayn
's
Noises Off
at The Cape Playhouse in
Dennis, Massachusetts
.
[11]
Gardner, who had never
broken character
in seven seasons on
SNL
, cracked while playing
NewsNation
host Bobbi Moore in a
Beavis and Butt-Head
-centered sketch on April 13, 2024.
[12]
Vulture
magazine described the moment as breaking in "spectacularly charming fashion".
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
- Recurring characters on
Saturday Night Live
[20]
- Angel (Every Boxer's Girlfriend from Every Movie About Boxing Ever), a distressed woman who tries to give "
Weekend Update
's Good News Report" but inevitably derails into melodramatic rants about her boyfriend's dangerous boxing career.
- Bailey Gismert, a teen film critic who gives awkward reviews.
- Brie Bacardi, one half of a shallow couple always on the brink of an argument, who runs a relationship-themed
Instagram
account with her boyfriend Nico Slobkin (
Mikey Day
).
- Baskin Johns, a woman who works for
Goop
and gets worried
Gwyneth Paltrow
will fire her.
- Mandy, a cousin of a celebrity who shames their movie careers
- Sandy, a joyful cook on a baking
reality competition
show who is qualified and skilled but often gets passed over as a winner for more poorly-constructed and eccentric cakes
- Tamra, an intern who pitches Instagram captions for
Mattel
's
Barbie
account
- Deidre, one half of a couple who describe their vacation to their friends, naively misinterpreting poor experiences as prestigious culture
- Crystal (Your Co-Worker Who is Extremely Busy Doing Seemingly Nothing), who comes to Weekend Update to complain about her job, though it's unclear what she actually does
Personal life
[
edit
]
Gardner is a fan of the
Kansas City Chiefs
and the
Kansas City Royals
.
[4]
From 2010 to 2023, she was married to
Marvel Comics
writer
Zeb Wells
, whom she met while she was a member of the Groundlings.
[21]
[22]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
Television
Web
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
2015
|
Adult Wednesday
|
Hairdresser
|
Episode: "The Haircut"
|
Bratz
|
Yasmin (voice)
|
8 episodes
|
2015?19
|
SuperMansion
|
Cooch, Various voices
|
46 episodes
|
2016
|
CollegeHumor Originals
|
Patient
|
Episode: "Why Are My Nipples Pixelated?"
|
Audio
Stage
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Locations
|
2019
|
Noises Off
|
Brooke Ashton/Vicki
|
The Cape Playhouse
|
Writing credits
[
edit
]
Web
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Advice Ep! SNL's Heidi Gardner on Getting Through Breakups, How to Love Sports, Overcoming Public Speaking Fears, Figuring Out the Best Career & More"
. 29 January 2024.
- ^
"Heidi Gardner"
.
nbc.com
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Gutierrez, Lisa (September 27, 2017).
"This KC native is being hailed as the next household name on 'Saturday Night Live'
"
. The Kansas City Star
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"My Kansas City: Interview With SNL's Heidi Gardner"
.
visitkc.com
(Interview). Interviewed by Lambdin Meyer, Diana
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Cizmar, Martin (August 21, 2019).
"How Heidi Gardner went from a hairstylist taking improv classes to Saturday Night Live star"
.
kansascitymag.com
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Coy Dugger.
"How Kansas City Native Heidi Gardner Ended Up On Saturday Night Live"
.
kcur.org
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Steinberg, Brian (November 22, 2019).
"
'SNL': Heidi Gardner's Kooky 'Weekend Update' Characters Make News"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
Bradley, Nina (September 26, 2017).
"Who Is Heidi Gardner? The New 'SNL' Cast Member Is Someone You Should Get To Know ASAP"
.
Bustle
.
- ^
Hatchett, Keisha (October 13, 2016).
"TMS Interviews the
SuperMansion
Cast About Santa's Existential Crisis and Jordan Peele's
Get Out
"
.
The Mary Sue
. Retrieved
September 26,
2017
.
- ^
Schwartz, Ryan (28 August 2019).
"Superstore Season 5: Justina Machado to Recur, SNL's Heidi Gardner Also Cast"
.
TVLine
. Retrieved
28 August
2019
.
- ^
Gans, Andrew (August 7, 2019).
"Jeremy Webb, Janine LaManna, Jennifer Cody Join SNL's Heidi Gardner in
Noises Off
at Cape Playhouse"
.
Playbill
. Retrieved
December 21,
2019
.
- ^
Tinoco, Armando (4 May 2024).
"Heidi Gardner Says She Was Afraid To Break Character On 'SNL': "I Thought I'd Get Fired"
"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
15 May
2024
.
- ^
Ivie, Devon (2024-04-15).
"Heidi Gardner Couldn't Prepare for What She Saw"
.
Vulture
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
Perez, Lexy (2024-04-16).
"Heidi Gardner Reacts to Breaking Character During 'SNL' 'Beavis and Butt-Head' Sketch: "I Lost It"
"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
Sharf, Zack (2024-04-16).
"
'SNL' Star Heidi Gardner Says 'Anxiety Set in' After Breaking So Hard During 'Beavis and Butt-Head' Sketch: 'I'll Never Be Able to Shake' What I Saw"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
"
'SNL' Star Heidi Gardner Feels Terrible She Broke Character During 'Beavis And Butt-Head' Skit"
.
HuffPost
. 2024-04-16
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
Ortiz, Andi (2024-04-16).
"SNL: Heidi Gardner Explains Why She Lost It in 'Beavis and Butt-Head' Sketch"
.
TheWrap
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
"
'SNL' shows behind-the-scenes footage of 'Beavis and Butt-Head' skit that broke Heidi Gardner"
.
TODAY.com
. 2024-04-18
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
Evans, Greg (2024-04-16).
"Heidi Gardner Explains Butt-Head Crack-Up On Last Saturday's 'SNL'
"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
2024-04-19
.
- ^
Steinberg, Brian (2019-11-22).
"
'SNL': Heidi Gardner's Kooky 'Weekend Update' Characters Make News"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
2020-10-19
.
- ^
Hoedel, Cindy (August 1, 2019).
"IN Conversation with Heidi Gardner"
.
inkansascity.com
. Retrieved
August 18,
2020
.
- ^
"Advice Ep! SNL's Heidi Gardner on Getting Through Breakups, How to Love Sports, Overcoming Public Speaking Fears, Figuring Out the Best Career & More"
. 29 January 2024.
- ^
"Everything You Need to Know About
Leo
"
.
Tudum
. August 23, 2023
. Retrieved
2023-10-12
.
External links
[
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]