Ana Gasteyer

Ana Kristina Gasteyer (; born May 4, 1967) is an American actress, comedian and singer. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's Suburgatory, TBS's People of Earth, NBC's American Auto, and the film Mean Girls.

Early life

Gasteyer was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Mariana (née Roumell), an artist, and Phil Gasteyer, a lobbyist who later became the mayor of Corrales, New Mexico. Gasteyer grew up on Capitol Hill, three blocks from the Capitol. Her maternal grandparents were Romanian and Greek.

Gasteyer graduated from Sidwell Friends School, She enrolled as a music major at Northwestern University, and graduated from Northwestern University School of Communication in 1989.

Career Gasteyer developed comedy experience with the Los Angeles improv – sketch comedy group The Groundlings. She played small roles on Seinfeld (as a doomed customer of The Soup Nazi) as well as on the shows Party of Five, Frasier, Hope & Gloria, and NYPD Blue. In 1996, she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live. Among her most popular characters on the show were high school music teacher Bobbie Mohan-Culp; Margaret Jo McCullen, the National Public Radio host of Delicious Dish; folk singer Cinder Calhoun who sang feminist songs at Lilith Fair; and her impressions of Martha Stewart and Celine Dion. In 2000, she and Chris Parnell auditioned to succeed Colin Quinn as co-anchors of the news parody segment Weekend Update, but the positions went to Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon.

After six seasons, Gasteyer left SNL in 2002. Subsequently, she appeared in various television programs, films and stage productions. In 2004, Gasteyer played the mother of the main character Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) in the feature film Mean Girls, written by SNL castmate Tina Fey. The film also featured other former SNL castmates, including Fey, Tim Meadows, and Amy Poehler. Gasteyer appeared in the 2005 Showtime musical film Reefer Madness as Mae, the doomed girlfriend of Jack and owner of the Reefer Den.

Gasteyer starred in a revival of The Threepenny Opera on Broadway as Mrs. Peachum, along with Jim Dale, Alan Cumming, and Cyndi Lauper. The production ran from March 24 through June 25, 2006.

On June 24, 2005, Gasteyer originated the role of Elphaba in the Chicago sit-down production of the musical Wicked, alongside Kate Reinders as Glinda. The production opened July 13, 2005. Gasteyer was nominated for a Jefferson Award for her performance. She played her final performance on January 22, 2006, replaced by her standby Kristy Cates. She later reprised the role in the Broadway production from October 10, 2006, through January 7, 2007, replacing Eden Espinosa.

On April 12, 2007, the media announced that Gasteyer had joined the cast of the then-new musical Writing Arthur for the 2007 New Works Festival for TheatreWorks in California, which ran from April 14 to 22. Gasteyer performed in Chicago in the Stephen Sondheim musical Passion at Chicago Shakespeare Theater from October 2, 2007, through November 11, 2007.

She was originally cast as Gloria in the 2008 Encores! Summer Series production of Damn Yankees, but due to injury during rehearsals, she was replaced by Megan Lawrence. Gasteyer took part in the reading of the Broadway musical version of The First Wives Club in January 2009.

She starred as Kitty Dean in the Broadway play The Royal Family which began performances at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on September 15, 2009, and officially opened on October 8, 2009. The show concluded its run on December 13, 2009. Gasteyer also starred as Frisco Kate Fothergill in the City Centers Encores! production of Girl Crazy, running from November 19 to 22, 2009.

She returned to Saturday Night Live for a special Mother's Day episode on May 8, 2010, and for another Mother's Day episode on May 11, 2012.

Gasteyer appeared in season eight of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David's girlfriend.

From 2011 to 2014, Gasteyer co-starred as Sheila Shay on the ABC comedy series Suburgatory, and, as of March 2013, she was a spokeswoman for the Weight Watchers diet plan. Gasteyer has been a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2021.

In 2014, taking advantage of her training as a singer, Gasteyer recorded and released I'm Hip, an album of jazz standards including "One Mint Julep". In 2015, she played Mimi Schwinn in the New York City Center Encores! Off-Broadway revival of the musical A New Brain, also appearing on the cast recording.

From 2016 to 2017, Gasteyer had a starring role on TBS's cult hit People of Earth as the leader of an alien abductee support group.

In October 2019, she released the holiday album Sugar & Booze which was later accompanied by an Audible Original comedy piece titled Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze, featuring Gasteyer along with Maya Rudolph, Oscar Nunez, and Patti LuPone. Gasteyer later appeared as a contestant on the second season of The Masked Singer as "Tree".

In February 2020, it was announced that Gasteyer will play Katherine Hastings in the NBC comedy pilot American Auto, written by Justin Spitzer. The show's production was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and skipped the step to premiere in the 2021–2022 broadcast season. In September and October 2020, she voiced a red panda named Nut in an adult animated series titled Magical Girl Friendship Squad.

In 2024, Gasteyer starred as Queen Aggravain alongside Sutton Foster, Will Chase, Brooks Ashmanskas, Daniel Breaker, and Michael Urie in a Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress. The Broadway production ran from July through November 2024 at the Hudson Theatre. It played 128 performances. The show subsequently played a limited run in Los Angeles with the Center Theatre Group following its Broadway closing. In 2026, Gasteyer originated the role of Mildred Layton in the Broadway production of Schmigadoon! She received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance.

Saturday Night Live characters

Original characters Bobbie Mohan-Culp, the operatic-voiced high school music teacher (with Will Ferrell) Margaret Jo McCullen, co-host of the NPR radio show Delicious Dish (with Molly Shannon) Gemini's Twin singer Jonette (with Maya Rudolph) Cinder Calhoun, a politically correct Lilith Fair singer Fast-talking MTV VJ Kincaid Daytime talk show hostess of Pretty Living, Gayle Gleeson

Celebrity impressions columns-list|colwidth=25em| Martha Stewart Céline Dion (on The Celine Dion Show) Katherine Harris Joy Behar Joan Rivers Sally Jesse Raphael Elizabeth Dole Kathy Griffin Carrie Donovan (Vogue style editor featured in the Old Navy commercials) Bea Arthur Barbra Streisand (auditioning for Star Wars) Helen Thomas Hillary Clinton They live in Brooklyn, New York with their two children.

Acting credits

Film Year Title Role 1996 A Small Domain Mother 1997 Courting Courtney Rosemary Colletti 1998 Meet the Deedles Mel 1999 Dick Rose Mary Woods 2000 Woman on Top Claudia Hunter What Women Want Sue Cranston 2001 What's the Worst That Could Happen? Ann Marie 2004 Mean Girls Betsy Heron 2005 Reefer Madness: The Musical Mae Coleman 2007 The Procedure Denise 2008 Finn on the Fly Dr. Madsen The Women Pat 2009 Dare Ruth Berger 2012 Robot & Frank Shop Lady That's My Boy Mrs. Ravensdale Fun Size Jackie Leroux 2013 Geography Club Mrs. Toles Peeples Mayor Hodge Rapture-Palooza Mrs. Lewis 2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Mrs. Gundermutt 2019 Adam Mrs. Freeman Wine Country Catherine Stewart 2020 Happiest Season Harry Levin 2024 Doin' It Principal Fletcher 2026 Never Change! TBA You Deserve Each Other Deborah Rose

Television Year Title Character Notes 1995 Seinfeld Woman Episode: "The Soup Nazi" 1996 Hope and Gloria Girl Episode: "The Man Upstairs" Party of Five Emcee Episode: "Valentine's Day" NYPD Blue Angie Episode: "A Death in the Family" 1996–2002 Saturday Night Live Various Main role; 121 episodes 1998 Law & Order Monica's Social Worker Episode: "Bad Girl" Just Shoot Me! April Episode: "What the Teddy Bear Saw" Mad About You Yoga Woman Episode: "Season Opener" 2000 3rd Rock from the Sun Dr. Brand / Herself 3 episodes Behind the Music Herself Episode: "Celine Dion" Geppetto Sra. Giovanni TV movie 2000–2001 TV Funhouse Various voices 3 episodes 2001 The West Wing Butterball Hotline Operator Episode: "The Indians in the Lobby" (uncredited) 2002 Frasier Trish Haney Episode: "Bristle While You Work" 2003 I'm with Her Bonnie Episode: "Alex Misses the Boat" 2009 Valentine Mona McAllister Episode: "Hound Dog" The Electric Company Sandy Scrambler Episode: "Friends or Aunts" 2010 Chuck Dasha Episode: "Chuck Versus the First Fight" Running Wilde Anna Lowry Episode: "It's a Trade-Off" 2010–2014 The Good Wife Judge Patrice Lessner 5 episodes 2011 Curb Your Enthusiasm Jennifer 2 episodes 2011–2014 Suburgatory Sheila Shay Main role; 42 episodes 2013 Fish Hooks Hot Cocoa Voice, episode: "See Bea Ski" 2014 Family Guy Speed Dater Voice, episode: "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin" 2014–2021 The Goldbergs Miss Susan Cinoman 15 episodes 2015 The Mindy Project Barb Gurglar Episode: "Stanford" Girls Melanie Shapiro Episode: "Iowa" Younger Meredith Montgomery Episode: "The Boy with the Dragon Tattoo" Difficult People Woman at Cafe Episode: "Even Later" Celebrity Name Game Herself Episode: "Ana Gasteyer vs. Billy Gardell" 2015–2016 Dawn of the Croods Meep Boor Voice, 5 episodes 2016 Grease Live! Principal McGee TV movie Mike Tyson Mysteries Genevieve Voice, episode: "The Bard's Curse" 2016–2025 Match Game Herself 10 episodes 2017 A Christmas Story Live! Mrs. Schwartz TV movie 2017–2018 Great News Kelly 3 episodes2018 Voltron: Legendary Defender Krolia Voice, 9 episodes Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Debra Bee Episode: "Christmas on I.C.E." 2019 Schooled Miss Susan Cinoman 5 episodes The Masked Singer Tree 5 episodes 2019–2020 At Home with Amy Sedaris Darlene Cornish / Colleen2 episodes 2019–2021 Mickey and the Roadster Racers Wilhelmina Voice, 2 episodes2020 Prodigal Son Tilda Carp Episode: "Death's Door" Duncanville Janine Voice, episode: "Fridgy" Archibald's Next Big Thing MimsyVoice, episode: "Baritone Tea" Magical Girl Friendship Squad Nut Main role; voice, 6 episodes2021 Bless the Harts Sam Voice, episode: "Tiny Pies" Inside Job Dolores Voice, episode: "Sex Machina" A Clüsterfünke Christmas Hildy Clüsterfünke TV movie 2021–2023 American Auto Katherine Hastings Main role; 23 episodes 2022–2023 Alice's Wonderland Bakery Kiki Voice, 4 episodes 2023 Ridley Jones Amanda Cornwallis Voice, episode: "Game of Jones" 2024 Royal Crackers MayorVoice, episode: "Mall" Loot Grace 3 episodes Hamster & Gretel Lorraine Ampersand Voice, episode: "Lorraine, Rattle, and Roll" 2025 Krapopolis Clotho Voice, episode: "John Fate Comes a-Knockin" 2025–2026 RoboGobo Crabitha Main role; voice, 21 episodes

Theatre Year Title Role Venue 2000 The Rocky Horror Show Usherette; Columbia Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway 2002 Funny Girl Fanny Brice New Amsterdam Theatre, Broadway(Benefit Concert for The Actors' Fund) 2003 Kimberly Akimbo Debra New York City Center - Stage I, Off-Broadway 2004 Roulette Virginia John Houseman Theatre, Off-Broadway 2004 Hair Performer New Amsterdam Theatre, Broadway(Benefit Concert for The Actors' Fund) 2005 Wicked Elphaba Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre, Chicago 2006 The Threepenny Opera Mrs. Peachum Studio 54, Broadway 2006–2007 Wicked Elphaba Gershwin Theatre, Broadway 2007 Passion Fosca Chicago Shakespeare Theatre 2009 Chance & Chemistry Performer Minskoff Theatre, Broadway(Benefit Concert for The Actors' Fund) 2009 The Royal Family Kitty Dean Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway 2015 A New Brain Mimi Schwinn New York City Center, Encores! 2018 Annie Miss Hannigan Hollywood Bowl 2024 Once Upon a Mattress Queen Aggravain Hudson Theatre, Broadway 2024–2025 Ahmanson Theatre 2026 Schmigadoon! Mildred Layton Nederlander Theatre, Broadway2026 September L. Davis: The Apology Tour September L. Davis Studio Seaview, Off-Broadway

Web Year Title Character Episodes 2015 Going There with Ana Gasteyer Herself 9

Discography

I'm Hip (2014) Sugar & Booze (2019)

Awards and nominations Year Organisation Category Project Result Ref. 2005Jeff AwardsActress in a Principal Role in a Musical Wicked 2008 Passion 2025 Children's and Family Emmy Awards Outstanding Voice Performer in a Preschool Program RoboGobo 2026 Tony Awards Best Featured Actress in a Musical Schmigadoon! Dorian Awards Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Musical