Paul Feig

Paul Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing films such as Bridesmaids, The Heat (2013), Spy (2015), Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), Last Christmas (2019), and The Housemaid (2025). He often collaborates with actress Melissa McCarthy.

Feig created the comedy series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) and Other Space (2015). He has also directed several episodes of Arrested Development, Nurse Jackie, Mad Men, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and Weeds. He received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards for writing on Freaks and Geeks, and two for producing and directing on The Office. His most notable acting roles were as Bobby Wynn in the sitcom The Jackie Thomas Show (1992–1993), Tim the Camp Counselor in the comedy film Heavyweights (1995), and Mr. Eugene Pool on the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996–1997).

Early life Feig was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, on September 17, 1962, the son of telephone operator Elaine Elizabeth (née Artingstall) and Gratiot Avenue store owner Sanford William Feig. He grew up in a Christian Scientist home in Mount Clemens, Michigan. His father was born into a Jewish family, but converted to Christian Science, and met Feig's mother at a church social.

Feig attended Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan.

Career 1986–2010: Early career, Freaks and Geeks and directorial debut After a year at Wayne State University, Feig moved to Los Angeles and transferred to the University of Southern California. He also worked as a tour guide at Universal Studios Hollywood, embarked on a stand-up comedy act, and landed minor roles on various television shows. Feig also appeared in a number of films, such as Ski Patrol, and in a role alongside Ben Stiller in the 1995 film Heavyweights, in which he played camp counselor Tim. On the first season of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Feig portrayed Mr. Eugene Pool, Sabrina's science teacher.

With Heavyweights co-scripter Judd Apatow, Feig created the short-lived comedy series Freaks and Geeks, inspired by his experiences at Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan. The show aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. Eighteen episodes were completed, but the series was canceled after only twelve had aired. Despite the short run, Freaks and Geeks has since maintained a devoted cult following. The show was named in Time magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time, and in summer 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked Freaks and Geeks as the 13th best show of the past 25 years. Feig was nominated for two Emmys for writing the show's pilot and the season finale.

Feig made his directorial debut with the drama film I Am David, which premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. He later directed the Christmas comedy film Unaccompanied Minors (2006).

2011–2016: Bridesmaids and other film works with Melissa McCarthy In 2011, Feig was consulted to direct the Apatow-produced comedy film Bridesmaids. Written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, the plot centers on Annie (Wiig), who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honor for her best friend, Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph. Budgeted at $32.5 million, Bridesmaids was both critically and commercially successful, eventually grossing over $288 million worldwide, and served as a touchstone for discussion about women in comedy. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and received multiple other accolades, including Academy Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category for Melissa McCarthy and Best Original Screenplay for Wiig and Mumolo.

In 2013, Feig reunited with McCarthy on buddy cop action comedy film The Heat, also starring Sandra Bullock. Directed by Feig and written by Katie Dippold, it centers on a mismatched police pairing who must overcome their differences in order to take down a mobster. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry, and performances of Bullock and McCarthy, and was a success at the box office, grossing $229 million worldwide against a $43 million budget.

In 2015, Feig wrote, directed, and produced the spy comedy movie Spy for 20th Century Fox, again starring Melissa McCarthy. It follows the life of a secret agent, Susan Cooper, trying to expose the black-market. The film received acclaim from critics and became another box office success at an international gross of $235.7 million. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for McCarthy. Also in 2015, Feig produced the animated feature The Peanuts Movie for Blue Sky Studios, based on the Peanuts comic strip and characters created by Charles M. Schulz.

During 2015, Feig also created the science fiction comedy series Other Space for Yahoo!'s video on demand service Yahoo! Screen and wrote the show's first episode. The series stars Trace Beaulieu, Neil Casey, Eugene Cordero, Joel Hodgson, Conor Leslie, Bess Rous, Karan Soni, and Milana Vayntrub as the dysfunctional crew of an exploratory spaceship who become trapped in an unknown universe. Other Space received positive reviews, but was not renewed for a second season due to Yahoo! Screen being shut down in 2016. Feig later created a Tumblr to provide direct links to each episode after he reobtained the rights to the series. In 2020, the series was picked up by streaming service DUST.

In 2016, Feig directed and co-wrote the female driven reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise, starring McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as four women who begin a ghost-catching business in New York City. The announcement of the female-led cast in 2015 drew a polarized response from the public and internet backlash, leading to the film's IMDb page and associated YouTube videos receiving low ratings prior to the film's release. The film grossed $229 million worldwide against a production budget of $144 million, becoming the highest-grossing live-action comedy domestically of 2016. However, due to its high production and marketing budget, it is considered a box-office bomb.

2017–present: A Simple Favor and Last Christmas

In 2017, Feig produced Jonathan Levine's comedy film Snatched, starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn as a mother-daughter couple who are abducted while on vacation in South America. The same year, he began production on the comedy thriller A Simple Favor. Based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell, it stars Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, and Henry Golding, and follows a small town blogger who tries to solve the disappearance of her mysterious and rich best friend. Released in September 2018, the film received generally favorable reviews from critics, with praise for the plot twists and performances of Kendrick and Lively.

In 2018, Feig directed an advertisement for Diet Coke starring Hayley Magnus, which was shown during the Super Bowl. In 2019, he directed the romantic comedy Last Christmas, re-teaming with Henry Golding, who starred in the film alongside Emilia Clarke. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office success, earning over $120 million.

In March 2019, following 20th Century Fox's acquisition by The Walt Disney Company, Feig announced he would be moving his Feigco production studio to Universal Pictures.

Filmography

Film YearTitle Director Producer Writer 2003 I Am David 2006 Unaccompanied Minors 2011 Bridesmaids 2013 The Heat 2015 Spy 2016 Ghostbusters 2018 A Simple Favor 2019 Last Christmas 2022 The School for Good and Evil 2024 Jackpot! 2025 Another Simple Favor The Housemaid

Producer only Year Title Notes 2015 The Peanuts Movie 2017 Snatched 2019 Someone Great 2020 Holler Executive producer

Acting roles Year Title Role Note 1987 Zombie High Emmerson Three O'Clock High Hall Monitor 1990 Ski Patrol Stanley Zoo Radio Chester Drawer credited as Skylar Billings 1994 Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult Oscar Audience Member 1995 The TV Wheel Various Heavyweights Tim The Camp Counselor 1996 That Thing You Do! KMPC D.J. My Fellow Americans Reporter #2 1997 Life Sold Separately Clark Statical Planets Renfester 2000 Bad Dog Messenger Short film 2002 Stealing Harvard Electrician 2003 I Am David American Man 2007 Knocked Up Fantasy Baseball Guy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Different DJ Uncredited 2011 Bad Teacher Dad at the Car Wash Bridesmaids Guy at Wedding Uncredited 2013 The Heat Doctor 2015 Spy Drunken Guest at Paris Hotel 2017 Ferdinand Picador (voice) 2018 Song of Back and Neck Dr. Street

Television Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes 1999–2000 Freaks and Geeks Also creator and producer; 18 episodes Episode directed: "Discos and Dragons" Episodes written: "Pilot" "Tricks and Treats" "Carded and Discarded" "Girlfriends and Boyfriends" "Looks and Books" "Discos and Dragons"2001UndeclaredEpisode: "Oh, So You Have a Boyfriend?" 2004–2005 Arrested Development Episodes: "Whistler's Mother" "Let 'Em Eat Cake" "Switch Hitter" "Burning Love" "Ready, Aim, Marry Me!" "The Cabin Show" "The Ocean Walker" 2005–2007 Weeds Episodes: "The Punishment Lighter" "He Taught Me How to Drive By" "Risk" 2005–2011 The Office Episodes directed: "Office Olympics" "Halloween" "Performance Review" "E-mail Surveillance" "Survivor Man" "Dinner Party" "Goodbye, Toby" "Weight Loss" "The Surplus" "Moroccan Christmas" "New Boss" "Dream Team" "Niagara" "Goodbye, Michael"2007 30 Rock Episode: "Cleveland" Mad Men Episode: "Shoot" 2009 Parks and Recreation Episode: "Pawnee Zoo" Bored to Death Episodes: "Take a Dive" "The Case of the Lonely White Dove" 2009–2010 Nurse Jackie Episodes: "Nosebleed" "Ring Finger" "Comfort Food" "Twitter" "Silly String" "Monkey Bits" "P.O. Box" "Sleeping Dogs" "What the Day Brings"

"Pilot" "Jesus Take The Wheel"

Acting roles Year Title Role Note 1986 The Facts of Life Ron Episode: "The Ratings Game" 1988–1989 Dirty Dancing Norman Bryant 11 episodes 1990 thirtysomething Focus Group Member Episode: "Pulling Away" It's Garry Shandling's Show Chester Bass Episodes: "The Proposal", "The Honeymoon Show" and "Chester Gets a Show" 1991 Good Sports Leash Episodes: "Pros and Ex-Cons", "Electricity", "The Return of Nick" and "A Class Act" Get a Life Mark Episode: "Chris Becomes a Male Escort" 1992 Deep Dish TV Unknown Television film 1992–1993 The Edge Various 7 episodes The Jackie Thomas Show Bobby Wynn 18 episodes 1993 Roseanne Pete Episode: "A Stash from the Past" 1994 The Good Life Video Clerk Episodes: "Paul Dates a Buddhist" and "John Takes Out Melissa" Hardball Agent #1 Episode: "Whose Strike Is It Anyway?" 1996 The Louie Show Dr. Jake Anderson 6 episodes 1996–1997 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Mr. Eugene Pool 26 episodes 1997 Men Behaving Badly Nelson Episode: "The Sting" Ellen Peterson Episode: "G.I. Ellen" 1998 The Drew Carey Show Worker #1 Episode: "From the Earth to the Moon" 1999 Freaks and Geeks Alexander the Guitarist Uncredited; Episode: "I'm with the Band"2005 Arrested Development Magician Episode: "Sword of Destiny" Early Bird Unknown Television film 2009 Nurse Jackie Mr. Spagnolo Episode: "Monkey Bits" 2013 The Office Animal Trainer Episode: "Stairmageddon" 2014 Maron Warren Episode: "Therapy" Hell's Kitchen Himself Episode: "18 Chefs Compete" 2017 9JKL Episode: "Pilot" 2018 The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale 14 episodes 2020 Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Dale Episode: "Zoey's Extraordinary Mother"