Taran Killam

Taran Hourie Killam and lived in Big Bear Lake, California, until age 15. His mother toured with The Charlie Daniels Band and has been described as a singer-songwriter. His father worked as a contractor and was a part of the City Garage Theatre Group and has been described as having had acting ambitions. Taran has several siblings including a younger brother Taylor and sister Danielle.

Killam attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

Career Early career In 1994, Killam made his first film appearance as a boy in Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Killam was featured on Nickelodeon's The Amanda Show, a sketch-comedy vehicle for Amanda Bynes. He played Spaulding, a boy with a crush on the character Moody, in the soap opera parody Moody's Point.

Killam joined the cast of MADtv as a featured player during its seventh season from 2001 to 2002. Of the 25 episodes that aired during MADtvs seventh season, Killam appeared in 13. Joining the MADtv cast at age 19, Killam was the youngest cast member hired on the show and the only cast member on MADtv to get his start on children's shows (similar to Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live). He was a regular cast member on the third and fourth seasons of Wild 'n Out. In 2005, Killam co-starred in the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which never aired on network TV. The pilot gained popularity after it was leaked online and webisodes were produced from 2006 to 2007.

Killam co-starred in the 2004 Disney Channel original film Stuck in the Suburbs. After MADtv, Killam appeared on TV shows such as Jake in Progress, Still Standing, Boston Public, Drake & Josh, Do Over, Roswell and Judging Amy. He has appeared on Scrubs and Scrubs: Interns as Jimmy (the Overly Touchy Orderly). Killam appeared as a contestant on the December 7, 2006 episode of The Price Is Right.

He appeared in Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Anderson's Cross, and My Best Friend's Girl.

Killam was a member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch-comedy troupe the Groundlings. He retired from the main company in 2012.

Saturday Night Live On September 25, 2010, Killam joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 36th season, making him the second Nickelodeon veteran (after Kenan Thompson) to join SNL and the second SNL cast member who was previously a cast member on the sketch show MADtv (after Jeff Richards). Killam named Eddie Murphy as his favorite SNL cast member and Arcade Fire as his favorite musical guest. In August 2016, Killam and castmate Jay Pharoah left the show. Killam said he was not told why his contract was not renewed.

On November 10, 2012, Killam appeared with Kenan Thompson and Anne Hathaway in a SNL music video, "The Legend of Mokiki and the Sloppy Swish". Mokiki is a laboratory test subject who wanders Manhattan performing a shuffling dance move known as the "Sloppy Swish". The sketch briefly became an Internet phenomenon and garnered Killam media and public attention. Mike Ryan of The Huffington Post wrote, "It is one of the most bizarre things to ever air on SNL, yet, the next day, everyone was talking about the Sloppy Swish."

Other work

In December 2011, Killam replicated the Robyn video "Call Your Girlfriend" in a small writer's room and posted it to YouTube. The video went viral and by February 2022, it had been viewed more than 1,277,875 times. The late night antics briefly became an Internet phenomenon and garnered Killam media and public attention. When interviewed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Killam stated that he had not known the dance shown in the song's official video until Robyn was scheduled to appear on SNL as a guest; he watched the video repeatedly until he could perform it himself.

In 2011, Killam appeared in Community episode "Regional Holiday Music" as Mr. Radison (Mr. Rad), a parody of Will Schuester from Glee. In 2012, he appeared in iCarly episode "iMeet the First Lady" as a Secret Service agent.

Killam co-starred in the 2013 comedy film The Heat. Killam voices Zip "Frantic" Danger on the Hulu original series The Awesomes.

In 2013, Killam ventured into the spy genre and the comics industry with The Illegitimates, a six-issue comics miniseries co-written by Marc Andreyko, illustrated by Kevin Sharpe and published by IDW Publishing. The series focuses on a team of illegitimate siblings who are charged with taking the place of their father, Jack Steele, a James Bond-like spy, after his death. The first issue was published December 18, 2013,

Killam appears in the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave, playing the role of Abram Hamilton, one of the men who abducts Solomon Northup into slavery.

Killam is a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, Raphael his favorite turtle, and successfully lobbied for a role in the 2014 film as Channel 5 staff.

On January 17, 2017, Killam succeeded Rory O'Malley in the role of King George III in the Broadway musical Hamilton.

Killam produced, scripted, directed and starred in the comic hitman film Killing Gunther, given a general release in fall 2017. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Gunther in the film, served as executive producer for it.

In March 2018, Killam was cast as a lead in the comedy pilot Single Parents for ABC, which was picked up to series for a premiere on September 26 of that year.

Killam plays the recurring role of Ludo Radovic in the series High Potential, which started airing on ABC in 2024. He was slated to play the role of Officer Lockstock in New York City Center's Encores! 2025 production of Urinetown, but dropped out after losing his home in the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.

Personal life After several years of dating, Killam and actress Cobie Smulders became engaged in January 2009. They married on September 8, 2012, in Solvang, California. The couple have two daughters, born in 2009 and 2015. In January 2025, Killam and Smulders' home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles was destroyed by a wildfire.

Killam is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Rams, often being spotted at their home games.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1994 Naked Gun : The Final Insult Boy of Geriatric Park 2002 Big Fat Liar Bret Callaway 2003 Just Married Dickie McNerney 2006 The Showdown The Batter Short film Dr. Miracles Mr. Peterson 2007 Epic Movie Pirate 2008 My Best Friend's Girl Josh 2009 Three Matthew McConaugheys and a Baby Matthew McConaughey Short film 2010 Anderson's Cross Austin Wilson 2013 The Heat Adam/Simon Larkin Grown Ups 2 Male Cheerleader Cameo 12 Years a Slave Abram Hamilton 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Jim McNaughton 2015 Ted 2 Himself Underdogs Captain Skip / Rufus (voice) 2016 Casual Encounters Justin Davis Brother Nature Roger Fellner Also writer 2017 All Nighter Gary Killing Gunther Blake Also director, producer, and writer, directorial debut 2018 Night School Stewart 2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Patrick O'Hara / Web-Slinger and Widow (voice) River Wild Gray Reese

Television Year Title Role Notes 2000 The Jersey Varsity 1 Episode: "Nick's a Chick" Judging Amy Freddie Felleman Episode: "The Wee Hours" Touched by an Angel Teenage Robert Episode: "The Grudge" 2000–2002 The Amanda Show Spaulding 7 episodes 2001 Undressed Blake 4 episodes (409, 410, 411 & 412) Roswell Malamud Episode: "Heart of Mine" 2001–2002 MADtv Various 13 episodes 2002 Do Over Dave Episode: "The Block Party" 2003 All That Host Special: "R U All That?: Nickelodeon's Search for the Funniest Kid in America" 2004 Drake & Josh Trevor Episode: "Dune Buggy" Boston Public Alex Buchanan Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Eight" Still Standing Andy Episode: "Still Narcing" Stuck in the Suburbs Jordan Cahill TV film 2005 Jake in Progress Todd Episode: "Loose Thread" 2006 Girlfriends Jordan Gray Episode: "Hustle & Dough" 2006–2014 How I Met Your Mother Gary Blauman 6 episodes 2006–2007 Wild 'n OutVarious 29 episodes 2007 Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz 8 episodes, also writer Super Sweet 16: The Movie Conrad St. Jones Television film (MTV) 2009 Scrubs Jimmy 4 episodes Scrubs: Interns Episode: "The Late Night with Jimmy Show" 2010–2016 Saturday Night Live Himself, Various 126 episodes 2011 Community Professor Cory Radison / Mr. Rad Episode: "Regional Holiday Music" 2012 iCarly Agent Kinsey Episode: "iMeet the First Lady" Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday Patient, Steve Doocy, Guy 2 episodes 2013–2018 Drunk History Various 6 episodes 2013–2015 The Awesomes Zip "Frantic" Danger (voice) Main role, 30 episodes 2014 Comedy Bang! Bang! Smith Calvins Episode: "Jenna Fischer Wears a Floral Blouse & Black Heels" Sesame Street Professor Buck Awe Episode: "School for Chickens" 2015–2025 Nature Cat Nature Cat (voice) Main role, 98 episodes 2016 New Girl Fred Episode: "What About Fred" Mating Jay Pilot 2018 A.P. Bio Mr. Vining Episode: "Teacher Jail" Dallas & RoboBright Eyes / various (voice)4 episodes Robot Chicken Various voices Episode: "Ext. Forest Day" 2018–2020 Single Parents Will Cooper Main role, 45 episodes 2018 We Bare Bears Willoughby-Wentworth (voice) Episode: "Adopted" Angie Tribeca Pierre Cardin 6 episodes 2019 Documentary Now! Benedict Juniper Episode: "Original Cast Album: Co-Op" Arrested Development Young George Bluth, Sr. 3 episodes Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Zam Larson Episode: "Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner" What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage Himself Episode: "Elevator" Star Wars Resistance Stormtrooper #2 (voice) Episode: "Station to Station" 2020 The Simpsons Glen Tangier/Airshot (voice) Episode: "Bart the Bad Guy" Loafy Hypnotist Hwayne / Punk Kid #2 (voice) 2 episodes Vampirina Ichabod Crane (voice) Episode: "A Tale of Two Hollows" The George Lucas Talk Show Himself Episode: "Revenge of the Sick" 2021 Star Wars: The Bad Batch Depot Manager / Goatal / Landspeeder Driver (voice) Episode: "Cornered" Impeachment: American Crime Story Steve Jones Recurring role, 5 episodes Mr. Mayor Taryn Digiacomo Episode: "Mr. Mayor's Magical L.A. Christmas" 2022 The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib Ace Perfection (voice) Episode: "The Great Medieval London Fire of 1135" 2022–2023 The NFL Pile On Host 2023–2024 Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Hap / various (voice) 18 episodes 2024–present High Potential Ludo Radovic Recurring role 2025 The Residence St. Pierre Recurring role Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special Himself Television special, NBC 2025–2026 Stumble Boon E. Potter Main role

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 2015 Little Shop of Horrors Orin Scrivello & Others Off-BroadwayEncores! 2017 Hamilton King George III Broadway debut,Replaced Rory O'Malley 2023–2024 Spamalot Sir Lancelot / The French Taunter / Knight of Ni / Tim the Enchanter Broadway 2023 Gutenberg! The Musical! The Guest Producer Broadway, One night appearance 2024 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Vice Principal Douglas Panch Kennedy Center