Briga Heelan (pronunciation ) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her work on the sitcoms ''

Cougar Town ''Cougar Town'' is an American television sitcom that ran for 102 episodes over six seasons, from September 23, 2009, until March 31, 2015. The first three seasons aired on ABC, with the series moving to TBS for the remaining three seasons. AB ...

'', '' Ground Floor'', '' Undateable'', ''

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

'', '' Great News'', and '' B Positive''.

Early life and education

Heelan was born in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

, the daughter of actress and Lowell Public Schools teacher Kimball Heelan and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Kevin Heelan. She has a brother named Conor. Heelan's father, as well as being a

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

, has been a faculty member at Phillips Andover Academy since 1983. Heelan attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts and studied for a year at the

Cincinnati Conservatory of Music The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was a conservatory, part of a girls' finishing school, founded in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1955, forming the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, w ...

, before transferring to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 2009. At graduation, Heelan received the James B. Pendleton Award for outstanding contributions to the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

Career

Heelan intended to focus on

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

. She met her '' Ground Floor'' co-star, Skylar Astin, at a musical theatre convention. Heelan's break-out TV role was on ''

.'' She was credited as a

recurring character A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main f ...

on '' Undateable'', appearing in three episodes plus the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. She was able to shoot both Bill Lawrence-helmed '' Ground Floor'' and '' Undateable'' simultaneously because both comedies are

multi-camera The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking, television production and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on ...

, which require fewer production days than single-camera shows. She also guest starred in the first episode of Season 10 of ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

''. Regarding Heelan's role in ''Ground Floor'', TV critic

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

said Heelan is "simply terrific as Jenny: warm and quirky while always feeling like a strong and independent character". The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' said Heelan "makes ''Ground Floor'' watchable", describing her as "remarkably alive and in the moment; she makes real all that she touches. I could easily recommend tuning in just to watch her work and hereby do." On May 13, 2023, Heelan made her Broadway debut as Cinderella in '' Once Upon a One More Time'' at the

Marquis Theatre The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1986, it ...

. She had previously portrayed the same role in the 2021 world premiere run in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

On her unusual name, she said, "It's an Irish name. In fact, my last name was O'Heelahan back in the day. And Briga, I read somewhere, is some pagan Celtic goddess, which sounds great, so I really like saying that. But I was named after my grandmother's best friend, who was Irish and came from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

." On October 16, 2014, Heelan became engaged to her '' Ground Floor'' co-star

Rene Gube Rene Gube ( ) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He played Threepeat on the TBS sitcom '' Ground Floor'', and was executive story editor and a writer for the CW show '' Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' where he also had a recurring role as "Father ...

. They were married on May 8, 2015. On October 31, 2016, they announced they were expecting their first child, a daughter, due in March 2017. Heelan gave birth to their daughter Bennet Alejandra Gube on March 23, 2017. On June 24, 2024, Heelan announced they were expecting their second child.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heelan, Briga 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Massachusetts American people of Irish descent American television actresses American women comedians Living people People from Andover, Massachusetts University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Massachusetts Walnut Hill School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)