Elyse Willems (born May 3, 1986) is a Canadian internet personality, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her work as a cast member and producer at Funhaus, a division of Rooster Teeth Productions, since November 2015. Since then, Willems has appeared and been involved in numerous productions by Rooster Teeth. Willems self-published her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''A Night in Halloween House'', which became a bestselling Halloween

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

in October 2020.

Biography

Willems was born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in a family of Polish descent. After graduating from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

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 ...

in Political Science and Government, Willems relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in January 2012. She worked at Viacom as a production assistant on

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from August 2012, later becoming a segment producer at Defy Media in 2014, where she produced, wrote and hosted ''Mandatory Update'', a weekly comedy news show that provided a satirical commentary on the video game industry. In November 2015, Willems joined Rooster Teeth as a cast member of Funhaus. There, she has collaboratively produced and co-written numerous series, such as ''Arizona Circle'', ''Sex Swing'', and ''Twits & Crits'', as well as produced and performed in gaming videos and podcasts. Willems has made several appearances at RTX conventions, including a Ladies of Rooster Teeth panel at RTX Sydney 2017 where she expressed her frustration at credit for things she has done being given to her male peers in the past, and on the series ''Always Open'', hosted by fellow Canadian Rooster Teeth member and friend

Barbara Dunkelman Barbara Julie Dunkelman (born July 2, 1989) is a Canadian actress and internet personality. She is known for her work with the former production company Rooster Teeth, where she served as a Creative Director and was formerly the Director of Soci ...

. In 2017, a shortened clip focusing primarily on Willems from one of Funhaus' videos went viral. The clip featured Funhaus members, including her husband, jokingly criticizing a female character for wearing a ponytail while Willems, who is wearing a ponytail in the clip, reacts in the background. The clip appeared in one of PewDiePie's videos, and garnered almost fifteen million views worldwide. Willems clarified that the intent was humorous and that her reaction was deliberately comedic. In 2020, Willems served as the series creator and one of the participants in ''Last Laugh'', a Rooster Teeth series centered around a social experiment where twelve contestants spent six hours in one room while trying to make each other laugh or smile. Willems also streams with her husband James in order to fundraise for various charities and causes, and is among the popular streamers who raised funds for

The Jimmy Fund The Jimmy Fund, established in Boston in 1948, is made up of community-based fundraising events and other programs that benefit Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1948, millions of people have given money to the ...

to support research at

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is the founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

on November 1, 2020. Willems self-published her first novel, titled ''A Night in Halloween House'', in October 2020. It was released on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions, and became the bestselling Halloween children's book. In 2021, she and James were credited as writers for IllFonic's ''Arcadegeddon''.

Personal life

Willems is married to fellow performer and Funhaus cast member James Willems, and they live in Los Angeles,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Filmography

Film

Web series

Video games

References

External links

Official website

Elyse Willems on Twitter

Elyse Willems on IMDb

Elyse Willems on Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willems, Elyse 1986 births 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Actresses from Toronto Canadian children's writers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian people of Polish descent Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian voice actresses Canadian women comedians Comedians from Toronto Living people Rooster Teeth people University of Toronto alumni Screenwriters from Toronto