Jillian Leigh Bell (born April 25, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She was a writer for the 35th season of the NBC

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' between 2009 and 2010. Since her departure from ''SNL'', she has had starring roles in the films ''

Brittany Runs a Marathon ''Brittany Runs a Marathon'' is a 2019 American comedy film written and directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo, in his List of directorial debuts#2019, directorial debut. It stars Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, and Mic ...

'' (2019) and '' I'm Totally Fine'' (2022). She has also appeared on television, starring as Jillian Belk on '' Workaholics'', voicing Violet Hart on '' Bless the Harts'', and in a recurring role as Dixie on the final season of '' Eastbound & Down''. Her other film credits include ''

22 Jump Street ''22 Jump Street'' is a 2014 American adult buddy cop action comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, written by Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman and produced by and starring Hill and Channing T ...

'' (2014), '' Fist Fight'' (2017), '' Godmothered'' (2020), and '' Candy Cane Lane'' (2023). As of June 2024, she is engaged to illustrator/musician Luke McGarry.

Early life

Bell was born and raised in Henderson, NV. She began studying

improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of im ...

at age eight. She graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas in 2002, moved 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, ...

, and became a member of the comedy group The Groundlings.

Career

She auditioned for ''

'', and although she did not join the cast, she became a writer for the show in 2009 for its 35th season. Also in 2009, she appeared in an episode 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 ...

'' as an assistant wearing revealing clothing at work. In 2011, she began playing Jillian Belk on the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

series '' Workaholics''. Film director

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...

saw her in it and gave her a small role in his 2012 film '' The Master'', then another small role in his 2014 film ''

Inherent Vice ''Inherent Vice'' is a novel by the American author Thomas Pynchon, originally published on August4, 2009. A darkly comic detective novel set in 1970s California, the plot follows sleuth Larry "Doc" Sportello whose ex-girlfriend asks him to i ...

''. She had a recurring role as Dixie in the fourth and final season of '' Eastbound & Down''. In 2014, she appeared in ''

'' with Jonah Hill and

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...

. In 2015, she co-starred in '' Goosebumps'' and '' The Night Before''. In January 2016, Bell portrayed the constantly misbehaving adult daughter of wealthy parents in a

series, '' Idiotsitter''. It was originally launched as a web series in early 2014. She starred as the Fairy Godmother in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's '' Godmothered'', a film released on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in 2020 and also starring Isla Fisher.

Filmography

Film

Television

Accolades

In 2010, Bell was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for her work in the writers' room on ''Saturday Night Live''. In 2015, she was nominated for two

MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show previously presented annually on MTV. It began as the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, when its 1992 MTV Movie Awards, first edition was held, and adopted its current name in 2017, beginnin ...

for Best Fight with Jonah Hill and Best Villain for her work on ''22 Jump Street''. In 2019, she received the Fairbanks Award at the San Diego International Film Festival and the Next Wave Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Jillian 1984 births Living people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians Actresses from Nevada American film actresses American people of Romanian descent American sketch comedians American television actresses American voice actresses American women comedians Bishop Gorman High School alumni Comedians from Las Vegas Screenwriters from Nevada American women television writers American television writers 21st-century American screenwriters