Michael William Day (born March 20, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. He was hired as a writer for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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 ...

'' before its 39th season in 2013. He was then promoted to on-air cast status and became a featured player during the show's 42nd season in 2016, later being promoted to repertory status beginning with the 44th season in 2018. Day is also the host of the Netflix show '' Is It Cake?'' He previously was an on-air correspondent for ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' and ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009, to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show ''The Tonight Show wit ...

''.

Early life and education

Michael William Day was born March 20, 1980, in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

. He attended Panorama Elementary School and later graduated from

El Modena High School El Modena High School, colloquially called El Mo or ElMo, is a traditional four-year public high school located in the El Modena neighborhood of the City of Orange in Orange County, California. It is one of four high schools in the Orange Unifie ...

. There, he was involved in the drama program and the

student government A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

. He wrote comedic sketches for monthly assemblies and made "Batman" the theme for his

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada. United St ...

. Day graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

with a degree in theater in 2002.

Career

Day began his career with the Groundlings, a

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, ...

–based

improvisational theater Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

group. With the Groundlings, Day and Michael Naughton wrote and co-starred in ''David Blaine Street Magic'', a parody of magician

David Blaine David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and Endurance art, endurance performer. Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when h ...

, portrayed by

Mitch Silpa Mitch Silpa (born December 5, 1971) is an American writer, actor, and director who starred in NBC's '' The Rerun Show'', and has appearances in shows such as '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''Desperate Housewives'', ''Gilmore G ...

. The video, posted to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, was once one of the most-viewed videos on the site. Day was an original cast member on the

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

series '' Wild 'n Out'' on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. He played various characters in the Groundling stage show ''Groundlings, In The Study, With The Candlestick'' in early 2009 and directed ''Groundlings Space Camp''. Day wrote for Showtime's '' The Underground'' in 2006. Day starred in

's '' Kath & Kim remake'' (2009), wrote for and co-produced the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

show '' Incredible Crew'' (2013), and wrote for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

's ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'' in 2014. Day hosted a recurring segment parodying ''

TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...

'' from 2010 to 2013 on ''

'' and ''

''. Day was a featured cast member of

variety show '' Maya & Marty'', alongside

Maya Rudolph Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress and comedian. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). During her tenure on the show, she appeared in supporting roles in ...

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

, and

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since Saturday Night Live season 29, 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the ...

. He also served as one of the show's co-head writers.

2013–present: ''Saturday Night Live''

Day was hired as a writer for ''

'' in 2013 for its 39th season. He was recommended for the job by Nasim Pedrad, who had worked with him before and was a cast member of SNL at the time, appearing in her fifth and final season on the show. On ''SNL'' he wrote many sketches featuring cast member & former ''Wild 'n Out'' co-star Taran Killam, with whom he wrote the screenplay to '' Brother Nature'' (2016). He was promoted to featured player for season 42 and was promoted to a repertory player in the beginning of season 44. For his

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...

, he impersonated Donald Trump Jr. and ''SNL'' actor Kyle Mooney. His debut appearance was in season 42's first episode, October 1, 2016, hosted by Margot Robbie. Bobby Moynihan, Streeter Seidell, and Day wrote the sketch "Haunted Elevator" for the October 22, 2016 episode of ''SNL''. Starring

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

as David S. Pumpkins, Day played one of two dancing skeletons in the sketch. The sketch went viral, and he reprised the role for '' The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special'' (2017). On the April 13, 2024 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', Day and guest host

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...

appeared in a sketch as live-action versions of ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

''. The sketch went viral and received large media coverage and critical acclaim. The pair reprised the roles on the red carpet at '' The Fall Guy'' movie premiere, of which Gosling played the starring role. ;Celebrity impressions on ''Saturday Night Live'' *

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...

(dressed as the Grim Reaper) *

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and music producer who is the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has collaborated with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants ...

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal ( ; born February 13, 1946) is an American politician, lawyer, and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from ...

Butt-Head The following is a list of characters appearing on the MTV cartoon series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', each with a description. Some of these characters appear in only one or two episodes. The episodes in which they are known to appear are listed i ...

Bruce Castor Bruce Lee Castor Jr. (born October 24, 1961) is an American lawyer and retired Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March ...

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. ...

* Bill Cowher *

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

* Steve Doocy *

Jack Dorsey Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American businessperson, who is a co-founder of Twitter, Inc. and its CEO during 2007–2008 and 2015–2021, as well as co-founder, principal executive officer and chairman of Block, Inc. (deve ...

* Matt Duffer *

Joseph Dunford Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. (born 23 December 1955) is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019. He was the 36th commandant of the Marine C ...

* Rob Dyrdek * Sean Evans *

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...

Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...

* Dan Frischman *

Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States attorney general from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Dist ...

* Willie Geist *

Jeffrey Goldberg Jeffrey Mark Goldberg (born 1965) is an American journalist who is the editor-in-chief of ''The Atlantic''. During his nine years at ''The Atlantic'' before becoming editor, Goldberg became known for his coverage of foreign affairs. He moderated ...

* Matt Hall *

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

* Pee-wee Herman *

Rian Johnson Rian Craig Johnson (born December 17, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the neo-noir mystery film ''Brick (film), Brick'' (2005), which received positive reviews and grossed nearly $4 million on a $450,000 budget ...

Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. ...

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

* Brian Kilmeade *

Steve King Steven Arnold King (born May 28, 1949) is an American former politician and businessman who served as a U.S. representative from Iowa from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Iowa's 5th congressional district un ...

* Greg Lee *

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine ( ; born March 18, 1979) is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and sole continuous member of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, for ...

Howie Long Howard Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960) is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders. He played college football for ...

* Kevin Love * Joe Manchin III * Stephen Miller *

Roy Moore Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed from office for judic ...

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

Mehmet Oz Mehmet Cengiz Oz ( ; ; born June 11, 1960), also known as Dr. Oz (), is an American television presenter, physician, author, educator and government official serving as the 17th administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sinc ...

* Pitbull *

Jamie Raskin Jamin Ben Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is an American attorney, law professor, and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Demo ...

Jim Risch James Elroy Risch ( ; born May 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Idaho since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as lieutenant governor of Idaho under governors ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...

* Bruce Schroeder *

Nate Silver Nathaniel Read Silver (born January 13, 1978) is an American statistician, political analyst, author, sports gambler, and poker player who Sabermetrics, analyzes baseball, basketball and Psephology, elections. He is the founder of ''FiveThirty ...

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the New York Giants. After playing college football for the Morehead Sta ...

Steve-O Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American stunt performer, comedian, media personality, and podcast host. His career is mostly centered on his shocking and pain-inducing stunts in the realit ...

* Donald Trump Jr. * Sam Worthington (as

Jake Sully Jake Sully, or Tsyeyk te Suli in the Naʼvi language, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American epic science fiction film franchise ''Avatar'', created by James Cameron. Portrayed by Sam Worthington in ''Avatar'' (2009) and ...

from the ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

'' film series) *

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

;Recurring characters on ''Saturday Night Live'' * Greg Duncan, one half of a couple whose forays into spicing up their sex life leave Greg seriously and comically injured by his shy, yet intimidating wife Shelley Duncan ( Leslie Jones) * Mort Fellner, a

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

who reports on the achievements and experiences of fellow supercentenarians; however, each report culminates in revealing that the achievement is due to the subject dying. * Nico Slobkin, one half a shallow couple always on the brink of an argument, who runs a relationship-themed Instagram account with his girlfriend Brie Bacardi ( Heidi Gardner). * Matt Schatt, one half of a couple, who is so disproportionately unexceptional compared to his exceptionally attractive partner that others can't help but question how their relationship exists. * Josh, one of the two unintelligent kids (the other being Lonnie, played by

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's histor ...

) in the Science Room sketches.

Disney

Day and his writing partner Streeter Seidell have completed one project and have two projects in development for

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 ...

. The first of these, ''

Home Sweet Home Alone ''Home Sweet Home Alone'' is a 2021 American List of Christmas films, Christmas comedy film directed by Dan Mazer and written by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. A standalone sequel to ''Home Alone: The Holiday Heist'' (2012), it is the sixth ins ...

'', the sixth film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, was 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 ...

on November 12, 2021. A live-action

Inspector Gadget ''Inspector Gadget'' is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series '' Inspector Gadget''. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated ...

film is in pre-production.

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

is also planning to produce a remake of '' SpaceCamp''.

Personal life

Day dated Selma Blair, whom he met on the set of ''Kath & Kim'', from 2008 to 2010. Day married his long-term partner, actress Paula Christensen, in 2024. Their son was born in August 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Mikey 1980 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors American male comedians American sketch comedians Male actors from Orange County, California UCLA Film School alumni American male voice actors 21st-century American male actors Comedians from California 21st-century American comedians Writers Guild of America Award winners El Modena High School alumni American comedy writers American male television writers American television writers American male screenwriters