Steven Ray Wiig (born December 30, 1972) is an American film

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, producer and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

. He appeared in the films '' Into the Wild'', '' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster'', ''

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

'', and '' The Master''. He is also the drummer in the band

Papa Wheelie Papa Wheelie is an American punk rock/ heavy metal band, formed in 1996 by former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. The band emerged from a mountain biking-based friendship between Jason and his neighborhood bike shop owner. Early in the projec ...

. Wiig is the primary songwriter in his band

The Martichora ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

(all instruments) along with Rich Doucette.

Life and career

Wiig was born December 30, 1972, in

Ishpeming Ishpeming ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,470 at the 2010 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He grew up in

Negaunee Negaunee ( or ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,568 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the southwest corner of Negaunee Township, which is administratively separate, in the Upper Pen ...

and graduated from Negaunee High School in 1991, where he was voted "Most Artistic" by his classmates. Wiig attended

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

. He relocated to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

after college in the mid-nineties, where he performed with his band, The Martichora, and produced & acted in several student films, including ''All Praise The Electric Light''. Soon after, he began working on the road and in the recording studio with multi-Grammy award-winning heavy metal band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instru ...

. In 2000, Wiig relocated to

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

to work with

bassist

Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician who was the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He first performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986 before joining Metallica to su ...

at his home studio and play in Newsted's band,

. He continued working and traveling the world with Metallica for over a decade performing numerous duties—fan club writer, photographer, videographer, backline assistant, production, and band personal assistant. Wiig played bass for Metallica at The

Playboy Mansion The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hill ...

in 1998 (filling in for Newsted). Wiig has appeared in several films and assisted Oscar-winner Penn on several personal and professional projects and worked as a consultant for Social Capital Films for

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...

's ''Tell-Tale''. In 2009, Wiig teamed up with fellow Upper Michigan-native Ron Riekki to produce Riekki's novel
''U.P.'' (2008)
later made into a movie. In 2010, Wiig documented

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, k ...

's homecoming reunion 'trilogy' performances at San Francisco's Warfield Theater and directed Jerry Hannan's "The Bridge", a music video for the film ''Guitar Man''. In September 2010, Wiig & Riekki embarked on a tour of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, promoting Riekki's novel, ''U.P.''. During a homecoming event at The Vista Theatre, Mayor Paul Gravedoni presented Wiig with a resolution recognizing him for his vision of bringing the City of

recognition through film and his dedication to the arts. 2011 saw Wiig return to acting in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's ''

Hemingway & Gellhorn ''Hemingway & Gellhorn'' is a 2012 television film directed by Philip Kaufman about the lives of journalist Martha Gellhorn and her husband, writer Ernest Hemingway. The film premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and aired on HBO on May 28, ...

''. Under

Philip Kaufman Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning more than six decades. He has been described as a "maverick" and an "iconoclast," notable for his versati ...

's direction, Wiig portrayed

Simo Häyhä Simo Häyhä (; 17December 1905 1April 2002), often referred to by his nickname, The White Death ( fi, Valkoinen kuolema; russian: Белая смерть, Belaya smert’), was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 ...

during the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

, leading a group of

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

soldiers to shelter where

Martha Gellhorn Martha Ellis Gellhorn (8 November 1908 – 15 February 1998) was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. Gellhorn reported on virtually every major worl ...

(played by

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

) is reporting on

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In July 2011, Wiig acted in three major films (including

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...

's movie '' The Master''). In 2014, he starred in ''Dead Metaphors'', a short film in which he portrays a self-destructive, reclusive novelist who hasn't published in decades who is discovered and pushed to the brink of a complete mental breakdown. The film features songs by

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

and was featured at the 2014 ArcovertLA Film festival. Wiig continues acting, producing & directing and is actively working to bring more film projects to

Upper Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

.Local man makes good in Hollywood
miningjournal.net; accessed December 27, 2016.

Filmography

As Actor: *''All Praise The Electric Light'' (student film) *'' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster'' (2004) *'' Into the Wild'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) *''

'' (2012) deleted scene *'' The Master'' (2012) *''

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

'' (2015) *''

America Is Still The Place ''I'm Charlie Walker'' is a 2022 true-life drama film. It is written and directed by Patrick Gilles. The film stars Mike Colter, Safiya Fredericks, Dylan Baker and Monica Barbaro. Synopsis Charlie Walker (Colter) faced down racism to lea ...

'' (2015) *'' Dead Metaphors'' (2015) *''

Around Midnight ''Around Midnight'' is an LP album by Julie London, released by Liberty Records under catalog number LRP-3164 as a monophonic recording in 1960, and later in stereo under catalog number LST-7164 the same year. It was released a number of times ...

'' (2015) *''

Ant-Man Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) but first appeared in costum ...

'' (2015)

Discography

* GROINBLITZER **1989-1991 *

The Lesser ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

**all releases *

References

External links

TWO EYES Productions WebsiteSecond Wave Feature"Moving on UP"
SF Chronicle, September 5, 2010
SF Chronicle PHOTOLocal-born actor eyes the idea of bringing ''U.P.'' to the big screen
* ttp://rocknrollgraffiti.blogspot.com/2008/03/up-native-has-metallica-role.html Metallica embraces U.P. native {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiig, Steven 1972 births Male actors from Michigan American male film actors American heavy metal musicians Living people Musicians from Michigan Northern Michigan University alumni People from Negaunee, Michigan 21st-century American male actors