Will Forte

Orville Willis Forte IV (born June 17, 1970 ) is an American comedian and actor.

He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for eight

He worked as a writer and producer on 3rd Rock from the Sun and That '70s Show before joining Saturday Night Live.

Orville Willis Forte IV was born in Alameda, California on June 17, 1970, the son of artist and former schoolteacher Patricia C. (née Stivers) and financial broker Orville Willis "Reb" Forte III.

He was raised in Moraga before moving to Lafayette at age 13.

He went by "Billy" in his early years until he was teased at school for it also being a girl's name, at which point he decided he would from then on be known as "Will".

Forte describes himself as having been a "really happy little boy" whose parents were "wonderful" and created a "very loving environment".

He was interested in comedy from a young age, growing up idolizing comedians Peter Sellers, David Letterman, and Steve Martin, as well as the sketch-comedy television series Saturday Night Live.

He often pulled pranks on his parents, and would record himself performing imaginary radio shows.

He did not aim to be a comedian, however, and initially wanted to become a football player.

Forte got jobs writing for 3rd Rock from the Sun and That '70s Show.

He loved writing and had mostly given up on acting, aside from acting with the Groundlings.

Forte was "a laid-back teen with a lot of friends" and a member of the varsity football and swim teams at Acalanes High School, from which he graduated in 1988.

He was voted "Best Personality" by his graduating class and served as freshman class president.

He had no ambitions for a television or film career, though his mother noticed a "creative streak" in him.

Following high school, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and completed a degree in history.

Planning to follow his father, he became a financial broker at Smith Barney Shearson in Beverly Hills, but felt "miserable" there.

He co-wrote a feature-length script while there, and later said that he discovered he loved writing "more than anything [he] had ever done in [his] life".

He had been encouraged to attempt comedy during his years at university, and he decided to change his career path to do so.

Forte began taking classes at the Groundlings in Los Angeles, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school, while tutoring children to make ends meet.

Forte's first successful foray into comedy was 101 Things to Definitely Not Do If You Want to Get a Chick, a comic book he produced about incompetent men.

The comics landed him his first professional job writing for The Jenny McCarthy Show, a short-lived variety show starring Jenny McCarthy.

Shortly thereafter, he was asked to submit a packet to the Late Show with David Letterman and was told Letterman responded favorably to animation.

After only nine months at Letterman, he was "let go" from the job.

He recalled his stint on the program as unpleasant, noting that he did not have enough experience in writing.

"What an honor to work at that show but I don't think I was fully mentally prepared. [...] I always wonder what it would be like if I'd had a couple more years of experience before going there."

Forte returned to Los Angeles and began performing with the Groundlings' Main Company, with Cheryl Hines, Jim Rash and Maya Rudolph.

He tried stand-up comedy three times, mostly at open mic nights, but quit after being voted into the Main Company.

He joined the writing teams of two failed sitcoms, including The Army Show and Action.

While performing with the troupe in 2001, he was spotted by Lorne Michaels, the creator of Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Forte felt his confidence was higher than usual, as That '70s Show had been picked up for two more years.

He was invited to audition for SNL, which he regarded as unexpected.

At his audition for SNL, he performed multiple original characters, including Tim Calhoun, a speed reader, a prison guard, in addition to impressions of singer Michael McDonald and actor Martin Sheen.

seasons between 2002 and 2010.

He has provided voice-work for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films (2009–2013), My Life as a Courgette, Get Squirrely (2016), Luis & the Aliens (2018), The Willoughbys, and Scoob! (2020), also voicing Eddy in Disney XD's Lab Rats, and Abraham Lincoln in Clone High (2002–present), The Lego Movie films (2014–2019), Michelangelo and Lincoln: History Cops (2014), and America: The Motion Picture (2021).

During his time on the show, he played a recurring character that led to a feature film adaptation, MacGruber (2010), and a streaming television, MacGruber, limited series in 2021.

Forte played various roles in comedy films before starring in the drama film Nebraska (2013).

Forte also created and starred in the sitcom The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018).

For the series, he received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations: two for acting and one for writing.

After obtaining a history degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and becoming a financial broker like his father, Forte changed his career path to comedy and took classes with the improv group The Groundlings.