5 Reasons We Love Kristen Wiig

Over the weekend, the new dramedy Friends with Kids opened up in theaters nationwide. The film focuses on three couples-- two married and one in a platonic relationship-- who have children. One of the married couples in the film is played by Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig, who along with Chris O' Dowd and Maya Rudolph, are reuniting from the 2011 comedy Bridesmaids. But in this new film, Wiig plays a different type of role than the one she played in "Bridesmaids." Although she has a few funny lines, Friends gives the Saturday Night Live performer an opportunity to show off her dramatic skills, with a character who is struggling with an unhappy marriage. Wiig pulls off this role nicely and proves how versatile she can be. With that in mind, we've come up with a list of "5 Reasons We Love Kristen Wiig." Some of these reasons may not surprise you, but each shows that Wiig is more of a star than people often give her credit for.

Although most people see Wiig as an actress, she's also very talented behind the scenes. In fact, earlier this year, she became the latest SNL star to earn an Oscar nomination. Alongside Annie Mumolo, she was nominated as a writer for Bridesmaids for Best Original Screenplay. Although they lost to Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, Bridesmaids was a huge success last year, critically and commercially. The film also provided a forum for a group of strong female actresses to prove how funny women can be in a crude outlandish comedy. And Wiig clearly established herself as a strong writer with a movie that some critics thought was one of the best of the year.

Admittedly, Wiig has chosen some terrible films to perform in. For instance, I hated MacGruber-- which Screen Rant's Kofi Outlaw enjoyed-- but despite my problems with it, I thought that Wiig was terrific. Even in this undeserving comedy, Wiig earned a few laughs and smiles. Throughout the proceedings, Wiig kept her dignity intact-- which is more than can be said about Ryan Phillippe-- and showed how great she can be even when the material doesn't merit it. That's definitely saying something.

Wiig may be well-known as a comedic actress, but she has done some dramatic work as well. She co-starred in All Good Things, the 2010 drama about the disappearance of a young married woman in the early 1980s. But it's in Friends With Kids that she really shows off her dramatic prowess. In Kids, her marriage to Jon Hamm is suffering and Wiig-- through her facial expressions and her dialogue - shows what the character is feeling. Wiig earns a few laughs, but it is in her scenes of heartbreak and pain where she really soars in this movie.

One of the great things about Wiig is her persistence in earning a laugh. In a movie like Bridesmaids, she often had to act like an idiot to earn a belly laugh. But whether she's trying to one-up another bridesmaid in giving a memorable toast, or when she's trying to get a police officer's attention, Wiig is willing to make a fool of herself to get the audience to chuckle. It's hard not to be endeared by Wiig's enthusiastic personality, but her lack of inhibitions is one of the best things about this comedian. She wants to make you laugh even if she's acting silly doing it. That's a trait that too few comedians have these days.

Wiig's persistence in getting laughs would mean nothing if at the end of the day, she wasn't funny. But thankfully, she is. On SNL, she has played a variety of memorable characters including "Target Lady" and Suze Orman. In each of these skits, Wiig seems to effortlessly earn her laughs with her facial expressions and her hilarious impressions. In fact, watching her perform is one of the few reasons to watch SNL on a regular basis. She is often the highlight of the show. But Wiig has also been funny on the big screen. Her performance in Bridesmaids may have drawn more attention to her but she has been stealing scenes for years. In 2009, she stole scenes in the Ricky Gervais comedy Ghost Town and before she did the same in 2009's Adventureland. Wiig has proven herself as a comedic talent and one of the funniest actresses out there.

Kristen Wiig is still a young performer with a long career in front of her, but she has already proven herself through television shows and on the big screen. She's one of the best members of the SNL cast and has stolen scenes in a variety of comedic films. But in the past year alone, she became a household name with her leading performance in Bridesmaids and earned herself an Oscar nomination. Here, again are five reasons to love Kristen Wiig:

She’s a good writer
She makes terrible movies more tolerable
She’s a good dramatic actress
She’s willing to do anything for a laugh
She’s one of the funniest comedians onscreen today

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26 Comments

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Kevin7 1 year ago

I have to say I laughed and continue to laugh throughout MacGruber. There’s a ton of quotable lines and moments that are so dumb it’s funny.
I never get the Wiig backlash that you see on message boards and comments.
What’s not to like? She’s smart, funny, creative and seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to get a laugh.
Of course most of the people who don’t like her are the people who constantly say SNL hasn’t been funny since (place a year here). Which is another topic altogether.

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- callum 1 year ago
  
  MacGruber is hilarious. i agree, completely quotable. this guy is a bit a bit harsh.
  
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AJ 1 year ago

Who’s the girl in the first picture with Kristen Wiig with the microphone? I know I’ve seen her somewhere, but I can’t seem to place her.

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- Patrick 1 year ago
  
  Rose Byrne
  
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- Kofi Outlaw 1 year ago
  
  That’s Rose Byrne from ‘Damages’, ‘X-Men: First Class’, ‘Get Him to the Greek’, ‘Bridesmaids’, etc…
  
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- Robert Palmar 1 year ago
  
  As Patrick and Kofi said it is Rose Byrne of course
  but as much as I am familiar with her I did not realize it
  was Rose in Bridesmaids until the credits rolled oddly enough.
  
  In fact I thought her character was played by Minka Kelly.
  So not quite placing her happened to me while viewing the film.
  
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  - AJ 1 year ago
    
    Thanks you guys, she really looks different here!
    
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  - Ken J 1 year ago
    
    Really? I thought she had dark hair??? In the next picture of the Bridesmaids cast, Byrne is on the right and you can clearly see her hair is dark???
    
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Gerardo 1 year ago

just looking at her makes me smile..

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Robert Palmar 1 year ago

My only exposure to Kristen Wiig was Bridesmaids.
And for that alone I was quite impressed and
she is on my radar for anything she does.

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Tim 1 year ago

Her and Bill Hader are probably the best things to come out of SNl in a long time.

She’s attractive and funny. What’s not to like?

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Snow 1 year ago

Her SNL skits where she has to “one up” everyone are some of the best. I wish she replaced Steve Carrell on the office, she would of rocked in that type of comedic environment. One of the best comedians out there for sure.

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Ken J 1 year ago

I can honestly say that Bridesmaids shold have won over Midnight in Paris. That movie was garbage, but its political content won over the academy, so what’s new??

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Evan 1 year ago

I have to say that I absolutely HATE Kristen Wiig. This is easily one of the all-time weak SNL casts (I dare you to name more than 5 people without looking it up) and there are no recurring skits outside of Japanese American Fun Time Now that really resonate (the Digital Shorts are great, of course, but they aren’t really recurring in the sense of a character like the Samurai Deli or Mr. Peepers).

I have nothing against her personally, I just dont think her brand of self-referential oveer-the-top appeals to me (her big schtick seems to be to open her mouth wide in a doofy grin while winking to the audience). I didn’t like it with Fallon or the woman from Parks and Rec either when they did it on the show.

As for Bridesmaids – yes it was a good movie, but she was the worst part. She was utterly unsympathetic, and while I can remember plenty about the supporting cast moments, I don’t believe any scene with just her and her guy were at all memorable (all I remember is that he had a borderline creepy obsession with forcing her to bake incredibly early in their relationship).

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- Kevin7 1 year ago
  
  Abby Elliott
  Keenan Thompson
  Jason Sudekis
  Bobby Moynahann
  Fred Armasin
  Bill Hader
  Seth Meyers
  I know I spelled a few wrong. But I think it still counts.
  BTW, I’m not busting your chops, I just wanted to take you up on your dare.
  Oh yeah, Kristen Wiig
  
  Reply
  - Evan 1 year ago
    
    Ha Kevin7, congrats, you win a patented no-prize for meeting my dare.
    
    Reply
Bryant @ SJC 1 year ago

Kristin Wiig is just such a lovable character!

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foopher 2.0 1 year ago

She’s the reason SNL is still funny (and Bill Hader). One of the reasons I loved Bridesmaids was because of her acting in it. She could say more with a look than most actresses could with a paragraph of dialogue.

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Gary Park 1 year ago

Kristen Wiig is funny as heck! She could leave SNL now and have a great career in movies & TV. She made MacGruber less painful to watch, I did a lot of wincing as if someone was poking my leg with a sharp pencil. I loathed that movie, it absolutely stank. I’m surprised it wasn’t a direct to DVD clunker.

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Bond 1 year ago

I think its time you got a room. Far too much public loving going on here, even if warranted.

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Longshanks 1 year ago

I like Kristen Wiig,but I oddly enough,I don’t think that she’s some great talent when it comes to getting laughs.

Personally,I think that she is a wanna-be Tina Fey,just like Jimmy Fallon was a wanna-be Mike Myers.

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- Ken J 1 year ago
  
  Why the heck would Kristen Wiig want to be Tina Fey?? She’s better than her… I never really found Tina Fey funny. Like that movie Date Night… Yah, a few chuckles, but that’s about it… More stupid than funny…
  
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  - Longshanks 1 year ago
    
    In the pecking order of female comic writers/actors, Tina Fey is light years above Kristen Wiig. It doesn’t have anything to do with who “you” think is funnier,it’s just the way it is. It’s about level of success,which Tina Fey is further along.
    
    I personally don’t care for Fey’s movies either,but I love me some Liz Lemon.
    
    Reply
    - Ken J 1 year ago
      
      Um, ok, if you say so, since apparently there is a globally recognized order of who the best comedian is… Lol. I think you must be number 1 BTW.
      
      Reply
- JT 2 months ago
  
  How is Kristen Wiig in any way like Tina Fey? Tina Fey was a writer, who did Weekend Update and occasionally appeared in the background of sketches. Kristen Wiig was the female lead in the sketches. They didn’t even have the same jobs, let alone the same kind of humor.
  
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Jinko 10 months ago

Do not find her funny, and other women on SNL were so hilarious, and did not receive the due they deserved. She was Lorne’s pet!

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