| Vanessa Bayer | |
| Birth Name: | Vanessa Polster Bayer |
| Birth Date: | 14 November 1981 |
| Birth Place: | Orange, Ohio, U.S. |
| Education: | University of Pennsylvania (BA) |
| Years Active: | 2002–present |
Vanessa Polster Bayer (born November 14, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2017, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. She co-created, co-executive produces, and has the lead role in the Showtime comedy I Love That for You, loosely based on her experience as a survivor of childhood leukemia. She has appeared in such films as Trainwreck (2015), Office Christmas Party (2016), Carrie Pilby (2016), Ibiza (2018) and Wander Darkly (2020).
Bayer was born on November 14, 1981,[1] in Orange, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and raised in nearby Moreland Hills.[2] [3] She is the daughter of Carolyn and Todd Bayer.[4] Bayer's family is Jewish, and she has stated that her Jewish upbringing "influenced [her] life and comedy".[5] She has a brother, Jonah, who is a music journalist and the guitarist of the punk supergroup United Nations.[6] [7]
At age 15, Bayer was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). She stated that while battling the disease, she discovered the meaning of comic relief. "I don't know if it made me funnier, but it was so amazing, how it made everything be O.K.", she said.[8]
Bayer is a 2000 graduate of Orange High School.[9] In 2004, she graduated from the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in communication and French.[10] [11]
While attending college, she interned on the television shows Sesame Street and Late Night with Conan O'Brien and participated in the cast of Bloomers, an all-female musical and sketch comedy troupe.[12]
, Bayer was collaborating with her brother Jonah on the web series Sound Advice for Above Average, where she stars as Janessa Slater, a media coach who helps famous musicians change their images.[13] [14] [15] She was part of the all-Jewish cast of The Second City's stage show Jewsical: The Musical, a musical that presented a comedic take on Jewish life and culture.[16] She played Kate Clark in the Chicago-based feature comedy Off the Cuff. She performed improvisational comedy at Chicago's ImprovOlympic, where she trained with SNL castmate Paul Brittain, and at the Annoyance Theatre and The Second City.[17]
Bayer joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 25, 2010. She was promoted to repertory status for the 2012–2013 seasons. In 2014, she was nominated for an American Comedy Award for her work on the show, and in 2017, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.[18] She departed SNL on May 20, 2017, after seven years there.[19] [20]
Her recurring characters included:
Bayer appeared on ABC's Single Parents in 2019 in a recurring role as Mia Cooper, the ex-wife of Taran Killam's character.
Starting in 2018, she had a recurring role on NBC's Will & Grace as Amy, a former baker who loses her job because of Karen and subsequently works for Karen's baseball team.
Bayer is the co-creator, co-executive producer and star of the Showtime comedy I Love That for You, which premiered on May 1, 2022, and is loosely based on her life as a survivor of childhood leukemia.[21] [22] [23]
Bayer has appeared in two episodes of What We Do in the Shadows, as Evie Summers, an Emotional Vampire, who drains energy from humans by resorting to passive aggressive and wholly fabricated stories of various horrible things that supposedly happened to her. She has a rivalry with energy Vampire Colin Robinson, played by Mark Proksch, who uses boring long-winded explanations to get the same result. [24]
After Bayer was diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted her wish to send her family on vacation to Hawaii. In gratitude and recognition, Bayer is involved with the foundation. In 2015, she hosted its Evening of Wishes Dinner to help raise funds for wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.[25]
In June 2019, she published the children's book How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear?, which teaches children how to support friends with long-term illnesses.[26]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Off the Cuff | Kate Clark | ||
| 2010 | Stages of Emily | Jocelyn | Short film | |
| 2012 | Adventures in the Sin Bin | Superdawg Waitress | ||
| 2013 | Despicable Me 2 | Flight Attendant | Voice role | |
| 2015 | Trainwreck | Nikki | ||
| 2016 | Carrie Pilby | Tara | ||
| Office Christmas Party | Allison Parker | |||
| 2017 | The Polka King | Bitsy Bear | ||
| 2018 | Ibiza | Nikki | ||
| 2020 | Wander Darkly | Maggie | ||
| 2021 | Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar | Debbie | ||
| 2022 | DC League of Super-Pets | PB | Voice role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–17 | Saturday Night Live | Various | Series regular Nominated – 2014 American Comedy Award for Comedy Supporting Actress – TV Nominated – 2014 Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Female Performance in a Fiction Program Nominated – 2015 Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Female Performance in a Fiction Program Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | |
| 2011 | I Wanna Have Your Baby | Connie | Episode: "Corrine & Jerry" | |
| 2012 | Sugarboy | Chip's wife | ||
| 2013 | The Mindy Project | Mary | Episode: "Sk8er Man" | |
| 2014 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Susan Armhold | Episode: "Patton Oswalt Wears a Black Blazer & Dress Shoes" | |
| 2014 | Wallykazam! | Rockelle (voice) | Episode: "The Rock Can Talk" | |
| 2014–17 | Portlandia | Various | Episodes: "Sharing Finances", "Late in Life Drug Use", "You Can Call Me Al" and "The Storytellers" | |
| 2015 | Man Seeking Woman | Laura | Episodes: "Traib" and "Lizard" | |
| 2015 | The Awesomes | Dr. Jill Stein-Awesome-Kaplan (voice) | 4 episodes | |
| 2016 | Modern Family | Marjorie | Episode: "Snow Ball" | |
| 2016–19 | Drunk History | Various | 3 episodes | |
| 2017 | The Simpsons | Dr. Clarity Hoffman-Roth (voice) | Episode: "A Father's Watch" | |
| 2017 | Crashing | Herself | Episode: "Julie" | |
| 2018 | Love | Sarah | Episode: "Sarah from College" | |
| 2018–20 | Will & Grace | Amy / Friday | 6 episodes | |
| 2019–20 | Single Parents | Mia | 3 episodes | |
| 2019–23 | What We Do in the Shadows | Evie Russell | Episodes: "Werewolf Feud", "The Campaign" | |
| 2019 | I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson | Brenda | Episode: "Instagram" | |
| 2019 | Baha (voice) | Episode: "Troll Playing Game/Finn Cascade" | ||
| 2019 | Helpsters | Rita Reader | Episode: "Rita Reader/Cody Gets a Cold" | |
| 2020 | Shrill | Justine | Episode: "WAHAM" | |
| 2020 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Officer Debbie Fogle | Recurring role (season 7); episodes "Manhunter",[27] "The Jimmy Jab Games II", and "Debbie"[28] | |
| 2022–24 | Alice's Wonderland Bakery | Tweedle Do (voice) | Recurring role | |
| 2022 | I Love That for You | Joanna Gold | Series regular; also creator and executive producer | |
| 2022 | Barry | Morgan Dawn-Cherry | Episode: "710N" |