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Nick Kroll

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Not to be confused with Nick Krall or Nicholas Kroll.

Nick Kroll
Kroll in 2024
Born
Nicholas Kroll

(1978-06-05) June 5, 1978 (age 46)
Rye, New York, U.S.
EducationGeorgetown University (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer
  • producer
Years active2004–present
Spouse
Lily Kwong
​
(m. 2020)​
Children2
ParentJules Kroll (father)
Relatives
Websitenickkroll.com

Nicholas Kroll (born June 5, 1978) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for the FX comedy series The League (2009–2015), creating and starring in the Comedy Central series Kroll Show (2013–2015), starring in and co-creating the animated Netflix series Big Mouth (2017–present) and Human Resources (2022–2023) and the Hulu sketch comedy series History of the World, Part II (2023).

He has also acted or voice-acted in films such as I Love You, Man (2009), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Adult Beginners (2014), Vacation (2015), Sausage Party (2016), The House (2017), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019), How It Ends (2021), The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022), First Time Female Director (2023) and Red One (2024).

Early life

Kroll was born in Rye, New York,[1][2] on June 5, 1978,[3] to Lynn and Jules Kroll. His father is a billionaire businessman who founded the corporate investigations and risk consulting firm Kroll Inc.[3][4] The youngest child in the family,[5] Kroll has a brother, Jeremy, and two sisters, Vanessa and Dana.[3] He grew up in a Conservative Jewish family,[6] and attended the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester.[7] He went on to high school at Rye Country Day School.[8] During this time, he also briefly attended The Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont, where he developed a fondness for hiking.[9] In 2001, Kroll graduated from Georgetown University.[5] He described himself as a history major who minored in art and Spanish, but found himself "gravitating toward media studies as time went on".[10]

Career

Early in his career, Kroll contributed writing for Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show and MTV's Human Giant. In November and December 2008, he toured with Aziz Ansari on his Glow in the Dark comedy tour in the United States.[11] Kroll's live work is a mix of standup, sketch and characters. In 2011, Comedy Central aired his stand-up special Thank You Very Cool.[12] He has studied and performed regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NYC and LA and co-hosted the stand-up show Welcome to Our Week with Jessi Klein.[13][14]

He is well known as a performer for his characters such as Bobby Bottleservice, who has been featured in a number of online videos for the Funny or Die website, including the Ed Hardy Boyz and an audition tape for the MTV show Jersey Shore.[15] Other characters include Ref Jeff and Fabrice Fabrice, and Gil Faizon of The Oh, Hello Show, who he created with writing partner John Mulaney.[16] His character work features prominently in Kroll Show, a sketch comedy show on Comedy Central. Kroll was honored with the Breakout Star of the Year award from the 2013 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[17]

The Oh, Hello Show

Main article: The Oh, Hello Show

Kroll toured the U.S. alongside John Mulaney in a show called Oh, Hello, with both in character as Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland respectively. The show premiered on Broadway on September 23, 2016 and ran for six months to positive reviews. The Broadway performance was filmed and released on Netflix in 2017.[18]

Television

Kroll's first significant career success came when he co-starred in the ABC sitcom Cavemen, based on the Geico insurance TV-commercial characters. Although the show was cancelled after seven episodes, he called his role "the most important experience of my professional career".[19] He went on to VH1's Best Week Ever, and to guest-starring roles on Parks and Recreation, Community, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and New Girl. He made appearances on numerous Comedy Central series such as Reno 911!,[20] John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show, and The Benson Interruption, both performing as himself and in character.[citation needed]

Kroll had a starring role as Rodney Ruxin in the FXX comedy series The League, which aired October 29, 2009 to December 9, 2015.[21] Concurrently, he created and starred in his own Comedy Central sketch series, Kroll Show, which aired January 16, 2013 to March 24, 2015. Kroll had a recurring role on Childrens Hospital on Adult Swim. His voice work includes the character Stu on the HBO animated series The Life & Times of Tim, as well as Andrew LeGustambos, the flamboyant, bisexual drama teacher in the animated Fox comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up.[22] voiced to sound like a "modern day Snagglepuss",[22][23] and as Reuben Grinder in the PBS Kids GO! series WordGirl. Kroll was one of the roasters on the Comedy Central Roast of James Franco.[24]

In 2017, Kroll co-created, wrote, and starred in Big Mouth, an animated television show on Netflix.[25] The show features the experiences of a group of 7th graders in the throes of puberty. Two of the main characters are based on, and named after, Kroll and his best friend from childhood, Andrew Goldberg.[25] Kroll plays Nick, as well as Coach Steve, Maurice the Hormone Monster, Lola, Rick the Hormone Monster, the Jansen twins and Lady Liberty, in addition to several further minor and one-off characters.

Film

Kroll starred in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and had supporting roles in comedy films such as Sing, Dinner for Schmucks, Date Night, Get Him to the Greek, Adventures of Power, and I Love You Man.

In 2016, Kroll's first villain role was a vaginal douche in the adult animated film Sausage Party.[26] Originally, he played Douche's voice in a British accent, but the team wanted to make a Pixar-like film instead of a Disney Renaissance-like film.[27]

In 2017, Kroll then had a second villain voice role as a villainous mad scientist Professor Poopypants in the DreamWorks animated superhero film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. Although many critics only either mentioned his character in passing, some pointing out his similarities with Albert Einstein,[28][29][30] or his "committed" performance,[31][32] Matt Zoller Seitz took particular note of his performance, praising it as "irrepressibly silly" with "an orange juice spit-take voice". Seitz further stated that "[t]he way Kroll savors every syllable of his alternately peevish, self-pitying and nonsensical dialogue—aided mightily by the animators, who've given the character a fireplug body and a waddling walk—transforms the ridiculous into the sublime."[33] In recent years, Kroll has taken several non-comedic acting roles, such as that of Bernie Cohen in Loving and Rafi Eitan in Operation Finale, both historical drama films.[34][35]

Book

In 2005, Kroll published a book, Bar Mitzvah Disco, cowritten with Jules Shell and Roger Bennett.[36]

Personal life

In May 2013, Kroll began dating comedian and actress Amy Poehler.[37] They ended their relationship in 2015.[38]

Kroll met landscape artist Lily Kwong in 2018.[39] They married in November 2020 and their son was born in January 2021.[40][41] In November 2023, they announced the birth of their daughter.[42]

Kroll's brother-in-law is journalist Roger Bennett.[43] Through his wife, his cousin-in-law is fashion designer Joseph Altuzarra.[44][45][46]

Before the general election in 2020, Kroll and other celebrities participated in the #IDCheck Challenge from VoteRiders to raise awareness about what identification voters need to cast a ballot in the election.[47]

Filmography

Feature films
Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Negotiating Table WGA employee Short film
Adventures of Power Versatio Bakir
2009 I Love You, Man Larry
2010 Date Night The Maître D
Get Him to the Greek Kevin McLean
Dinner for Schmucks Josh
Little Fockers Young Doctor
2011 A Good Old Fashioned Orgy Adam Richman
2014 Adult Beginners Jake Wenton Also writer
2015 Vacation Colorado Cop
Knight of Cups Nick
2016 Joshy Eric
My Blind Brother Bill
Sausage Party Douche (voice)
Loving Bernie Cohen
Sing Gunter (voice) [48][49]
2017 Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Professor Poopypants (voice)
The House Bob Schaeffer
2018 Uncle Drew Mookie
Operation Finale Rafi Eitan
2019 Olympic Dreams Ezra Also writer and producer
The Secret Life of Pets 2 Happy Sergei (voice)
The Addams Family Uncle Fester (voice)
2020 Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics Himself Documentary
2021 How It Ends Gary
The Addams Family 2 Uncle Fester (voice)
Sing 2 Gunter (voice)
2022 The Bob's Burgers Movie Scary Carnie (voice)
Don't Worry Darling Dean
2023 First Time Female Director Clyde
2024 I Don't Understand You Dom
Red One Ted
2025 The Smurfs Movie TBA
Television shows
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Various Episode: "2269"
2006 Cheap Seats without Ron Parker Todd Lazarov Episode: "NFL/MLB Arm Wrestling"
2006 Samurai Love God (voice) Miniseries
2007 Human Giant Fabrice Fabrice, Various, Brolin DiBiasi 2 episodes
2007–2008 Cavemen Nick Hedge 8 episodes
2008 Best Week Ever Himself Episode: "November 14, 2008"
2008–2009 Worst Week Adam 6 episodes
2008–2011 Childrens Hospital Nicky, Dr. Geza 6 episodes
2008–2012 The Life & Times of Tim Stu (voice) 30 episodes
2009 Reno 911! El Chupacabra 3 episodes
2009 Mayne Street Paparazzo Episode: "There's Ben"
2009 Sit Down, Shut Up Andrew LeGustambos (voice) 13 episodes
2009–2010 WordGirl Reuben Grinder (voice) 2 episodes
2009–2015 The League Rodney Ruxin Main cast; also writer
2010 Nick Swardson's Pretend Time Headmaster Episode: "I Just Got Voodoo'd"
2010 John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show Himself Episode: "1.1" (as Fabrice Fabrice), "1.5"
2011 Community Juergen Episode: "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism"
2011 Portlandia Daniel Prison 2 episodes
2011–2012 American Dad! Dry Cleaner, Student, Andy Dick (voice) 4 episodes
2011–2015 Parks and Recreation The Douche 5 episodes
2012–2016 Comedy Bang! Bang! Various 5 episodes
2013–2015 Kroll Show Various characters 23 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer
2013 New Girl Jamie Episode: "Chicago"
2013 Burning Love Khris 4 episodes
2013 The Greatest Event in Television History Jeremy Bay Episode: "Hart to Hart"
2013 The Soup Himself Episode: "9.55"
2013 Comedy Central Roast of James Franco Roaster TV special
2013 Family Guy Ricky (voice) Episode: "Into Harmony's Way"
2013 Brody Stevens: Enjoy It! Himself 3 episodes
2013 The Jeselnik Offensive Himself 2 episodes
2014 Drunk History Ronald Reagan Episode: "Hollywood"
2014 Mulaney Jesse Tyler Munoz Episode: "It's a Wonderful Home Alone"
2015 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Agent Kendrick Episode: "Windbreaker City"
2015 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Christopher "Tristafé" Micelli Episode: "Kimmy Rides a Bike!"
2015 The Grace Helbig Show Himself Episode: "Nick Kroll & Tyler Oakley"
2015 The Simpsons Lem (voice) Episode: "Halloween of Horror"
2015 SuperMansion Cleb (voice) Episode: "Babes In The Wood"
2016 Animals. Jerry (voice) Episode: "Pigeons."
2016 Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ Graham Simon Episode: "Predator Party"
2016 Mr. Neighbor's House Photo Joe (voice) TV special
2017 32nd Independent Spirit Awards Himself (host) TV special
2017–2021 Bob's Burgers Mr. Desanto / Customer (voice) 2 episodes
2017 Oh, Hello on Broadway Gil Faizon TV special
2017 I'm Sorry Lon Episode: "Weekend Alone"
2017–present Big Mouth Nick Birch / Maury the Hormone Monster / Coach Steve / Lola / various voices 71 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer
2017 At Home with Amy Sedaris Randy Fingerling Episode: "Gift Giving"
2018 33rd Independent Spirit Awards Himself (host) TV special
2018 Explained Narrator Episode: "!"
2018 Portlandia Gil Faizon Episode: "Peter Follows P!nk"
2019–2022 What We Do in the Shadows Simon the Devious 3 episodes
2019–2020 Crank Yankers Himself (voice) 2 episodes
2020 Curb Your Enthusiasm Restaurant Manager Episode: "The Ugly Section"
2020 High Maintenance Nick Episode: "Trick"
2020 Home Movie: The Princess Bride[50] Vizzini / Inigo Montoya / Fezzik Episode: "The Shrieking Eels"
2021 Dickinson Edgar Allan Poe Episode: "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?"
2022 Bust Down DJ Jacuzzi (voice) Episode: "Party of Two"
2022–2023 Human Resources Maury the Hormone Monster / Rick / various voices 20 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer
2022 Our Flag Means Death Gabriel 2 episodes
2022 Roar Doug Episode: "The Woman Who Disappeared"
2023 History of the World, Part II Various 8 episodes; also writer, director, and executive producer
2023 Extrapolations Alpha (voice) Episode: "2047: The Fifth Question"
2024 Krapopolis Grarg/Jörmungandr (voices) Episode: “Thor”

Accolades

Year Award Category Work Result
2009 Denver Film Critics Society Award Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble I Love You, Man Nominated
2015 People's Choice Award[51] Favorite Sketch Comedy TV Show Kroll Show Nominated
2017 Annie Award Voice Acting in a Feature Production Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Nominated
2018 Gotham Award Breakthrough Series – Long Form Big Mouth Nominated
2019 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program Nominated
2020 Nominated
2021 Nominated

References

  1. ^ Phelan, Kevin (December 12, 2014). "Rye native Nick Kroll talks 'Kroll Show'". The Journal News. White Plains, New York. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. ^ Petersen, Anne Helen (March 5, 2015). "Nick Kroll's Walk In the Park". BuzzFeed.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Nick Kroll". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  4. ^ Barnett, Megan (December 1, 2010). "Nick Kroll: The other, other Kroll". Fortune. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Kroll, Nick. "Make 'Em Laugh: Nick Kroll (C'01)". Georgetown Alumni Online. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  6. ^ Schleier, Curt (October 28, 2016). "Comedian Nick Kroll is serious about being funny". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  7. ^ Serico, Chris (January 16, 2013). "'Kroll Show' star Nick Kroll recalls Rye upbringing". Newsday Hudson Buzz blog via Serico Stories. Archived from the original on July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Gordon, Barry (August 16, 2011). "Growing Up in Rye Helps TV Star". Rye, New York: Rye.Patch.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  9. ^ Goldman, Andrew (January 13, 2013). "Taking A Hike". The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  10. ^ Kroll in Heisler, Steve (October 29, 2009). "Nick Kroll". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  11. ^ Faires, Robert (December 19, 2008). "Aziz Ansari: Ready, steady, glow!". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Greenberg, Rudi (January 26, 2011). "One-Man Muppet Show: Nick Kroll, 'Thank You Very Cool'". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "Wild times at UCB with Amy Poehler, Ilana Glazer, Nick Kroll and more". EW.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  14. ^ Dobbs, Aaron; Oei, Lily (February 18, 2005). "Jessi Klein, Writer/Comedian". Gothamist. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  15. ^ NPR Staff (January 19, 2014). "Before 'Jersey Shore' Owned Sleaze, There Was Bobby Bottleservice". NPR. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  16. ^ "Oh, Hello". HuffPost. January 9, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  17. ^ Tepper, Allegra (July 22, 2013). "What's Next for Just for Laughs Comedy Honorees". Variety. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  18. ^ Kurp, Josh (May 18, 2017). "John Mulaney And Nick Kroll's Broadway Show 'Oh, Hello' Is Coming To Netflix". Uproxx.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  19. ^ Petersen, Anne Helen (March 5, 2015). "Nick Kroll's Walk In the Park". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  20. ^ WTFpod: Marc Maron interviews El Chupacabra (Nick Kroll), November 30, 2009, retrieved October 18, 2022
  21. ^ "Dotdash Meredith - America's Largest Digital & Print Publisher". www.dotdashmeredith.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Jensen, Michael (January 15, 2009). "Fox's animated "Sit Down, Shut Up" includes bisexual male character". After Elton. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  23. ^ "Sit Down, Shut Up". (official site) Fox. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  24. ^ "The Comedy Central Roast Of James Franco". AV Club. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Gross, Terry. "Best Of: Nick Kroll & John Mulaney / 'Shape Of Water' Fish Man". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  26. ^ Fox, Jesse David; writer, a Vulture; Jokes, host of Good One: A. Podcast About (August 12, 2016). "Sausage Party Takes Itself Too Seriously". Vulture. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  27. ^ "Nick Kroll Breaks Down His Most Famous Character Voices". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  28. ^ Jones, Oliver (June 2, 2017). "'Captain Underpants' Is an Inspired and Subversive Piece of Animated Silliness". Observer. Observer Media. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  29. ^ Russo, Tom (June 1, 2017). "Feeling silly? 'Captain Underpants' is here for you". The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  30. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (June 2, 2017). "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a 'tighty-whitey triumph' with charm to spare". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  31. ^ Berardinelli, James (June 1, 2017). "Captain Underpants (United States, 2017)". Reelviews. James Berardinelli. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  32. ^ Oller, Jacob (June 2, 2017). "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie". Paste Magazine. Paste Media Group. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  33. ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (June 2, 2017). "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Movie Review (2017)". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  34. ^ Burack, Emily (August 22, 2018). "A Super Jewish Interview with Nick Kroll: The Holocaust, Bagels, and 'Operation Finale'". Hey Alma. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  35. ^ Galuppo, Mia (September 22, 2015). "Nick Kroll, Michael Shannon Join 'Loving' Cast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  36. ^ Bennett, Roger; Kroll, Nick; Shell, Jules (2005). Bar Mitzvah Disco. Crown Archetype. ISBN 978-1400080441.
  37. ^ Johnson, Zach (October 14, 2014). "Amy Poehler Breaks Her Silence on Calling It Quits With Will Arnett: "Getting a Divorce Really Sucks"". E! Online. E!. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  38. ^ Blasberg, Derek. "Nick Kroll, Comedy's Ultimate Tool, Is Actually a Pretty Decent Guy". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 13, 2017. (He and Amy Poehler split up in 2015 after two years of dating.)
  39. ^ Orfanides, Effie (September 6, 2022). "Who Is Nick Kroll's Wife? All About Lily Kwong". People. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  40. ^ Jokic, Natasha (November 28, 2020). "Surprise, Nick Kroll Just Got Married!". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  41. ^ Ushe, Naledi (February 8, 2021). "Nick Kroll and His Wife Lily Kwong Welcome Their First Child: 'Our Beautiful Baby Boy'". People. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  42. ^ "Nick Kroll Welcomes Baby No. 2, a Daughter, with Wife Lily Kwong: 'So Much Joy and Harmony'". Peoplemag. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  43. ^ "WEDDINGS; Vanessa Kroll, Roger Bennett (Published 2000)". The New York Times. October 29, 2000. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  44. ^ "How Former Model Lily Kwong Became the Darling of Landscape Architecture". Observer. August 30, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  45. ^ "Lily Kwong, Student & Model". Into The Gloss. February 24, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  46. ^ "A Family story | Altuzarra Official Site". www.altuzarra.com. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  47. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe (September 29, 2020). "Rory O'Malley, Amy Schumer, Elizabeth Banks and More Participate in VoteRiders #IDCheck Challenge". Broadway World.
  48. ^ Yuen, Jenny (September 11, 2016). "TIFF 2016: Matthew McConaughey optimistic about 'Sing'". Toronto Sun. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  49. ^ Trumbore, Dave (November 11, 2015). "Meet the Animated Animals of Illumination Entertainment's 2016 Musical Comedy, 'Sing'". Collider. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  50. ^ Starner, Nina (June 26, 2020). "Quibi just announced a Princess Bride remake you never expected to see". Looper.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  51. ^ Toomey, Alyssa (November 4, 2014). "Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley and Robert Downey Jr. Among People's Choice Nominees, Plus Find Out Who's Hosting!". E!. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
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