Background and career
Michaela Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. After several years performing with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Watkins achieved widespread attention for her brief stint as a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during its 34th season between 2008 and 2009. Since leaving SNL, she has starred on the Hulu series Casual and on the short-lived sitcoms The Unicorn and Trophy Wife. Watkins has also had recurring and supporting roles on television series such as The New Adventures of Old Christine, Catastrophe, Enlightened, Search Party, The Dropout, and Hacks. She has appeared in films such as The Back-up Plan (2010), Wanderlust (2012), Enough Said (2013), Sword of Trust (2019), and Suze (2023).
Watkins was born in 1971 in Syracuse, New York, the daughter of former Latin teacher mother Myrna Watkins and Syracuse University mathematician father Mark Watkins. She has two sisters, Rebecca Kent and Sarah Fitts. Watkins was raised in DeWitt, New York, a suburb of Syracuse, in a Jewish family. After her parents' divorce, Watkins' mother obtained a marketing degree and relocated the family to Boston when Watkins was 15. Watkins attended Moses DeWitt Elementary School in DeWitt and Wellesley High School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She graduated from Boston University, where she studied theater and acting. Watkins auditioned for a part in a British farce at a community theater when she was 15, and got the part. Joan Rivers was one of her inspirations to go into show business.
After theater school, Watkins lived and worked in New York City for a year but struggled to build her career. She moved with a friend to Portland, Oregon. She lived there from 1996 to 2000 and appeared onstage with Portland Center Stage and the defunct improv group Toad City Productions. She traveled around the country doing regional theater, then decided to move to Los Angeles. She was active in Los Angeles Theatre for many years, taking on roles with Circle X Theatre and 2100 Square Feet.
Portland Center Stage: Hamlet (1999), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1999), Bus Stop (2000) Portland Repertory Theatre: Arcadia Artist Repertory Theatre: The Misanthrope, How I Learned To Drive as well as Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale triangle productions: Angels in America, The Food Chain Circle X Theatre: Laura Comstock's Bag Punching Dog (2002) – LA Weekly award, Sperm (2004) Vineyard Playhouse: Fighting Words by Sunil Kuruvilla (2003)
She became a regular performer at The Groundlings, where she was discovered by Saturday Night Live. Watkins said the appeal of sketch work is that she can write her own material.
In November 2008, Watkins joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Watkins said (at that time) that she was the oldest woman they ever hired. Watkins has since been surpassed by Leslie Jones, who was 47 when she joined SNL. Watkins made her first major appearance on the show as Arianna Huffington on the November 22nd Weekend Update. Watkins remained on SNL as a featured player throughout the rest of the 2008–2009 season, up to the season finale on May 16, 2009. However, while SNL was on summer hiatus, the news broke in early September 2009 that Watkins, along with fellow castmate Casey Wilson, were both to be let go from the show and would not be returning for the 2009–10 season.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
