Jason Sudeikis

Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( suu-DAY-kiss; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 2003, Sudeikis was hired as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, and later spent nine seasons as a cast member from 2005 to 2013, playing Joe Biden and Mitt Romney, among others.

From 2020 to 2023, he co-created and played the title role in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series Ted Lasso, which earned him four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was also one of the leading cast members in The Cleveland Show (2009–2013). Sudeikis has also acted in recurring roles in the comedy series 30 Rock (2007–2010), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2010–2011), Eastbound and Down (2012), Portlandia (2011–2014), and The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018).

He had leading film roles in the comedies Hall Pass, Horrible Bosses (both 2011) and its sequel, Horrible Bosses 2 (2014), and We're the Millers (2013), as well as the acclaimed independent films Drinking Buddies (2013), Sleeping with Other People (2015), and Colossal (2016), and supporting roles in Going the Distance (2010), The Campaign (2012), Alexander Payne's Downsizing (2017) and Olivia Wilde's Booksmart (2019). He has also acted in voice roles for Epic (2013), The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), Next Gen (2018), and Hitpig! (2024).

Early life and education

Daniel Jason Sudeikis was born to Kathryn Sudeikis (née Wendt), a travel agent at Brennco and president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Daniel Joseph Sudeikis. His father is of Irish and Lithuanian descent, while his mother has German and Irish ancestry. Through Kathryn, he is a nephew of actor George Wendt and a great-grandson of photographer Tom Howard.

Sudeikis was born with anosmia, leaving him with no sense of smell.

Sudeikis moved with his family to Overland Park within Johnson County, Kansas, which he has described as his hometown. He graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park and attended Fort Scott Community College on a basketball scholarship, but left before finishing.

Career

Career beginnings

In the 1990s, Sudeikis began his career in improv comedy. He began performing at ComedySportz (now called Comedy City) in Kansas City, Missouri. He moved to Chicago, where he studied at the Annoyance Theatre in the North Side of Chicago and IO Theater (formerly known as ImprovOlympic) in the Near North Side and was one of the founding members of the long form team, J.T.S. Brown. He performed with Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Sudeikis was later cast in The Second City Touring Company. In the early 2000s, he became a founding member of The Second City Las Vegas, where he performed at the Flamingo.

Saturday Night Live

In 2003, while a regular performer at The Second City Las Vegas, Sudeikis was hired as a sketch writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) after being recommended by his uncle George Wendt to Marci Klein. In May 2005, he became a featured player on the show, and was upgraded to repertory status at the beginning of the show's 32nd season on September 30, 2006. In July 2013, Sudeikis announced that he was leaving SNL. In 2015, 2016, and 2019 he made occasional appearances on the show. On October 23, 2021, Sudeikis made his hosting debut with musical guest Brandi Carlile.

Recurring characters

• George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States.
• Joe Biden, 47th vice president of the United States and 46th president of the United States.
• Mitt Romney, 70th governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican Party nominee for president of the United States
• Male A-hole of the Two A-Holes with actress Kristen Wiig
• Ocean Billy, a parody of the 1980s singer Billy Ocean and his hit "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car"
• One half of the Bon Jovi "opposite band" Jon Bovi, appearing on Weekend Update (with Will Forte)
• Gil, a news anchor who treats his field correspondent Michelle Dison's (Kristen Wiig) misfortunes as amusement
• One of the guys from the "Song Memories" sketches who is the first to tell strange stories about where he was when he first heard a song
• Ed Mahoney, a brash man who often makes a fool of himself in public
• Officer Sikorsky, a police officer who brings in convict Lorenzo McIntosh (Kenan Thompson) in an attempt to "scare straight" the three delinquent teens (Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Andy Samberg, and occasionally the week's guest host) that he often arrests
• Vance on "What Up with That?", an overzealous background dancer often dressed in an Adidas tracksuit with a 1980s perm
• DJ Supersoak, spoof on DJ Clay
• Pete Twinkle, ESPN Classic host of obscure women's sports with dim-witted Greg Stink (Will Forte) as his co-host
• Jeff, a disgruntled film and theatre technician who starts unprovoked arguments with the star of the piece
• The Devil, who often comes on Weekend Update to point out religious and moral hypocrisy on Earth
• Jack Rizzoli, an anchor at WXPD News who always tells veteran reporter Herb Welch (Bill Hader) to do his job
• Tommy, a strip club emcee for Bongo's Clown Room
• Sensei Mark Hoffman, the faculty adviser and Japanese Studies teacher to Jonathan Cavanaugh-san and Rebecca Stern-Markowitz-san (Taran Killam and Vanessa Bayer, respectively), hosts of "J-Pop America Fun Time Now"
• Marshall T. Boudreaux, host of the courtroom reality show Maine Justice

Film, television and other work

Early work

Sudeikis had a recurring role on the series 30 Rock (2007–2010), appearing in a total of 12 episodes. He played Floyd DeBarber, a love interest of Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon. Sudeikis last appeared in four episodes towards the end of the show's fourth season in 2010.

Sudeikis began his film career with supporting roles in Watching the Detectives (2007), The Ten (2007), Meet Bill (2007), What Happens in Vegas (2008) and The Rocker (2008). He did voice work for the videogame Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), playing the role of right-wing radio host Richard Bastion. In July 2008, he co-starred with Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio in the web series The Line on Crackle. He had supporting roles in the movies The Bounty Hunter (2010) and Going the Distance (2010). On August 16, 2010, Sudeikis co-hosted WWE Raw with Going the Distance co-stars Charlie Day and Justin Long at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Sudeikis was a voice actor on the animated-comedy series The Cleveland Show (2009–2013). He provided the voices for Holt Richter, Cleveland's wannabe hipster neighbor, and Terry Kimple, Cleveland's hard-partying high school buddy, who now works with Cleveland at the cable company. After being credited as a recurring guest in season one, Sudeikis was bumped up to a series regular beginning in season two.

Film breakthrough

In 2011, Sudeikis appeared in the Seth Gordon comedy Horrible Bosses. He had previously worked with co-star Charlie Day when he played the role of Schmitty on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and reprised the role on that show's seventh season finale. Sudeikis played his first lead film role in the Farrelly brothers comedy Hall Pass (2011).

Sudeikis hosted the 2011 MTV Movie Awards on June 5, 2011, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. He was the voice for a line of advertisements of Applebee's which began running in 2012. He made appearances in six episodes on the series Eastbound & Down (2012–2013). He starred as David Clark, a drug dealer, in We're the Millers (2013), alongside Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter. He reprised his role of Kurt Buckman in Horrible Bosses 2 (2014).

2015–present

Sudeikis starred as Jake in the romantic-comedy film Sleeping with Other People (2015). He starred alongside Rebecca Hall in the romantic-drama film Tumbledown (2015). He voices the character of Red in the animated-comedy film The Angry Birds Movie (2016), based on the video game series of the same name. He starred alongside Anne Hathaway in Colossal (2016). He starred in Masterminds (2016). He portrayed Larry Snyder in Race (2016), Henry in The Book of Love (2016), and Bradley in Mother's Day (2016).

From November to December 2016, Sudeikis played the lead role of John Keating in the Classic Stage Company Off-Broadway production of Dead Poets Society. In 2017, he executive produced the comedy series Detroiters, and appeared in two episodes.