Who Wrote Bridesmaids? Tina Fey's Involvement Explored

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer, who is best known for her work on Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and Mean Girls. Fey has received numerous accolades for her work, including nine Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Writers Guild of America Awards. While Fey did not write Bridesmaids, she has been linked to the film through her work with Bridesmaids star Maya Rudolph on Saturday Night Live, and her work with co-stars Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Tina Fey's career

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1970, and studied drama at the University of Virginia. After graduating in 1992, she moved to Chicago to pursue a career in comedy, joining the comedy training group The Second City.

In 1995, Fey was hired as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (SNL). She later became the show's first female head writer and a performer, appearing as co-anchor in the Weekend Update segment. During her time on SNL, Fey also made her screen debut and developed a satirical portrayal of 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In 2004, Fey co-starred in and wrote the screenplay for the hit teen comedy Mean Girls, which was adapted from the 2002 self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes. The film was a box office success and later found new life as a musical on Broadway.

After leaving SNL in 2006, Fey created the television sitcom 30 Rock, which was loosely based on her experiences as a writer on SNL. She starred in the show as Liz Lemon, the head writer of a fictional sketch comedy series, and it became one of the most popular shows of its era. 30 Rock received numerous Emmy nominations and wins and is considered one of the greatest TV series of all time.

Fey went on to co-create the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which premiered in 2015 and garnered strong reviews through four seasons and one interactive special. She has also appeared in numerous films, including Baby Mama (2008), Date Night (2010), Megamind (2010), Sisters (2015), and Wine Country (2019).

Fey has received numerous accolades for her work, including nine Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and seven Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2010, she was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, becoming the youngest recipient of the award.

Bridesmaids' cast

The cast of the 2011 comedy film Bridesmaids included:

• Kristen Wiig as Annie Walker
• Maya Rudolph as Lillian Donovan
• Rose Byrne as Helen Harris III
• Melissa McCarthy as Megan Price
• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita
• Ellie Kemper as Becca
• Chris O'Dowd as Officer Nathan Rhodes
• Jill Clayburgh as Judy Walker
• Rebel Wilson as Brynn
• Michael Hitchcock as Don
• Tim Heidecker as Douglas "Doug/Dougie" Price
• Ben Falcone as Air Marshall Jon
• Terry Crews as Rodney

The film was directed by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. The screenplay was written by Annie Mumolo and Wiig, who also starred in the film.

Kristen Wiig's career

Kristen Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. She was born in Canandaigua, New York, in 1973, to an artist mother and a lake marina manager father. After graduating from Brighton High School in Rochester, Wiig attended the University of Arizona as an art student. She took her first acting class as an elective, and her teacher encouraged her to pursue acting. Years later, she moved to Los Angeles and worked as a main company member of the Los Angeles-based improv and sketch-comedy troupe The Groundlings.

Wiig made her big-screen debut in Judd Apatow's smash-hit comedy Knocked Up (2007), playing Katherine Heigl's passive-aggressive boss. She also appeared in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), another Apatow-produced film, in which she starred opposite John C. Reilly. She had supporting roles in comedy films such as Knocked Up (2007) and Paul (2011). She also lent her voice to the animated franchises How to Train Your Dragon (2010–2019) and Despicable Me (2010–2024).

Wiig achieved stardom during her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012. She was known for playing memorable characters such as the excitable Target clerk, Lawrence Welk singer Doonese, the one-upper Penelope, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Suze Orman. She received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on SNL.

In 2011, Wiig co-wrote and starred in the comedy film Bridesmaids, which was critically and commercially successful. It earned her nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. She also appeared in notable films such as Greg Mottola's Paul (2011), Andrew Jarecki's All Good Things (2010), and DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon (2010).

Wiig's career had a turning point in 2011 with the release of Bridesmaids, which she wrote with fellow Groundlings performer Annie Mumolo. The film was a critical and commercial success, making $167 million in North America and $280 million worldwide. Wiig played a single woman suffering a series of misfortunes after being asked to be her best friend's maid of honour.

In the 2010s, Wiig was a prominent figure in Hollywood, acting in leading and supporting roles. Her other film credits include The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), The Skeleton Twins (2014), The Martian (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), Downsizing (2017), Mother! (2017), and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). She has also lent her voice to animated franchises such as How to Train Your Dragon and Despicable Me. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her role in the comedy miniseries The Spoils of Babylon (2014) and for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in the comedy-drama series Palm Royale (2024).

Maya Rudolph's career

Maya Rudolph, born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1972, is an American actress and comedian. Rudolph's career began in music, as a backing singer and keyboardist for the band The Rentals. She then decided to pursue her dream of a career in comedy, joining the famed troupe "The Groundlings".

In 2000, Rudolph joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL), where she would remain until 2007. During her time on SNL, she became known for her wildly diverse characters, oddball impersonations, and commanding vocal ability. She performed famous sketches including a dead-on impression of fashion diva Donatella Versace and high school flake "Megan", the host of her own morning talk show, "Wake-up WakeField".

While on SNL, Rudolph also appeared in supporting roles in films such as 50 First Dates (2004), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and Idiocracy (2006). After leaving the show, she continued to build her film career, appearing in Grown Ups (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), and Inherent Vice (2014). She has also lent her voice to numerous animated films, including Shrek the Third (2007), Big Hero 6 (2014), and The Angry Birds Movie (2016).

Rudolph has returned to television several times since her departure from SNL, starring in NBC's Up All Night (2011-2012) and co-hosting the variety show Maya & Marty (2016). She has also been a voice actress on the animated sitcom Big Mouth since 2017, winning four Primetime Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Connie the Hormone Monstress. In 2022, she became an executive producer and star of the comedy series Loot.

In addition to her acting career, Rudolph has a production company called Animal Pictures, which has produced several television series. She has also been in a relationship with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson since 2001, and the couple has four children together.

Melissa McCarthy's career

Melissa McCarthy is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. She has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and has been featured multiple times in annual rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her 22nd in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

McCarthy began her career as a stand-up comedian in New York, performing at famous clubs such as Stand Up New York and The Improv. She also worked on her acting skills at The Actors Studio and appeared in many stage productions in the city before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1990s. McCarthy made her first television appearance in an episode of the NBC comedy series Jenny, opposite her cousin, Jenny McCarthy. She made her feature film debut in a minor role in the 1999 comedy Go, and went on to play supporting roles in films such as Drowning Mona, Disney's The Kid, Charlie's Angels, and The Third Wheel.

McCarthy's breakthrough role came in 2000 when she was cast as Sookie St. James in the television series Gilmore Girls. Throughout the series, Sookie is the upbeat and klutzy best friend of Lorelai Gilmore, Lorelai's business partner and cheerleader. McCarthy's performance in Gilmore Girls led to a steady stream of comedy roles, including a starring role in the sitcom Mike & Molly (2010). In 2011, she had a breakout film performance in Bridesmaids, alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper. McCarthy received critical acclaim and wide press coverage for her performance, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Following her success in Bridesmaids, McCarthy went on to star in several commercially successful comedies, including Identity Thief (2013), The Heat (2013), Tammy (2014), St. Vincent (2014), Spy (2015), and The Boss (2016). In 2018, she received critical acclaim for her portrayal of writer Lee Israel in the biographical film Can You Ever Forgive Me?, earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. McCarthy has since starred in projects such as the drama miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers (2021) and the musical fantasy film The Little Mermaid (2023).

In addition to her acting career, McCarthy co-founded the production company On the Day Productions with her husband, Ben Falcone. They have collaborated on several comedy films, including Life of the Party (2018), Super Intelligence (2020), and Thunder Force (2021). In 2015, McCarthy launched her own clothing line for plus-sized women, named Melissa McCarthy Seven7. She has also received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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