Will Arnett

William Emerson Arnett (born May 4, 1970 ) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian.

In 1990, he moved to New York City to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

He appeared in plays in New York, and his first acting role was in Felicity Huffman's independent film Erie, which was filmed on the Erie Canal.

As mentioned on the SmartLess podcast, Arnett is an avid hockey fan and workout enthusiast, known to often boast about his “Pro Dumper” and ability to bench press as much as 165 pounds.

In February 1996, Arnett made his first television pilot with Kevin Pollak and his wife Lucy Webb for CBS, that was not picked up.

His father, a graduate of Harvard University and a corporate lawyer, served as the president and CEO of Molson Breweries from 1997 to 2000.

Arnett briefly attended Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Ontario, but was asked not to return after a semester for being a troublemaker.

The Subway Academy II allowed him to take theatre classes at the Tarragon Theatre.

He eventually graduated from Leaside High School and attended Concordia University, Montreal for a semester but dropped out.

As a teenager, he was encouraged by his mother to pursue an acting career.

He auditioned for commercials in Toronto and enjoyed acting.

In 1999, Arnett was in another pilot for The Mike O'Malley Show on NBC as the protagonist's friend Jimmy.

The show was picked up, but it was cancelled after two episodes.

Arnett has referred to 2000, the year after that show was cancelled, as "the darkest year of [his] life", and he admits that he "didn't get a lot of work" and "drank those years away".

In summer 2000, a friend helped pull Arnett out of his battle with alcoholism, and he began to get his career back on track.

In 2001, Arnett was cast in the CBS television pilot, Loomis as the slacker brother of a local news reporter (Cheri Oteri), that was not picked up.

In 2002, Arnett was cast in a fourth television pilot which was for the CBS sitcom Still Standing, which was picked up and ran for several seasons, but his character was cut from the series after the pilot.

Arnett became so frustrated, after his fourth failed pilot, that he "swore off pilots" altogether, until his agent persuaded him to audition for the pilot for Arrested Development.

In 2002, prior to Arrested Development, Arnett guest-starred in The Sopranos and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In television, Arnett played Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series Arrested Development (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and the titular character in the Netflix series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020).

In 2003, Arnett found mainstream success in television when he played George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II in the Fox comedy series Arrested Development and in 2006 he was nominated for his first Emmy.

The show was cancelled after three seasons due to low ratings, despite its critical acclaim and cult following.

He played Max the Magician in Sesame Street, in a nod to Gob Bluth's penchant for using Europe's "The Final Countdown" during his magic shows.

His deep baritone voice has landed him numerous voice acting jobs, including Danny Phantom (2004–2007), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Despicable Me (2010), The Nut Job (2014) and its sequel The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017), Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018), Dolittle (2020), Rumble (2021), Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) and as Batman in the Lego Movie franchise.

Arnett has received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work in Arrested Development, 30 Rock, and BoJack Horseman.

He has appeared in films such as Let's Go to Prison (2006), Blades of Glory (2007), Semi-Pro (2008), G-Force (2009), Jonah Hex (2010), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), and Show Dogs (2018).

According to a 2006 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Arnett's two favourite episodes of the show were "Pier Pressure" and "Afternoon Delight".

His exposure on Arrested Development led to a number of larger roles in feature films.

Though having worked in drama, his role for Arrested Development is still comedy, and he often portrays smug antagonists.

He "never considered himself a comic" and considers himself an "actor first".

In 2006, Arnett starred in his first leading role in Let's Go to Prison, directed by Bob Odenkirk.

It earned more than US$4 million at the box office and more than US$13 million in rentals.

In Blades of Glory, Arnett and his then-wife Amy Poehler played brother/sister ice-skating pair with an incestuous relationship.

Since 2020, he has hosted the Fox reality series Lego Masters.

In July 2020, Arnett began co-hosting the comedy podcast SmartLess alongside Sean Hayes and Jason Bateman.

He also starred in Netflix's 2022 six-part improvised comedy series Murderville.

In 2023, he provided the voice of Sweet Tooth in the Peacock series Twisted Metal, based on the video game franchise of the same name.

Arnett was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Edith Alexandra "Alix" (Palk) and Emerson James "Jim" Arnett, who was a corporate lawyer and brewer, among other occupations.

His parents were originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and he has roots on both sides of his family in Manitoba going back many generations.

Arnett has two older sisters and a younger brother.