Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born
May 4,
1967) is an
American stage, film and television actress, best known for her comedic roles when she was a cast member on
Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.
Personal life
Gasteyer was born in
Washington, D.C., the daughter of Marianna, an artist, and Phil Gasteyer, the mayor of
Corrales, New Mexico. She graduated from
Sidwell Friends School and
Northwestern University. Ana and her husband Charlie have two children, a daughter, born in June 2002, and a son born in March 2008.
Career
Gasteyer developed comedy experience with the famed
Los Angeles improv –
sketch comedy group
The Groundlings. Prior to joining SNL, she had small roles on
Seinfeld (where she was a doomed customer of
The Soup Nazi), as well as on the shows
Party of Five,
Hope & Gloria and
NYPD Blue.
Gasteyer joined the cast of
Saturday Night Live beginning in
1996 for 6 seasons.
Gasteyer left
SNL in 2002. Since then, she has appeared in various television programs and films as well as in stage productions. In 2004, Gasteyer played the mother of the main character Cady Heron (
Lindsay Lohan) in the feature film
Mean Girls, written by
SNL castmate
Tina Fey. The film also featured other former
SNL castmates, including Fey,
Tim Meadows, and
Amy Poehler. She also appeared in the 2005 Showtime movie musical
Reefer Madness as Mae, the doomed girlfriend of Jack and owner of the Reefer Den.
In June, 2005, Gasteyer starred as
Elphaba, the
Wicked Witch of the West (for which she was nominated for a Jefferson Award), in the sit-down production of the musical
Wicked at the Oriental Theater in
Chicago,
Illinois. She and co-star
Kate Reinders left the production on
January 22,
2006. They were replaced by former Chicago
Elphaba standby,
Kristy Cates and former Broadway
Glinda standby, Stacie Morgain Lewis.
After
Wicked, Gasteyer starred in a revival of
The Threepenny Opera on
Broadway as Mrs. Peachum, along with
Jim Dale,
Alan Cumming, and
Cyndi Lauper. The production ran from March 24 through June 25, 2006.
Gasteyer then reprised the role as
Elphaba in
Wicked on Broadway. She began her run on
October 10,
2006, replacing former actress
Eden Espinosa, finishing on
January 7,
2007. She starred alongside former
Wicked co-star,
Kate Reinders who played the role of
Glinda. They were replaced by
Julia Murney as
Elphaba and
Kendra Kassebaum as
Glinda, who starred in the production until
October 9,
2007.
On
April 12,
2007, it was announced that Gasteyer has joined the cast of the new musical,
Writing Arthur, for the 2007 New Works Festival for TheatreWorks in California which ran from April 14-22.
Gasteyer performed in Chicago once again in the
Stephen Sondheim musical
Passion at
Chicago Shakespeare Theater from
October 2,
2007 to
November 11,
2007.
She was originally cast as Gloria in the Encores! Summer Series production of
Damn Yankees, but was replaced by Megan Lawrence during rehearsals due to injury.
Gasteyer most recently took part in the reading of the Broadway musical version of "The First Wives Club."
She is currently starring as Kitty Dean in the Broadway play,
The Royal Family which began performances at the
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on September 15, 2009 and officially opened on October 8, 2009.
Gastyer has been confirmed to star as Frisco Kate Fothergill in the City Centers Encores! production of
Girl Crazy which will run from November 19-22.
Saturday Night Live characters
Original characters
- Fast-talking MTV VJ Kincaid.
- Daytime talk show hostess of Pretty Living, Gayle Gleeson
Celebrity impressions
