Will Forte

Will Forte is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer whose career has combined absurd comedy with unusually vulnerable performances. He was born Orville Willis Forte IV on June 17, 1970, in Contra Costa County, California, and grew up in Moraga. Forte studied history at the University of California, Los Angeles, and worked as a financial broker before pursuing comedy. He also wrote a humor book, 101 Things to Definitely Do If You Want to Get a Richer Life, before joining Saturday Night Live. Forte became a Saturday Night Live cast member in 2002 and stayed with the program until 2010. His recurring characters included Tim Calhoun, an eccentric motivational speaker whose speeches relied on elaborate malapropisms, and Greg Stink, an absurdly self-important sports commentator. In “The Falconer,” Forte played a melodramatic man who repeatedly abandoned his pet falcon while pursuing romantic or personal interests. His impersonations included President George W. Bush, former New York governor David Paterson, and actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Forte’s film work became more prominent when directors used his comic image in restrained or unconventional ways. In Alexander Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska, he played David Grant, a weary son who drives his father, portrayed by Bruce Dern, from Montana toward Nebraska after the older man mistakenly believes he has won a million-dollar prize. Forte’s understated performance demonstrated that his effectiveness did not depend on loud or exaggerated humor. He wrote and starred in MacGruber, a 2010 feature based on his Saturday Night Live parody of action-adventure heroes. The movie’s intentionally crude style did not make it an immediate mainstream success, but it later developed a devoted cult following. Forte also played Phil Tandy Miller in The Last Man on Earth, which premiered on Fox in 2015. The post-apocalyptic sitcom began with Miller apparently alone after a deadly virus and built its comedy around his loneliness, selfishness, improvised survival plans, and difficult relationships with other survivors. Other notable roles include David Grant in Nebraska, Ned in Booksmart, and the voice of Shaggy Rogers in Scoob! Forte plays Pubba in Netflix’s Sweet Tooth and voices Wolf Tobin in the animated series The Great North. He also stars as Dusty Hubbard in Apple TV+’s The Big Door Prize. Across these projects, Forte has remained distinctive because his characters often appear ridiculous while revealing genuine fear, affection, regret, or loneliness. His work demonstrates how a performer associated with sketch comedy can move successfully among television, animation, mainstream films, cult projects, and serious dramatic storytelling.