Seth Meyers

Born in Evanston, IL, Seth Adam Meyers grew up in Bedford, NH, the son of Hillary Meyers, a French teacher, and Lawrence Meyers, a finance executive. He attended Northwestern University, where he joined the sketch groups Mee-Ow and Preponderate. After graduation, he moved to Amsterdam and served as a cast member of the improve group Boom Chicago along with his brother, Josh Meyers, who would go on to become a cast member of "MADtv" (Fox, 1995-2009). While in Amsterdam, Meyers wrote and co-starred along with comedian Jill Benjamin in a two-person show called "Pick-ups and Hiccups," which they toured around Europe and Asia. A stint in Chicago's famed ImprovOlympics, however, led to Meyers auditioning for Lorne Michaels and "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975-) and joining the cast in 2001. A talented performer, albeit one who lacked the over-the-top charisma of many of his castmates, Meyers's strength was in his laidback, witty persona and wry skewering of pop culture. He made his initial mark as a writer rather than via performing outrageous characters. Promoted to a full cast member in 2003, Meyers rose quickly to writing supervisor; in 2006, he was promoted to co-head writer alongside Tina Fey and Andrew Steele. He auditioned to co-anchor the popular "Weekend Update" segment along with Tina Fey in 2004, but lost out to Amy Poehler. When Fey departed the show, Meyers became solo head writer and replaced her opposite Poehler on the "Weekend Update" desk. The role proved to be his best on-camera contribution to the show.Much like Jimmy Fallon before him, Meyer's innocent appearance helped sell his sly "Weekend Update" jokes, and he took visible delight in nailing a punchline. His more cerebral energy played well off Poehler's live-wire chameleon persona, and the two proved a popular and potent comic team, establishing many long-running bits such as "What?! With Seth and Amy." Outside of the "SNL" studios, Meyers made a few inroads to mainstream Hollywood, notching a small turn in the reality show spoof "American Dreamz" (2006) which starred Mandy Moore and Dennis Quaid. He made little more than likable cameos in the family adventure "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (2008), teen romance "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" (2008), and the Rachel Dratch/Amy Poehler/Parker Posey feminist comedy "Spring Breakdown" (2009), but audiences found it hard to separate the actor from his sarcastic "Weekend Update" persona. As Tina Fey's star exploded into supernova status as creator and star of the hit sitcom "30 Rock" (NBC, 2006-2013), she returned to "SNL" for a series of highly anticipated appearances in which she brutally parodied then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and credited Meyers for writing them. When Poehler left "SNL" in 2008, Meyers handled "Weekend Update" on his own, although both Fey and Poehler made several guest appearances behind the venerable newsdesk. Hosting suited his skills, and Meyers emceed the Webby Awards in 2008 and 2009 as well as ESPN's 2010 ESPY Awards. He won the third season of "Celebrity Poker Showdown" (Bravo, 2003-06) and donated the $100,000 prize to the Boston Red Sox children's cancer charity The Jimmy Fund. Meyers hit a new level in his career when it was announced in 2013 that he would be inheriting Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night" gig; Meyers began his tenure on the show in February 2014, quickly transforming the show from Fallon's high-energy rambunctiousness to a more casual affair on which authors, politicians and visual artists would be interviewed alongside actors and comedians. The show became known for the recurring features "A Closer Look," in which Meyers would take a deep dive into the latest actions of the Trump administration, and "Jokes Seth Can't Tell," during which Meyers would read the setups of potentially taboo-breaking jokes, after which African-American writer Amber Ruffin and gay writer Jenny Hagel would deliver the punchlines. During this time, Meyers also created and produced the animated superhero parody "The Awesomes" (Hulu 2013-14) and produced and wrote the mockumentary series "Documentary Now" (IFC 2015-), which starred Fred Armisen and Bill Hader in deadpan parodies of classic documentary films. In 2018, Meyers served as executive producer of longtime friend Mike O'Brien's sitcom "A.P. Bio" (NBC 2018-), starring Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt.