Nick Kroll


Nicholas Kroll is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for the FX comedy series The League, creating and starring in the Comedy Central series Kroll Show, and starring in and co-creating the animated Netflix series Big Mouth and Human Resources and the Hulu sketch comedy series History of the World, Part II.
He has also acted or voice-acted in films such as I Love You, Man, Get Him to the Greek, Adult Beginners, Vacation, Sausage Party and Sing, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, The House, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Sing 2 and How It Ends, The Bob's Burgers Movie, First Time Female Director, Red One and Smurfs.

Early life

Kroll was born in Rye, New York, on June 5, 1978, to Lynn and Jules Kroll. His father is a billionaire businessman who founded the corporate investigations and risk consulting firm Kroll Inc. The youngest child in the family, Kroll has a brother, Jeremy, and two sisters, Vanessa and Dana. He grew up in a Conservative Jewish family, and attended the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester. He went on to high school at Rye Country Day School. During this time, he also briefly attended The Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont, where he developed a fondness for hiking. In 2001, Kroll graduated from Georgetown University. He described himself as a history major who minored in art and Spanish, but found himself "gravitating toward media studies as time went on."

Career

Early in his career, Kroll contributed writing for Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show and MTV's Human Giant. In November and December 2008, he toured with Aziz Ansari on his Glow in the Dark comedy tour in the United States. Kroll's live work is a mix of standup, sketch and characters. In 2011, Comedy Central aired his stand-up special Thank You Very Cool. He has studied and performed regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NYC and LA and co-hosted the stand-up show Welcome to Our Week with Jessi Klein.
He is well known as a performer for his characters such as Bobby Bottleservice, who has been featured in a number of online videos for the Funny or Die website, including the Ed Hardy Boyz and an audition tape for the MTV show Jersey Shore. Other characters include Ref Jeff and Fabrice Fabrice, and Gil Faizon of The Oh, Hello Show, who he created with writing partner John Mulaney. His character work features prominently in Kroll Show, a sketch comedy show on Comedy Central. Kroll was honored with the Breakout Star of the Year award from the 2013 Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

''The Oh, Hello Show''

Kroll toured the U.S. alongside John Mulaney in a show called Oh, Hello, with both in character as Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland respectively. The show premiered on Broadway on September 23, 2016, and ran for six months to positive reviews. The Broadway performance was filmed and released on Netflix in 2017.

Television

Kroll's first significant career success came when he co-starred in the ABC sitcom Cavemen, based on the Geico insurance TV-commercial characters. Although the show was cancelled after seven episodes, he called his role "the most important experience of my professional career". He went on to VH1's Best Week Ever, and to guest-starring roles on Parks and Recreation, Community, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and New Girl. He made appearances on numerous Comedy Central series such as Reno 911!, John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show, and The Benson Interruption, both performing as himself and in character.
Kroll had a starring role as Rodney Ruxin in the FXX comedy series The League, which aired October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015. Concurrently, he created and starred in his own Comedy Central sketch series, Kroll Show, which aired January 16, 2013, to March 24, 2015. Kroll had a recurring role on Childrens Hospital on Adult Swim. His voice work includes the character Stu on the HBO animated series The Life & Times of Tim, Andrew LeGustambos in the animated Fox comedy series Sit Down, Shut Up, and Reuben Grinder in the PBS Kids GO! series WordGirl. Kroll was one of the roasters on the Comedy Central Roast of James Franco.
In 2017, Kroll co-created, wrote, and starred in Big Mouth, an animated television show on Netflix. The show features the experiences of a group of 7th graders in the throes of puberty. Two of the main characters are based on, and named after, Kroll and his best friend from childhood, Andrew Goldberg. Kroll plays Nick, as well as Coach Steve, Maurice the Hormone Monster, Lola, Rick the Hormone Monster, the Jansen twins and Lady Liberty, in addition to several further minor and one-off characters.

Film

Kroll starred in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and had supporting roles in comedy films such as Sing, Dinner for Schmucks, Date Night, Get Him to the Greek, Adventures of Power, and I Love You Man.
In 2016, Kroll's first villain role was a vaginal douche in the adult animated film Sausage Party. Originally, he played Douche's voice in a British accent, but the team wanted to make a Pixar-like film instead of a Disney Renaissance-like film.
In 2017, Kroll then had a second villain voice role as a villainous mad scientist Professor Poopypants in the DreamWorks animated superhero film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. Although many critics only either mentioned his character in passing, some pointing out his similarities with Albert Einstein, or his "committed" performance, Matt Zoller Seitz took particular note of his performance, praising it as "irrepressibly silly" with "an orange juice spit-take voice". Seitz further stated that "he way Kroll savors every syllable of his alternately peevish, self-pitying and nonsensical dialogue—aided mightily by the animators, who've given the character a fireplug body and a waddling walk—transforms the ridiculous into the sublime." In recent years, Kroll has taken several non-comedic acting roles, such as that of Bernie Cohen in Loving and Rafi Eitan in Operation Finale, both historical drama films.

Book

In 2005, Kroll published a book, Bar Mitzvah Disco, cowritten with Jules Shell and Roger Bennett.

Personal life

In May 2013, Kroll began dating comedian and actress Amy Poehler. They ended their relationship in 2015.
Kroll met landscape artist Lily Kwong in 2018. They married in November 2020 and their son was born in January 2021. In November 2023, they announced the birth of their daughter.
Kroll's brother-in-law is journalist Roger Bennett. Through his wife, his cousin-in-law is fashion designer Joseph Altuzarra.
Before the 2020 United States elections, Kroll and other celebrities participated in the #IDCheck Challenge from VoteRiders to raise awareness about what identification voters need to cast a ballot in the election.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006CHTVPSA AnnouncerEpisode 1: The Pilot
2006Late Night with Conan O'BrienVariousEpisode: "2269"
2006Cheap Seats without Ron ParkerTodd LazarovEpisode: "NFL/MLB Arm Wrestling"
2006Samurai Love GodMiniseries
2007Human GiantFabrice Fabrice, Various, Brolin DiBiasi2 episodes
2007–2008CavemenNick Hedge8 episodes
2008Best Week EverHimselfEpisode: "November 14, 2008"
2008–2009Worst WeekAdam6 episodes
2008–2011Childrens HospitalNicky, Dr. Geza6 episodes
2008–2012The Life & Times of TimStu 30 episodes
2009The CollegeHumor ShowChuck PaulsonEpisode: "Rival Site"
2009Reno 911!El Chupacabra3 episodes
2009Mayne StreetPaparazzoEpisode: "There's Ben"
2009Sit Down, Shut UpAndrew LeGustambos 13 episodes
2009–2010WordGirlReuben Grinder 2 episodes
2009–2015The LeagueRodney RuxinMain cast; also writer
2010Nick Swardson's Pretend TimeHeadmasterEpisode: "I Just Got Voodoo'd"
2010John Oliver's New York Stand-Up ShowHimselfEpisode: "1.1", "1.5"
2011CommunityJuergenEpisode: "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism"
2011PortlandiaDaniel Prison2 episodes
2011–2012American Dad!Dry Cleaner, Student, Andy Dick 4 episodes
2011–2015Parks and RecreationThe Douche5 episodes
2012–2016Comedy Bang! Bang!Various5 episodes
2013–2015Kroll ShowVarious characters23 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer
2013New GirlJamieEpisode: "Chicago"
2013Burning LoveKhris4 episodes
2013The Greatest Event in Television HistoryJeremy BayEpisode: "Hart to Hart"
2013The SoupHimselfEpisode: "9.55"
2013Comedy Central Roast of James FrancoRoasterTV special
2013Family GuyRicky Episode: "Into Harmony's Way"
2013Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!Himself3 episodes
2013The Jeselnik OffensiveHimself2 episodes
2014Drunk HistoryRonald ReaganEpisode: "Hollywood"
2014MulaneyJesse Tyler MunozEpisode: "It's a Wonderful Home Alone"
2015Brooklyn Nine-NineAgent KendrickEpisode: "Windbreaker City"
2015Unbreakable Kimmy SchmidtChristopher "Tristafé" MicelliEpisode: "Kimmy Rides a Bike!"
2015The Grace Helbig ShowHimselfEpisode: "Nick Kroll & Tyler Oakley"
2015The SimpsonsLem Episode: "Halloween of Horror"
2015SuperMansionCleb Episode: "Babes In The Wood"
2016Animals.Jerry Episode: "Pigeons."
2016Bajillion Dollar Propertie$Graham SimonEpisode: "Predator Party"
2016Mr. Neighbor's HousePhoto Joe TV special
201732nd Independent Spirit AwardsHimself TV special
2017–2021Bob's BurgersMr. Desanto / Customer 2 episodes
2017Oh, Hello on BroadwayGil FaizonTV special
2017I'm SorryLonEpisode: "Weekend Alone"
2017–2025Big MouthNick Birch / Maury the Hormone Monster / Coach Steve / Lola / various voices81 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer
2017At Home with Amy SedarisRandy FingerlingEpisode: "Gift Giving"
201833rd Independent Spirit AwardsHimself TV special
2018ExplainedNarratorEpisode: "!"
2018PortlandiaGil FaizonEpisode: "Peter Follows P!nk"
2019–2022What We Do in the ShadowsSimon the Devious3 episodes
2019–2020Crank YankersHimself 2 episodes
2020Curb Your EnthusiasmRestaurant ManagerEpisode: "The Ugly Section"
2020High MaintenanceNickEpisode: "Trick"
2020Home Movie: The Princess BrideVizzini / Inigo Montoya / FezzikEpisode: "The Shrieking Eels"
2021DickinsonEdgar Allan PoeEpisode: "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?"
2022Bust DownDJ Jacuzzi Episode: "Party of Two"
2022–2023Human ResourcesMaury the Hormone Monster / Rick / various voices20 episodes; also co-creator, executive producer, writer
2022Our Flag Means DeathGabriel2 episodes
2022RoarDougEpisode: "The Woman Who Disappeared"
2023History of the World, Part IIVarious8 episodes; also writer, director, and executive producer
2023ExtrapolationsAlpha Episode: "2047: The Fifth Question"
2024Last Week Tonight with John OliverCantaloupe / Coconut Episode: "Medicaid"
2024John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LAGil FaizonEpisode: "Paranormal"
2024Mr. ThrowbackHimselfEpisode: "Eric Roth Costs a Fortune, Bro"
2024KrapopolisGrarg/Jörmungandr Episode: "Thor"
2024The FranchiseKyleEpisode: "Scene 83: Enter the Gurgler"