Taran Killam

Taran Killam

Killam in a panel discussion at
the 2013 New York Comic Con
Born Taran Hourie Killam
(1982-04-01) April 1, 1982
Culver City, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor, voice actor, writer, comedian, singer
Years active 1994–present
Home town Big Bear Lake, California, U.S.
Spouse(s) Cobie Smulders (m. 2012)
Children 2

Taran Hourie Killam (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer, and writer. He is best known for his television work on shows such as The Amanda Show, Wild 'n Out, Mad TV, and Saturday Night Live.

Early life

Killam was born on April 1, 1982[1] in Culver City, California, and grew up in Big Bear Lake, California.[2] He graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. His great-uncle was actor Robert Stack.[3][4][5] Killam attended the University of California, Los Angeles for one year in 2000.[6]

Career

Early career

In 1994, Killam made his first film appearance as an adolescent in Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. Killam was also featured on Nickelodeon's The Amanda Show, a sketch-comedy vehicle for Amanda Bynes, on which he played Spaulding, a boy who had a huge crush on Moody, in the soap opera parody "Moody's Point."

Killam joined the cast of MADtv as a featured player during its seventh season from 2001 to 2002. Although, of the 25 episodes that aired during MADtv's seventh season, Killam only fully appeared in 13 episodes. Joining the MADtv cast at age 19, Killam was the youngest cast member ever hired on the show and the only cast member on MADtv to get his start on children's shows (similar to Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live). He was also a regular cast member on the third and fourth seasons of Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out. In 2005, Killam co-starred in the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which never aired on network TV. The pilot, however, gained popularity after it was leaked online and they continued making webisodes from 2006 to 2007.[7]

Killam co-starred in the 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs. After MADtv, Killam appeared on TV shows such as Jake in Progress, Still Standing, Boston Public, Drake & Josh, Do Over, Roswell and Judging Amy. He had also appeared on Scrubs and Scrubs: Interns as Jimmy (the Overly Touchy Orderly). Killam appeared as a contestant on the episode of The Price Is Right which aired on December 7, 2006. The episode was re-aired on July 19, 2007.

He has also been in Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Anderson's Cross, and My Best Friend's Girl.

Killam was a member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch-comedy troupe the Groundlings. He retired from the main company in 2012.

Saturday Night Live

On September 25, 2010, Killam joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 36th season, making him the second Nickelodeon veteran (after Kenan Thompson) to join SNL and the second SNL cast member who was previously a cast member on the sketch show MADtv (after Jeff Richards). Killam has named Eddie Murphy as his favorite SNL cast member and Arcade Fire as his favorite musical guest.[8]

Celebrity impressions

Other work

In December 2011, Killam decided to replicate the Robyn video "Call Your Girlfriend" in a small writer's room and post it to YouTube. The video immediately went viral and by January 6, 2015 it had been viewed more than 958,382 times.[9] The late night antics briefly became an Internet phenomenon and garnered Killam significant media and public attention.[10] When interviewed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Killam stated that he had not known the dance shown in the song's official video until Robyn was scheduled to appear on SNL as a guest; then, he watched the video repeatedly until he could perform it himself.[11]

In 2011, Killam appeared in Community episode "Regional Holiday Music" as Mr. Radison (Mr. Rad), a parody of Will Schuester from Glee. In 2012 he appeared in iCarly episode "I Meet The First Lady" as a Secret Service Agent.

On November 10, 2012, Killam appeared (with Kenan Thompson) in a short video, "The Legend of Mokiki and the Sloppy Swish." Mokiki was a laboratory test subject who now wanders Manhattan performing a shuffling move known as the "Sloppy Swish." The sketch briefly became an Internet phenomenon and garnered Killam significant media and public attention.[12][13] Mike Ryan of The Huffington Post wrote, "It is one of the most bizarre things to ever air on SNL, yet, the next day, everyone was talking about the Sloppy Swish."[14]

Killam co-starred in the 2013 comedy film The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

Killam voices Zip "Frantic" Danger on the Hulu original series The Awesomes.

Killam is an avid reader of comic books and a fan of James Bond films. He first became interested in comics with Jim Lee's 1991 work on X-Men #1. He counts among his favorite aspects of the Bond franchise On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the Nintendo 64 video game Goldeneye,[8] and names Sean Connery, Goldfinger and "Skyfall" as his favorite Bond actor, film and theme, respectively.[8][15] In 2013, he ventured into the spy genre and the comics industry with The Illegitimates, a six-issue comics miniseries co-written by Marc Andreyko, illustrated by Kevin Sharpe and published by IDW Publishing. The series focuses on a team of illegitimate siblings who are charged with taking the place of their father, Jack Steele, a James Bond-like spy, after his death. The first issue was published December 18, 2013,[8] and received mixed reviews.[15][16][17][18]

Killam appears in the 2013 Best Picture-winning film 12 Years a Slave, playing the role of Abram Hamilton, one of the kidnappers who brought the main character into slavery.

Killam is also a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise (Raphael in particular), and successfully lobbied for a cameo role in the 2014 film.[8]

Killam made six guest appearances as Gary Blauman on his wife Cobie Smulders' TV series, How I Met Your Mother. His first appearance was in the March 20, 2006 episode, "Life Among the Gorillas" and the final one was the March 24, 2014 episode, "Gary Blauman".

Personal life

After several years of dating, Killam and Canadian actress Cobie Smulders became engaged in January 2009.[19] They married on September 8, 2012, in Solvang, California.[20] The couple have two daughters. The first, Shaelyn Cado Killam, was born May 16, 2009;[21] the second, whose name was not revealed, was born in January 2015.[22][23][24]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult Boy of Geriatric Park
2002 Big Fat Liar Bret Callaway
2003 Just Married Dickie McNerney
2004 Stuck in the Suburbs Jordan Cahill Disney Channel Original Movie
2006 The Showdown The Batter Short film
2006 Dr. Miracles Mr. Peterson Short film
2007 Epic Movie Pirate
2008 My Best Friend's Girl Josh
2009 Three Matthew McConaugheys and a Baby Matthew McConaughey Short film
2010 Anderson's Cross Austin Wilson
2013 The Heat Adam
2013 Grown Ups 2 Male Cheerleader
2013 12 Years a Slave Abram Hamilton Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
Boston Online Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated—Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated—Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Jim McNaughton
2015 Ted 2 Himself
2015 Underdogs Captain Skip (voice)
2016 The Runaround Gary Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1994–2002 All That Himself 15 episodes; also writer
2000 The Jersey Varsity 1 Episode: "Nick's a Chick"
2000 Judging Amy Freddie Felleman Episode: "The Wee Hours"
2000 Touched by an Angel Teenage Robert Episode: "The Grudge"
2000–2002 The Amanda Show Spaulding prof 7 episodes
2001 Undressed Blake 40 episodes
2001 Roswell Malamud Episode: "Heart of Mine"
2001–2002 MADtv Various 13 episodes
2002 Do Over Dave Episode: "The Block Party"
2004 Drake & Josh Trevor Episode: "Dune Buggy"
2004 Boston Public Alex Buchanan Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Eight"
2004 Still Standing Andy, Varsity Basketball Player #1 Episode: "Still Narcing"
2004 Stuck in the Suburbs Jordan Cahill TV film
2005 Jake in Progress Todd Episode: "Loose Thread"
2006 Girlfriends Jordan Gray Episode: "Hustle & Dough"
2006–2014 How I Met Your Mother Gary Blauman 6 episodes
2006–2007 Wild 'n Out Various 29 episodes
2007 Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz Various 8 episodes; also writer
2009 Scrubs Jimmy 4 episodes
2009 Scrubs: Interns Jimmy Episode: "The Late Night with Jimmy Show"
2010–present Saturday Night Live Himself, Various Main role
2011 Community Cory Radison Episode: "Regional Holiday Music"
2012 iCarly Agent Kinsey Episode: "iMeet the First Lady"
2012 Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday Patient, Steve Doocy, Guy 2 episodes
2013–2015 Drunk History William Clark, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Bobby Fischer 3 episodes
2013–present The Awesomes Zip "Frantic" Danger (voice) Main role
2014 Comedy Bang! Bang! Smith Calvins Episode: "Jenna Fischer Wears a Floral Blouse & Black Heels"
2014 Sesame Street Professor Buck Awe Episode: "School for Chickens"
2015 Nature Cat Nature Cat Voice
2016 New Girl Fred Episode: "What About Fred"

Bibliography

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "Taran Killam". TV Guide. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
    2. ↑ Owen Turner, Arrissia (15 July 2004). "From Big Bear to big time-Taran Killam". Retrieved 18 April 2012.
    3. ↑ "What nationality is Taran Killam?". Experts123.com. 1911-10-29. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
    4. ↑ "The Robert Stack Picture Pages". Superiorpics.com. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
    5. ↑ "Taran Killam Profile". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
    6. ↑ Yan, Marjorie (February 22, 2011). "Killam with laughter: actor, comedian, and former Bruin lands dream job on “˜Saturday Night Live’ cast". Daily Bruin. University of California, Los Angeles.
    7. ↑ "Nobody's Watching Part 2 ", YouTube, June 8, 2006
    8. 1 2 3 4 5 Dietsch, T.J. (October 17, 2013). "NYCC: 'Saturday Night Live's' Taran Killam Debriefs 'The Illegitimates'". Comic Book Resources.
    9. ↑ "Call Your Girlfriend SNL". December 12, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
    10. ↑ Hughes, Sarah (December 13, 2011). "Taran Killam and ‘SNL’ cohorts do late night recreation of Robyn’s ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ (Video)". Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
    11. ↑ "Talkin' Robyn with Taran Killam". Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
    12. ↑ Hernandez, Brian Anthony (November 11, 2012). "Mokiki's Sloppy Swish Is the Next 'Gangnam Style'". Mashable. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
    13. ↑ "What's Trending: Look Out, Psy: SNL's 'Sloppy Swish' Might be the Next 'Gangnam Style'". MSN Now. November 12, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2013. The ridiculous "Sloppy Swish" dance by Mokiki was featured in an SNL sketch last night, and, with the speed that it's gone viral today, some people are predicting it could be the next Gangnam Style. Parodies have already begun springing up on YouTube and there are Tumblr pages for both "Mokiki" and "Sloppy Swish." Sorry, Psy — there may be a new viral dance sensation on the block.
    14. ↑ Ryan, Mike (November 14, 2012). "'Saturday Night Live': Origins Of The Sloppy Swish And Mokiki, Explained By Taran Killam". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
    15. 1 2 Konrad, Jeremy (October 16, 2013). "Taran Killam And IDW’s The Illegitimates Win Over The Crowd". Bleeding Cool.
    16. ↑ Jasper, Marykate (December 20, 2013). "The Illegitimates #1". Comic Book Resources.
    17. ↑ Ostrowski, Vince (December 19, 2013). "Review: The Illegitimates #1". Multiversity Comics.
    18. ↑ Hunsaker, Andy (December 18, 2013). "The Illegitimates #1: ‘SNL’ Star Taran Killam’s Comic Debut". CraveOnline.
    19. ↑ Alexander, Reagan (January 28, 2009). "HIMYM's Cobie Smulders Flashes Her New Engagement Ring". People. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
    20. ↑ ""SNL’s" Taran Killam Marries "How I Met Your Mother’s" Cobie Smulders — Exclusive". RumorFix. September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
    21. ↑ Leon, Anya (July 3, 2009). "It's a Girl for Cobie Smulders". People.
    22. ↑ "Taran Killam and Cobie Smulders Expecting Second Child". People. October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
    23. ↑ "SNL - Scarlett Johansson Sings Sexy ‘Love You Baby’ Lullaby [Monologue]". MetaTube. 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
    24. ↑ Klassen, Anna (January 26, 2015). "'Unexpected' Star Cobie Smulders & Director Kris Swanberg On Finally Making a Pregnancy Film From the Female Perspective". Retrieved January 30, 2015.

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