50 interesting facts about Kristen Wiig: is a naturally shy person, her favorite people to make laugh are babies

Kristen Wiig is a hilarious comedian best known for her Saturday Night Live characters Penelope and Gilly, and accurate impressions of Paula Deen and Kris Jenner. She co-wrote and starred in Bridesmaids and starred in a slew of comedy movies.

1. Kristen Wiig was born in Canandaigua, New York and raised in Rochester.

2. Wiig was born on August 22, 1973. Wiig's family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania,a when she was 3 years old before settling in Rochester, New York.

3. Her father ran a lake marina in western New York.

4. Kristen Wiig's parents divorced when she was 9 years old, and Wiig lived with her mother and older brother Erik, who is mentally disabled. "He's not aware of a lot of things. He has his own world, and there's this innocence about him. He's always happy and a joy to be around. He's also hilarious. He calls me his favorite sister in New York."

5. She is of Norwegian and Irish ancestry on her father's side, and of English and Scottish ancestry on her mother's side. Her surname, "Wiig", is Norwegian.

6. Wiig was funny even as a child. She later recalled of her youth, "I used to carry my dad's empty guitar case around the neighborhood because I wanted people to think I played the guitar. I would put Flintstones vitamins in it in case I got tired, so I could pop some and keep walking."

7. However, she was shy when it came to public speaking and said she struggled with it while a student in Rochester's Brighton High School.

8. Wiig later attended the University of Arizona as an art student. It was there that Wiig, a natural introvert, enrolled in her first acting class.

9. Before becoming a comedian, she tried her hand a being a florist, graphic artist and a decorative painter.

10. She also got a job at a plastic surgery clinic, where she was supposed to produce drawings of clients' post-surgery bodies. The day before she was to start, she found herself alone at the house she shared with roommates in Tucson. "I looked in the mirror and was like, 'OK, if you could do anything, what would it be?' And I thought, 'I would move to L.A. Just try to act,'" she recalled. "The next day, the Jetta was packed and I was gone, freaking out the whole way."

12. Wiig began performing comedy in the late 1990s after moving out to Los Angeles and joining the improv comedy group The Groundlings.

13. Other famous members of The Groundlings include Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman), Will Ferrell,Kathy Griffin, Maya Rudolph (her Bridesmaids co-star), Lisa Kudrow and Conan O'Brien.

14. In 2003, she landed roles on Spike TV's The Joe Schmo Show, portraying the character of marriage counselor Patricia Lane, also known as Dr. Pat the Quack.

15. She was also a regular performer in The Perks, a show at the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre. Through her extensive on stage performance work, she developed her funny and quirky nature.

16. Kristen Wiig also had parts in independent films such as Life, Death and Mini-Golf.

17. She was also cast as Carole Malone in the 2006 family adventure Unaccompanied Minors. That same year, she was in The Drew Carey Show and the TV series Home Purchasing Club.

18. She made it big after joining the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2005, where she stayed until 2012.

19. She received an Emmy nomination in 2009 for her work on Saturday Night Live.

20. She has done impressions of Hollywood stars like Drew Barrymore, Judy Garland, Maggie Smith, Björk, Jessica Simpson, Felicity Huffman, Katharine Hepburn, Jennifer Tilly, Megan Mullaly and Jamie Lee Curtis. She has also played Justin Timberlake's love interest in the popular "Dick in a Box," a Saturday Night Live digital short.

21. She does an excellent impression of Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian family with the hit reality tv show Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

22. One of her most popular characters is Penelope which always likes to one-up other people. "A lot of it comes from just unconsciously observing people. Penelope is based on someone I know. It's so far from how they act or look that they would never in a million years know. I'd say I was going to get a massage and they'd say, 'Oh, I'm getting a massage this week. I'm getting one tomorrow.' And I'd be like, 'That's a weird thing to try to one-up someone about, but OK.'"

23. Despite her busy schedule, she maintained a healthy lifestyle while on a tight SNL schedule. "I live between Central Park and the Hudson River, and those are two great places to walk and run. I also do yoga. A bunch of us have a private class once a week. When I'm working, I try to get something in a couple times a week. I'm a vegetarian; I eat a lot of tofu and soy. I drink a lot of water, and I'm addicted to cranberry juice. I do have a splurge day once a week when I can eat whatever I want. It's good, because it helps you stay on track the rest of the week. In the beginning, I ate anything I could see. But it's funny: The more you do it, the less you end up splurging."

24. When Amy Poehler left SNL in November 2008, Wiig became the most senior female cast member on the program.

25. One of the most popular skits from SNL while she was on the show was a portrayal of Disney Housewives. Watch the hilarious clip below:

26. In 2009, she played a major role (a dramatic performance, no less) in the sports comedy Whip It, directed by Drew Barrymore.

27. In 2009, Entertainment Weekly named her one of the 25 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood. "It's a mystery to me what makes people laugh," Wiig says. "I just try to be as real as possible."

28. She made her big screen debut as Katherine Heigl's insulting boss in Judd Apatow's hit Knocked Up.

29. Kristen is a core member of Judd Apatow's "comedy team", which also includes Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, Adam Sandler, and Seth Rogen.

30. She's gone on to appear in Whip It!, Extract, Adventureland and MacGruber.

31. She had voice acting parts in Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon.

32. She married Hayes Hargrove in 2005, and the couple split in 2009. Despite being a hilarious person on stage, she very private when it comes to her personal life and prefers to not speak about it to the media.

33. She doesn't think she's funny. "I went through my high school yearbook recently," Wiig told Time recently. "I was surprised people wrote I had a good sense of humor. I don't remember being funny."

34. She is 5' 5" (1.65 m) tall.

35. In 2011, she co-wrote and starred in the comedy Bridesmaids, one of the biggest box office hits of the year.

36. The film was a box office hit and won several awards, plus earned two Oscar nominations (Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay), and two Golden Globes nominations (Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Actress).

37. Kristen Wiig's mother (white hair, pink shirt) is in the airplane scene on Bridesmaids, two rows up from Maya and Rose.

38. Kristen Wiig is a vegetarian. "I eat a lot of tofu and soy."

39. In 2012, Kristen Wiig gave a heartfelt goodbye as she filmed her final episode as a cast member of SNL.

40. Besides being great at a variety of celebrity impressions, photobombing is her true gift.

41. Kristen Wiig has a sweet tooth. "Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms are kind of the best thing that's ever been made. And lemon cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop, near my house. I also love hot, melted cheesy sandwiches. And sweet-potato fries."

42. She loves drawing and expressing her artistic side. "I wish I had less fear about creating my own parts. I like to write and draw and paint, and my mom's an artist, so I think I get caught up in thinking, 'I'm afraid it's gonna be bad,' and it's hard for me to start sometimes."

43. What is her favorite item of jewelry? "A necklace my boyfriend gave me for Valentine's. It's gold and has a really tiny cuckoo clock. I wear it all the time. It's different to give someone a necklace with a cuckoo clock. That says something about him, and I guess about me."

44. She loves making people laugh, but her favorite thing is when she makes a baby laugh. How sweet!

45. Kristen Wiig says she can't go anywhere without taking gum with her.

46. One thing she would like to have is lots of tattoos.

47. When asked what is the one thing she dislikes about herself, she said: "I wish I had less fear about creating my own parts. I like to write and draw and paint, and my mom's an artist, so I think I get caught up in thinking, 'I'm afraid it's gonna be bad,' and it's hard for me to start sometimes."

48. When she's stressed out and needs to blow off some steam, she loves to just dance it off.

49. She is an animal lover and says she will never wear fur.

50. Her acting style is very natural and she likes to improvise. "I don't rehearse a lot. I try to keep it organic. Even in movies, the less I rehearse, the better I am."