30 Killer Facts About Kate McKinnon You Might Have Missed Before

Kate McKinnon, famous for her character work and celebrity impressions, has not only managed to impress millions of audiences worldwide, but simultaneously accumulate numerous accolades. She is one of the few celebrities who are not active on social media. In fact, she does not have any social media accounts, as she fears she might “misrepresent real feelings.” Still, her fan base is nothing short of trending celebrities. Here are some really interesting facts about this comedian that will blow your mind away:

"144758_3952" by Walt Disney Television is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

1.  Her return to Saturday Night Live’s Season 46, officially made her the show’s longest tenured female cast member, surpassing her cast mates Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant by five episodes.
2.  She has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and six for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.
3.  She joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, as a featured player on April 7, 2012, and was promoted to repertory status in Season 39, in the year 2013.
4.  In the year 2015, she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and won the award next year, becoming the becoming the first actor from SNL to win the award since Dana Carvey in 1993.
5.  In 2009, McKinnon won a Logo NewNowNext Award for Best Rising Comic, and was also nominated for an ECNY Emerging Comic Award in 2010.
6.  Kate McKinnon Berthold was born on January 6, 1984 to Michael Thomas Berthold and Laura Campbell, in Long Island town of Sea Cliff, New York.
7.  Her father was an architect, while her mother is a parent educator. Her father passed away when Kate was 18 years old.
8.  She has a younger sister Emily Lynne, with whom she has worked on the digital series “Notary Publix,” as well as the Audible series “Head Will Roll.”
9.  She was introduced to various musical instruments even as a child, as she started playing piano at the young age of five years. McKinnon started playing cello when she was 12 and learned to play the guitar by herself when she was just 15 years old.
10.  It was in her fifth grade that her knack for accents started, as she auditioned to be “the queen of reading week,” using an English accent.

"fuertecito: A younger Kate McKinnon dressed as Dana Scully...." by dr vaxon is licensed under CC BY 2.0

11.  In the year 2002, she graduated from North Shore High School, and with a degree in theatre from Columbia University in 2006.
12.  During her time at Columbia University, she co-founded a comedy group – Tea Party, which focuses on musical improve comedy. She was also a member of Prangstgrüp, a student comedy group which set up and recorded elaborate college pranks.
13.  She starred in three Varsity shows: “V109 Dial D for Deadline,” “V110 Off-Broadway” and “V111 The Sound of Muses,” while studying at Columbia University.
14.  She joined the original cast of Logo TV’s “The Big Gay Sketch Show,” where she was a regular member for all the three seasons of the show in 2007.
15.  Since the year 2008, McKinnon has performed live sketch comedy regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. This Manhattan’s improvisational comedy troupe is said to be usually unpaid.
16.  During the filming of the 2018 movie “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” she wrote the Japanese food puns in the Tokyo scene "at the last minute" and had her co-star Mila Kunis laughing on set.
17.  In 2016, she starred in the reboot “Ghostbusters,” alongside Melissa McCarthy, and fellow SNL cast members Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones.
18.  Although director Paul Feig had met her at several after-parties of “Saturday Night Live,” he considered having her play a role in the movie, only after reading in an interview that it was one of her childhood dreams to be a Ghostbuster.
19.  Prior to the 2016 Presidential election, she began appearing as Hillary Clinton on the SNL series. Clinton appeared alongside her during the premiere of season 41.
20.  On February 11, 2017, she debuted her impression of Elizabeth Warren during Weekend Update and Jeff Sessions in the cold open.

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21.  McKinnon played a supporting role of Debra Hammer in the Danny Boyle’s 2019 musical romantic comedy movie “Yesterday.”
22.  As per the scripts of 2016 “Masterminds,” her character was initially supposed to be Karen, but following her suggestion to Director Jared Hess to name her Jaundice, her character was named Jandice, in an effort to make it sound like a real name.
23.  During the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, while presenting Ellen DeGeneres with the Carol Burnett Award, she opened up about being a lesbian. She thanked DeGeneres, saying that watching the sitcom “Ellen,” made it less scary for her to accept her sexual orientation.
24.  Before the filming of “Ghostbusters” commenced, she designed the hairstyle and glasses for her character Jillian Holtzmann, by herself. Despite it resembling her counterpart Egon from “The Real Ghostbusters,” her design was unrelated to the cartoon.
25.  During her time at the Columbia University, she dated future journalist Bari Weiss, currently a regular columnist for “Die Welt.” The duo had an on-and-off relationship.
26.  Kate is currently in a relationship with photographer and actress Jackie Abbott. She and Abbott debuted as a couple at the 2017 Emmys.
27.  She has a cat named Nino Positano, featured in her sketch “Whiskers R We.” She named the cat after the pizza restaurant, where she found him and took him home. The sketch, filmed from her home due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, was about the cats up for adoption.
28.  Having had best friend since the age of ten, she often thought of her real life best friend while filming for “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” and used it as a inspiration for her role.
29.  During the filming of the rock concert scene in “Ghostbusters,” the scene where her character Holtzmann grabs a guitar and smashes it, was improvised by Kate, on the spot. Director Feig liked the idea, and allowed more set-ups with a fake prop guitar.
30.  McKinnon has voiced the character of Ms. Frizzle in the reboot of the children series “Magic School Bus. She also voices Squeeks the Mouse in the TV Series “Nature Cat.”
31.  Kate McKinnon Net Worth: $9 Million