Elyse Willems
Elyse Willems at RTX Austin 2017.
Born	(1986-05-03) May 3, 1986 (age 37) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Education	University of Toronto
Occupation	Writer • producer • performer • co-creative director
Years active	2013–present
Employer	Rooster Teeth
Spouse	James Willems
Website	elysewillems.com

Elyse Willems (born May 3, 1986)^[1][2] is a Canadian internet personality, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her work as a cast member and producer at Funhaus, a division of Rooster Teeth Productions, since November 2015.^[3] Since then, Willems has appeared and been involved in numerous productions by Rooster Teeth.

Willems self-published her debut novel, A Night in Halloween House, which became a bestselling Halloween children's book on Amazon in October 2020.^[4]

Biography

Willems was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario^[5] in a family of Polish descent. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government,^[6] Willems relocated to Los Angeles in January 2012.^[7] She worked at Viacom as a production assistant on GameTrailers from August 2012, later becoming a segment producer at Defy Media in 2014, where she produced, wrote and hosted Mandatory Update, a weekly comedy news show that provided a satirical commentary on the video game industry.

In November 2015, Willems joined Rooster Teeth as a cast member of Funhaus. There, she has collaboratively produced and co-written numerous series, such as Arizona Circle, Sex Swing, and Twits & Crits, as well as produced and performed in gaming videos and podcasts. Willems has made several appearances at RTX conventions, including a Ladies of Rooster Teeth panel at RTX Sydney 2017 where she expressed her frustration at credit for things she has done being given to her male peers in the past,^[8] and on the series Always Open, hosted by fellow Canadian Rooster Teeth member and friend Barbara Dunkelman.^[9] In 2017, a shortened clip focusing primarily on Willems from one of Funhaus' videos went viral. The clip featured Funhaus members, including her husband, jokingly criticizing a female character for wearing a ponytail while Willems, who is wearing a ponytail in the clip, reacts in the background.^[10] The clip appeared in one of PewDiePie's videos,^[11] and garnered almost fifteen million views worldwide. Willems clarified that the intent was humorous and that her reaction was deliberately comedic.^[12]

In 2020, Willems served as the series creator and one of the participants in Last Laugh, a Rooster Teeth series centered around a social experiment where twelve contestants spent six hours in one room while trying to make each other laugh or smile.^[13] Willems also streams with her husband James in order to fundraise for various charities and causes, and is among the popular streamers who raised funds for The Jimmy Fund to support research at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute on November 1, 2020.^[14]

Willems self-published her first novel, titled A Night in Halloween House, in October 2020.^[15][16] It was released on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions, and became the bestselling Halloween children's book. The novel received predominantly five star reviews on the novel's Amazon page and its Goodreads counterpart, with readers praising the sense of Halloween nostalgia that Willems set out to convey in the book.^[17] In 2021, she and James were credited as writers for IllFonic's Arcadegeddon.^[18]

Personal life

Willems is married to fellow performer and Funhaus cast member James Willems,^[19] and they live in Los Angeles, California.^[20]

Filmography

Film

Web series

Video games