Jon Rudnitsky
Rudnitsky performing in July 2016
Born (1989-11-22) November 22, 1989 (age 34)
Harrington Park, New Jersey, U.S.
MediumStand-up, film, television
Years active2011–present

Jon Rudnitsky (born November 22, 1989)[1] is an American actor and comedian. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Rudnitsky garnered widespread attention for his brief stint as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during the show's 41st season between 2015 and 2016. Since his departure from SNL, he has also played McWatt in the 2019 miniseries Catch-22.

Early life

Rudnitsky is a native of Harrington Park, New Jersey.[2] His mother, Karen, is a social worker at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey,[3] and his father, Steven, is a businessman in the hospitality industry.[4]

Rudnitsky attended Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan.[5] He subsequently studied acting at the University of Southern California. His maternal uncle is Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to the United States.[6] Rudnitsky is Jewish.[7]

Career

Rudnitsky performed with the Groundlings.[8] On August 31, 2015, it was announced that Rudnitsky would join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player for the show's forty-first season.[9][10] In the third episode of that season, Rudnitsky portrayed Anderson Cooper in a sketch, acting as moderator for a Democratic presidential debate, for which he received criticism from Cooper.[11] He has also done impressions of Wolf Blitzer, John Mayer, Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, and Vladimir Putin (in a dress rehearsal sketch on the season 41 episode hosted by Donald Trump), while also doing a Dirty Dancing sketch for Weekend Update, which was seen as one of his high points for the season.[12] On August 9, 2016, it was reported that Rudnitsky would not be returning to the show for the following season.[13]

In 2017, Rudnitsky starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in the romantic comedy film Home Again.[14] In 2018, Jon played Mike in the Netflix release Set It Up.

He starred alongside Jane Lynch and Genevieve Angelson in the NBC pilot Relatively Happy, which was not picked up.[15]

In March 2020, Rudnitsky was cast as Mike Devries in the musical comedy-drama television series The Big Leap, which premiered on Fox on September 20, 2021.[16][17]

Filmography

Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
2011 A Made Man Voice Short film
2013 The Jewish Hunger Games Peeta Hummus / Effie Trinket Short film
2014 Legends of the Hidden Temple: The Movie Bar Patron Short film
Two-Bit Waltz The Boy
The Great American Comedy Tour Laugh Factory Host Short film
2015 Clint Howard Reboots Pippi Longstocking with Milla Jovovich and Fred Willard Assius Short film
Patchwork Lance
2017 Home Again George
2018 Summer Days, Summer Nights Mello
Set It Up Mike
Nobody's Fool Benji
2020 All My Life Chris (Bartender)
2023 The Young Wife Dave
Under the Boardwalk Jimmy Voice
Wish Dario Voice
2024 Stealing Pulp Fiction Post-production
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2012 Criminal Minds Kyle Owens Episode: "Perennials"
2013 JewDate Jake Episode: "Jenga!"
2015–2016 Saturday Night Live Various Featured player
2017 Better Briefs Kyle Episode: "Locked Out in Your Underwear"
Red Oaks Brett Episode: "Paroled"
Curb Your Enthusiasm Waiter Episode: "Namaste"; Uncredited
Relatively Happy Henry Pepper TV pilot
2018 Champions Asher Recurring role
Big Hero 6: The Series Ned Ludd (voice) 2 episodes
2019 Catch-22 McWatt Miniseries
2020 The Big Leap Mike Main role
2021 Curb Your Enthusiasm Asa Episode: "Irma Kostroski"
2022 Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Cyrus (voice) Guest role: Season 5

References

  1. ^ "Jon Rudnitsky Joins SNL Cast | Blog". NBC. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  2. ^ Zhu, Danielle (2015-08-31). "Meet Jon Rudnitsky, SNL's newest cast member". Entertainment Weekly.
  3. ^ "Michael Oren's parents recall his 'out-there' youth".
  4. ^ "CI Capital takes a stake in WTS International – Steven Rudnitsky named as vice chair". spa business. November 14, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  5. ^ Sheridan, Angeline. "Here's What's Buzzing in Bergen This Week", Macaroni Kid Northeast Bergen, September 3, 2015. Accessed September 8, 2015. "NBC recently announced the addition of 25 year old Jon Rudnitsky as a featured player on Saturday Night Live. Rudnitsky, who grew up in Harrington Park, is a stand-up comedian who got his start at Northern Valley Old Tappan High School."
  6. ^ "MK Michael Oren congratulates nephew on joining cast of SNL – Israel News – Jerusalem Post". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  7. ^ Bloom, Nate (18 September 2015). "celebrity jews". J. The Jewish News of Northern California.
  8. ^ Arkin, Daniel (2015-08-31). "Jon Rudnitsky, Stand-Up Comic, Joins 'Saturday Night Live' as Featured Player". NBC News.
  9. ^ Gus Wezerek (2019-12-14). "The 'S.N.L.' Stars Who Lasted, and the Ones Who Flamed Out". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-12-14. Retrieved 2019-12-16. Some of the names here will be familiar only to die-hard fans; others, like Murphy, defined what was funny for generations of viewers.
  10. ^ "Anderson Cooper offended by 'SNL' newcomer's impression". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2016-07-02.
  11. ^ LaScala, Marisa (7 February 2016). "'SNL' Newbie Jon Rudnitsky Finally Makes His Mark On The Show With A 'Dirty Dancing' Parody". Bustle.com.
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (9 August 2016). "'Saturday Night Live' Featured Player Jon Rudnitsky To Depart". Deadline.com.
  13. ^ "'SNL' Alum Jon Rudnitsky Joins Reese Witherspoon in 'Home Again' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  14. ^ Schwindt, Oriana (2017-03-14). "Jane Lynch Joins NBC Pilot 'Relatively Happy'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  15. ^ "'The Big Leap': Simone Recasner & Jon Rudnitsky Join Fox Dramedy Pilot". Deadline. March 11, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  16. ^ "Fox previews The Big Leap during Network Upfronts". | Reel Chicago - At the intersection of Chicago Advertising, Entertainment, Media and Production. May 17, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021.

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