Alia Shawkat

Alia Martine Shawkat (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite videoTemplate:Cbignore</ref> born April 18, 1989<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) is an American actress. She is known for her performances as Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom Arrested Development (2003–2006; 2013–2019), Dory Sief in the TBS and HBO Max dark comedy series Search Party (2016–2022), and Gertie Michaels in the 2015 horror-comedy film The Final Girls, as well as her roles in State of Grace and The Old Man. She has also guest starred as historical figures Frances Cleveland, Virginia Hall, and Alexander Hamilton on Comedy Central's Drunk History.

Early life

Shawkat was born in Riverside, California, to Dina Shawkat (née Burke) and strip club owner Tony Shawkat.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She grew up in Palm Springs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She has two brothers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her father is from Baghdad, Iraq,<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> and her mother is American.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her maternal grandfather was actor Paul Burke.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

From 2001 to 2002, Shawkat played Hannah in State of Grace. As Maeby Fünke, Shawkat was a regular cast member of Arrested Development for the entire run of the show from 2003 to 2019. The series received nearly universally positive reviews, with Shawkat's performance occasionally singled out for praise. Pop-culture commentator Brian M. Palmer remarked that she was "one of the brightest lights on a show populated solely by bright lights",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic described her as "one funny young lady."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In an interview with The A.V. Club in 2010, Shawkat remarked that many of her "formative moments" as an actress took place on the Arrested Development set: "[Show creator] Mitch Hurwitz was like a father figure to me. In a way, it was great to be around [the cast], because I feel that my understanding of comedy was able to grow really well during that time."<ref name="Interview">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2009, Shawkat appeared in Whip It co-star Har Mar Superstar's music video for "Tall Boy", which also featured Eva Mendes and Eric Wareheim. In October 2009, it was announced that Shawkat, Har Mar, and Whip It co-star Elliot Page would produce and write a show for HBO called Stitch N' Bitch.<ref name="Interview"/> According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show "follows two painfully cool hipsters as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists—of any kind."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shawkat, along with State of Grace and Arrested Development co-star and close friend Mae Whitman, sang guest vocals on several tracks from indie-punk band Fake Problems' 2010 album Real Ghosts Caught on Tape.<ref name="FakeProblemsCDRelease">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Green Room 04 (21532801571).jpg

Shawkat at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Green Room

Six years after the series was canceled by Fox, filming for a revived fourth season of Arrested Development began on August 7, 2012, and Shawkat reprised her role as Maeby Fünke. The season consists of 15 new episodes, which debuted simultaneously on Netflix on May 26, 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Each episode focuses on one particular character, with Shawkat's Maeby, now a high school senior, featured in episode 12, "Señoritis," and appearing in several other episodes of the season.

Shawkat appears briefly in Ryan Trecartin's 2013 art film, Center Jenny.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

In 2015, Shawkat guest-starred on Broad City, portraying the romantic interest and look-alike of Ilana Glazer's character for one episode; the two were attracted to one another due only to their similar appearances. Leading up to the episode, many had remarked on the physical similarities Shawkat and Glazer bear to one another.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shawkat starred in the lead role of Dory Sief on the TBS comedy Search Party, which premiered on November 21, 2016<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and moved to HBO Max in 2019 before concluding with its fifth and final season in January 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Alongside her acting role on this project, Shawkat produced 30 episodes and directed 1 from 2016 to 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2019, Shawkat starred in the film Animals (directed by Australian director Sophie Hyde) as Tyler, a high-living American partier in Dublin. It is a film about a friendship that changes after Laura (played by Holliday Grainger) gets engaged to her teetotalling boyfriend.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:YouTube</ref> Shawkat said that she had never played a character like Tyler before, and comparatively found her previous characters more relatable. She was "excited to play someone who was so fun, but so damaged".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

When not acting, Shawkat enjoys singing, drawing, and painting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She occasionally sings in jazz bars, though she only sings jazz standards; her grandfather taught her many of the songs she knows. At one point, Shawkat attempted to learn welding, hoping to make metal sculptures. She considers it essential for her to pursue different forms of art, stating, "They feed each other. If I didn't have the other ones, I don't think I could just act."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Shawkat is bisexual.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 15, 2023, Shawkat gave birth to her first baby.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmography

Film

Key

Template:Dagger

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Three Kings	Amir's Daughter
2005	Rebound	Amy
2006	Deck the Halls	Madison Finch
2008	Bart Got a Room	Camille
	Prom Wars	Diana Riggs
2009	Amreeka	Salma Halaby
	Whip It	Pash Amini
2010	The Runaways	Robin Robbins
2011	The Lie	Seven
	Cedar Rapids	Bree
	The Oranges	Vanessa Walling
2012	Damsels in Distress	Mad Madge
	That's What She Said	Clementine
	Ruby Sparks	Mabel
	The Brass Teapot	Louise
2013	May in the Summer	Dalia
	The End of Love	Alia Shawkat	Cameo
	The To Do List	Fiona Forster
	Night Moves	Surprise
	The Moment	Jessie Jamil
2014	Life After Beth	Roz
	Wild Canaries	Jean
2015	The Final Girls	Gertie Michaels
	The Driftless Area	Carrie
	Nasty Baby	Wendy	Also co-producer
	Adam Green's Aladdin	Emily
	Green Room	Sam
	Me Him Her	Laura
2016	The Intervention	Lola
	Pee-wee's Big Holiday	Bella
	Paint It Black	Josie
	20th Century Women	Trish
2017	Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town	Agatha Benson
2018	Blaze	Sybil Rosen
	Duck Butter	Naima	Also writer and executive producer
2019	Animals	Tyler
	First Cow	Woman with Dog
	I Lost My Body	Gabrielle (voice)	English dub
2020	The Letter Room	Rosita	Short film
2021	Love Spreads	Kelly
	Being the Ricardos	Madelyn Pugh
2022	Jackass Forever	Herself	Cameo
	The Listener	Sharon (voice)
2023	Drift	Callie
2024	Blink Twice	Jess
2025	Atropia	Fayruz	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TBA	The Wrong Girls Template:Dagger		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	JAG	Young Sarah MacKenzie	Episode: "Second Sight"
2000	The Trial of Old Drum	Dee	TV film
2002	State of Grace	Young Hannah Rayburn	Main cast; 40 episodes
	Presidio Med	Tara Wegman	Episode: "Good Question"
2003	Without a Trace	Siobhan Arintero	Episode: "Maple Street"
	Boomtown	Denise Stein	Episode: "Home Invasion"
2003–2006; 2013; 2018–2019	Arrested Development	Mae "Maeby" Fünke	Main cast; 79 episodes
2006	Veronica Mars	Stacy Wells	Episode: "The Rapes of Graff"
	Not Like Everyone Else	Brandi Blackbear	TV film
2007	The Business	Screenwriting Manicurist	2 episodes
2008	The Bad Mother's Handbook	Charlotte	TV film
	The Starter Wife	Robin	3 episodes
2010	The League	April	Episode: "The Expert Witness"
2013	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Gail	Episode: "Burn After Killing"
2014	Drunk History	Frances Cleveland	Episode: "First Ladies"
	Robot Chicken	Baroness / Lucy Pevensie / Minerva McGonagall (voice)	Episode: "G.I. Jogurt"
	Getting On	Colleen Hoover	4 episodes
2015	Adventure Time	Betsy Poundcake (voice)	Episode: "The Diary"
	Broad City	Adele	Episode: "Coat Check"
	Drunk History	Virginia Hall	Episode: "Spies"
2016	Portlandia	Mayor's Kid	Episode: "Shville"
	Animals.	Sharon (voice)	Episode: "Rats."
	Drunk History	Alexander Hamilton	Episode: "Hamilton"
2016–2017	Adventure Time	Charlie (voice)	2 episodes
2016–2022	Search Party	Dory Sief	Main cast; 50 episodes Also producer Directed episode "The Imposter"
2017–2019	Transparent	Lila	8 episodes
2017–2020	Big Mouth	Roland (voice)	3 episodes
2018–2023	Summer Camp Island	Blanche / Cinnamon Raisin Toast / Butter Goth (voice)	15 episodes
2019	Living with Yourself	Maia	2 episodes
2020	The Shivering Truth	(voice)	Episode: "Nesslessness"
	Moonbase 8	Alix	Episode: "Visitors"
2021	Cinema Toast	(voice)	Episode: "Warehouse Friends"
	Pride	Madeleine Tress	Episode: "1950s: People Had Parties"
	Ultra City Smiths	Little Grace / Woman's Voice (voice)	5 episodes
2022–2024	The Old Man	Angela Adams	Main cast
2023	Rugrats	Trish (voice)	Episode: "Reptar Day!/Mission to the Little"
	Scavengers Reign	Levi (voice)	8 episodes
2024–2025	Star Wars: Skeleton Crew	Kh'ymm (voice)	2 episodes
2025	Severance	Gwendolyn Y.	2 episodes
	#1 Happy Family USA	Mona Hussein (voice)	Main cast
	Poker Face	TBA	Upcoming season

Podcasts

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Sandra	Helen Perera (voice)	Main role, 7 episodes

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist
2017	"Don't Take the Money"	Bleachers

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2002	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Leading Young Actress	State of Grace	Template:Nom
2004	TV Land Award	Future Classic	Arrested Development	Template:Won
2005	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Supporting Young Actress		Template:Won
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Template:Nom
2006		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Template:Nom
2014		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Template:Nom
2017	Gracie Award	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Search Party	Template:Won

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if:

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