Heidi Gardner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Heidi Gardner
Gardner at the 2016 New York Comic Con.
Born	Heidi Lynn Gardner (1983-07-27) July 27, 1983 (age 42) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Education	University of Kansas University of Missouri
Occupation	Actress comedian writer
Years active	2011–present
Spouse(s)	Zeb Wells ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2023)​

Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known as a cast member on the famous NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). She joined the show in 2017 and became a main cast member in 2019.

Early Life and School

Gardner was born and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. As a kid, she had a part-time job at the Tivoli Theater. She did everything from selling tickets to making popcorn. She said this job helped shape her future.

As a teenager, Gardner wasn't very interested in acting. She played the flute in the school band and performed in comedy sketches at talent shows. She went to an all-girls Catholic high school called Notre Dame de Sion. In her senior year, her classmates voted her "most likely to be a cast member of Saturday Night Live."

After high school, she went to the University of Kansas and then the University of Missouri. However, she wasn't very focused on her studies at the time.

Career Journey

Starting in Los Angeles

At age 21, Gardner moved to Los Angeles with only $600 that she had saved. She worked as a hairstylist for nine years. One day, a friend took her to see a show at The Groundlings, a famous comedy theater. The show inspired her to become an actress.

Gardner had no acting experience, so she took classes to learn improvisation, which is a type of acting without a script. After she felt more confident, she successfully auditioned for The Groundlings. By 2015, she was part of the theater's Main Company and decided to quit her hairstyling job to focus completely on acting.

Voice Acting and SNL

While performing at The Groundlings, Gardner also started a career as a voice actress. She provided voices for animated shows like Bratz, SuperMansion, and Mike Tyson Mysteries.

In 2017, her big break came when she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live. She started as a "featured player," which is a role for new cast members. After two successful years, she was promoted to a "repertory player" in 2019, making her a main member of the cast.

Gardner said that for a long time, she felt like "the new kid" on SNL. This was because many of the senior cast members stayed on the show longer than usual. After some of them, like Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson, left, Gardner became one of the senior members herself. She said she enjoyed having more opportunities to perform in sketches.

For seven seasons, Gardner was famous for never breaking character (laughing or smiling during a live sketch). However, in April 2024, she finally broke character during a sketch about the cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head. Many fans and critics found the moment very funny and charming.

Recurring SNL Characters

On Saturday Night Live, Gardner is known for playing many memorable recurring characters, including:

• Angel, a woman who appears on "Weekend Update" and gets very dramatic while talking about her boxer boyfriend.
• Bailey Gismert, a teenage movie critic who gives very awkward reviews.
• Brie Bacardi, who runs a relationship-themed Instagram account with her boyfriend, played by Mikey Day.
• Deidre, a woman who tells her friends about her vacations, but doesn't realize that her experiences were actually bad.
• Crystal, a co-worker who complains on "Weekend Update" about how busy she is, but no one knows what her job is.
• Sandy, a very skilled baker on a reality show who often loses to contestants who make much worse cakes.

Other Work in Film and TV

Besides SNL, Gardner has appeared in movies and other TV shows. In 2018, she acted in the movie Life of the Party with Melissa McCarthy. She has also had voice roles in animated movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Leo.

Her television work includes guest roles on shows like Superstore, The Other Two, and Shrinking. She was also a judge on the Netflix baking show Is It Cake?.

Personal Life

Gardner is a big fan of the Kansas City Chiefs (football) and the Kansas City Royals (baseball).

From 2010 to 2023, she was married to Zeb Wells, a writer for Marvel Comics. They met when she was performing at The Groundlings. When she is not in New York City for SNL, she lives in a home she bought in Leawood, Kansas, near her hometown.

Selected Works

Film

• Life of the Party (2018)
• Otherhood (2019)
• Hustle (2022)
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) (voice)
• Leo (2023) (voice)

Television

• Mike Tyson Mysteries (2017, 2019) (voice)
• Saturday Night Live (2017–present)
• Superstore (2019)
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2020)
• Is It Cake? (2022)
• Shrinking (2023–2024)

Web Series

• Bratz (2015) (voice)
• SuperMansion (2015–2019) (voice)