Will Arnett

Will Arnett
Birth name	William Emerson Arnett
Born	May 4, 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Notable Roles	G.O.B. Bluth in Arrested Development
Notable Episodes
Awards

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Will Arnett is a Canadian actor best known for his role as the charming, devious, magician-slash-male stripper brother G.O.B. Bluth on the cult hit sitcom Arrested Development.

Biography

Will Arnett was born in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, the third of four children (although his older sisters are twins) to Alexandra and E. James Arnett. James was a corporate lawyer who worked for the famous Molson Breweries and later served as the company's President and CEO. As a child, Arnett attended French-speaking schools in Toronto. As a teenager, his mother sent him to commercial auditions, and Arnett found he enjoyed acting, so at age 20, he moved to New York to study at the famous Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Arnett struggled in New York for several years and performed in indie and student films. His first interest was in drama, but for money, he accepted work in sitcom pilots. The first of these to be sold was The Mike O'Malley Show, in which Arnett played the womanizing best friend who was finally settling down and getting married. Although Arnett was initially excited to work on a sitcom in which he was friends with the entire cast (which included Mike O'Malley, Mark Rosenthal and Kate Walsh), the show was critically reviled and a ratings disaster, and it was cancelled after only two episodes had aired.

The failure of The Mike O'Malley Show led to what Arnett has called "the darkest year of my life." He stopped working and turned to drinking. In the summer of 2000, a friend convinced him to clean up his act and look for work again. In early 2001, he met actress Amy Poehler, and the two were later married. (His previous 1994 marriage to actress Penelope Ann Miller had lasted less than a year.)

In 2002, Arnett was cast for the pilot for the sitcom Still Standing. Although the series was picked up by CBS, Arnett's character was cut. Angry from the rejection, the following February, he told his agent he refused to do any pilots that year. However, casting director Deb Barylski—who had cast him in the Still Standing pilot—liked his work and convinced him to look at a pilot script by Mitchell Hurwitz. Although reluctant and working on a play, Arnett had heard good buzz about the script from his friends, and when the character remained uncast and his play fell apart, he agreed to audition. He made his audition tape on a Friday, flew to Los Angeles and read for Hurwitz on Saturday, and the following Monday night, he was at a table read for the role as G.O.B. Bluth on Arrested Development.

The role did not make Arnett a household name, but it caught the eye of critics, directors and producers, as well as the Emmys. Since the series' demise in 2006, he has been steadily working on films and television projects. He lives in New York with Poehler.

Roles

Guest Starring Roles

Series	Role	Episode	Airdate
Sex and the City	Jack	2x12 - La Douleur Exquise!	August 22, 1999
Third Watch	Kenny	1x19 - Spring Forward, Fall Back	April 17, 2000
Boston Public	Hand Salesman	2x07 - Chapter Twenty-Nine	December 10, 2001
Yes, Dear	Bobby	2x18 - Johnny Ampleseed	March 25, 2002
The Sopranos	Mike Waldrup	4x01 - For All Debts Public and Private	September 15, 2002
The Sopranos	Mike Waldrup	4x02 - No Show	September 22, 2002
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Tony Damon	4x06 - Angels	November 1, 2002
Will & Grace	Artemis Johnson	7x02 - Back Up Dancer	September 23, 2004
MADtv	Himself	11x02 - Episode 1102	September 24, 2005
King of the Hill	Portis	11x05 - Hank Gets Dusted	April 1, 2007
30 Rock	Devin Banks	1x18 - Fireworks	April 5, 2007
30 Rock	Devin Banks	2x02 - Jack Gets in the Game	October 11, 2007
30 Rock	Devon Banks	2x13 - Succession	April 24, 2008
30 Rock	Devon Banks	3x01 - Do-Over	October 30, 2008
30 Rock	Devon Banks	4x02 - Into the Crevasse	October 22, 2009
30 Rock	Devon Banks	4x07 - Dealbreakers Talk Show No. 0001	December 3, 2009
30 Rock	Devon Banks	5x18 - Plan B	March 24, 2011
30 Rock	Devon Banks	6x03 - Idiots Are People Three!	January 26, 2012
30 Rock	Devon Banks	7x09 - Game Over	January 10, 2013

Specials and Made-for-TV Movies

Title	Role	Airdate	Series/Banner
Undefeated	Scott Green's Assistant	July 26, 2003
Arrested Development: Making of a Future Classic	Himself	March 12, 2004
The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards	Nominee	August 27, 2006	Primetime Emmy Awards
Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education	Phone Bank	October 15, 2006
Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education	Performer	April 13, 2008

Talk, News and Game Show Appearances

Series	Episode	Airdate
The Sharon Osbourne Show		March 19, 2004
Celebrity Poker Showdown	Tournament 3, Game 3	July 22, 2004
Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Show 1973	October 22, 2004
The Tony Danza Show		October 25, 2004
Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Show 2042	March 31, 2005
Last Call with Carson Daly		April 8, 2005
Weekends at the DL		July 31, 2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live		September 16, 2005
Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Show 2174	January 13, 2006
The Daily Show	Will Arnett (February 9, 2006)	February 9, 2006
Late Night with Conan O'Brien		November 22, 2006

Notable Film Roles

Film	Role	Released
Southie	Whitey	1998
The Waiting Game	Lenny	1999
The Great New Wonderful	Danny	2005
Monster-in-Law	Kit	2005
Ice Age: The Meltdown	Lone Gunslinger Vulture	2006
RV	Todd Mallory	2006

Producer

Series Produced

Series	Year(s)	Credit	Season(s)
Running Wilde	2010	Executive Producer	1
BoJack Horseman	2014 –2020	Executive Producer	1	2	3	4	5	6
Flaked	2016 –2017	Executive Producer	1	2
The Gong Show	2017 –2018	Executive Producer	1	2
Hot Date	2017 –2019	Executive Producer	1	2
Murderville	2022	Executive Producer	1
Twisted Metal	2023 –	Executive Producer	1
Snake Oil	2023 –	Executive Producer	1

Writer

Series Created

Series	Premiere Date	Creation Credit
Running Wilde	September 21, 2010	Co-Creator
Flaked	March 11, 2016	Co-Creator

Episode Writer

Series	Episode	Airdate	Credit
Running Wilde	1x01 - Pilot	September 21, 2010
Flaked	1x01 - Westminster	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x02 - Horizon	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x03 - Rose	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x04 - Palms	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x05 - Electric	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x06 - Shell	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x07 - 7th	March 11, 2016
Flaked	1x08 - Sunset	March 11, 2016
Flaked	2x01 - Day One	June 2, 2017
Flaked	2x06 - Day Six	June 2, 2017

Awards and Accolades

IVy Awards

• Won: Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2005-06)

Arrested Development

Primetime Emmy Awards

• Nominated: Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2006)

Arrested Development

• Nominated: Oustanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012)

30 Rock

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Nominated: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005, 2006)

Arrested Development

Trivia

• Frequently works as a voice over announcer on commercials. Amongst dozens of others, he is the voice of the toenail anti-fungal cream Lamocil.