Lauren Lapkus is a SAG Award-winning, Emmy-nominated actress, improviser, and writer. Originally from Evanston, Illinois, she graduated from DePaul University and performed all over Chicago, most notably at iO Chicago. After a whirlwind year in NYC she moved to Los Angeles, where she can be seen performing improv with ASSSSCAT and Wild Horses at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Wild Horses is Lauren's all-female improv team with Stephanie Allynne, Mary Holland, and Erin Whitehead. They've been seen at Vulture Fest in NYC, All Jane, No Dick in Portland, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin, The Chicago Improv Festival, and the Bentzen Ball in DC, performing at the Kennedy Center. You can catch their show, The Perspective, monthly at both UCB Franklin and Dynasty Typewriter in LA.
Lauren is best known for her roles as Vivian in Jurassic World and Susan Fischer on Orange is the New Black. She played Pete's ex-wife Jess on HBO's Crashing, and Denise on CBS' The Big Bang Theory. Her credits include Lucifer, Life in Pieces, The Guest Book, Drunk History, House of Lies, Kroll Show, Blended, and a bunch more. She was nominated for an Emmy for her work as Samantha Newman on the Funny or Die series, The Earliest Show.
Lauren wrote, starred in, and executive produced her own sketch comedy special as part of the Netflix series, The Characters, and is one of three leads on the new Dreamworks animated show, Harvey Street Kids, also on Netflix. She has lent her voice to many other animated shows including Bob's Burgers, Adventure Time, American Dad!, Animals, Craig of the Creek, and more. You can see her in as 1/2 of a desperate, bored couple in The Unicorn, which is currently available on demand.
She was featured in Backstage's 10 Comics to Watch in 2012 and performed in the New Faces Character Showcase at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival that year. Time Out New York named her one of 10 Comics to Watch in 2015 and she was also on Variety's list of 10 Comics to Watch in 2016. TIME listed With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus as one of the best podcasts of 2018.
