Will Forte - Actors, Family and Life

Will Forte was born Orville Willis Forte IV on 17th June 1970 in Alameda County, California to Orville Willis Forte III, and Patricia C. His father is a financial broker, while his mother is an artist and was also a schoolteacher. He is Christian by religion. He has a sister named Michelle Forte.

He graduated from ‘Acalanes High School’ in 1988, and was a member of their swimming and football teams. In school he was voted as the class president, and awarded the title of ‘Best Personality’ by his class.

He obtained a degree in history from the ‘University of California’ and was also a member of the North American college fraternity ‘Lambda Chi Alpha’. As a teenager he loved comedy, and followed famous comedians like Steve Martin and David Letterman.

Prior to starting his acting career, he took classes for sketch comedy at ‘The Groundlings’, a school and theatre in Los Angeles.

Will Forte ventured into comedy by writing and producing a comic book called ‘101 Things to Definitely Not Do If You Want to Get a Chick’, that was written as a funny dating advice book for men.

The next assignment he received was for an American late-night talk show ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ hosted by David Letterman on CBS. He was initially very excited, but was let go due to his inexperience just nine months later.

He again moved to ‘The Groundlings’ and performed with noted actors like Jim Rash, Maya Rudolph, and Cheryl Hines, and even started writing for sitcoms like ‘Action’ and ‘The Army Show’. He also tried stand-up comedy many times at events like open mic nights.

He was then hired to write for an American sitcom called ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’ (1996), television show ‘The Jenny McCarthy Show’ (1997), and the American sitcom. ‘That 70’s Show’ (1998). Around this time he also received the offer to be on the comedy show ‘Saturday Night Live’.

Will Forte joined the cast of ‘Saturday Night Live’ for the twenty-eight season. He could not enact the sketches initially, and thus had to learn to get better on his performance. It took him more than four seasons to get used to the show, and was almost fired from it on many occasions.

He played various characters including politician Tim Calhoun, a businessman–the Falconer, and football coach Peyton Manning. He also wrote and co-starred in the film ‘The Brothers Solomon’ (2007).

Will Forte was cast in various television series like ‘The Cleveland Show’ (2009 –13), ‘American Dad’ (2009-15), ‘WWE Raw’ (2010), and ‘Conan’ (2010-13).

He played the character of an operations agent called MacGruber in ‘WWE Raw’ in 2010. He left ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 2010, and was given supporting roles in the films ‘Rock of Ages’ (2012), ‘That’s my Boy’ (2012), and ‘The Watch’ (2012).

In 2013 he played the small role of a cheerleader in the American comedy film ‘Grown Ups 2’, and played the character of Paul L'Astnamé, Jenna Maroney’s boyfriend in the sitcom ‘30 Rock’.

He played the character of Dr. Ted Fielding in the Irish comedy drama ‘Run & Jump’(2013), directed by Steph Green, in which he co-starred with English actress Maxine Peake and Irish actor Edward MacLiam.

Will Forte was offered a role in the 2013 black and white comedy drama ‘Nebraska’ directed by Alexander Payne, where he played the role of David Grant.

He has been cast for roles in movies like ’22 Jump Street’ (2014), ‘She’s Funny That Way’ (2014), ‘Don Verdean’ (2015), ‘State Island Summer’(2015), and ‘The Ridiculous 6’(2015). He started working for the sitcom, ‘The Last Man on Earth’ in 2015, where he was a writer, and also played the lead role.

Will Forte was cast in the television series ‘7 Days in Hell’ (2015) and ‘Maya & Marty’ (2016), and also played the role of ‘Hulka’ in the action-comedy film ‘Keanu’ (2016). He co-starred with actor, comedian, writer, and producer Jordan Peele and comedian Keegan-Michael Key. His television career in 2017 included episodes for ‘Tour De Pharmacy’ and ‘Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories.’

He has also worked as a voice artist and provided voice for animated movies like ‘Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1’ (2011), ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’ (2009), and ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2’ (2013) and ‘My Life as a Courgette’ (2017).

Will Forte has been recognized for playing various characters on the late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show ‘Saturday Night Live’ for which he received critical acclaim. He also received exceptional popularity for ‘That 70’s Show’, written and produced by him as well.

Will Forte won the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor for ‘Nebraska’ in 2013. He also won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.

His role in the series ‘The Last Man on Earth’ got him nominated for several awards including Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy.

Will Forte currently lives in Santa Monica, and is dating American actress and model January Jones.

He has suffered from OCD in the past, but has been normal since a long time.

Apart from his acting career, he is also a member of the Board of Directors for the ‘National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness’.

His hobbies include collecting helmets and listening to musical bands like ‘The Beatles’, ‘, Pink Floyd’, ‘Led Zeppelin’, and others.

His sports interests include bowling, volleyball, and running.