Will Arnett

Early Life and Family

Will Arnett’s family was originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His family’s roots in Manitoba go back several generations. Arnett was born in Toronto, the son of Edith Palk and Jim Arnett. His father is a lawyer who was a partner at Stikeman Elliott, a prominent Canadian business law firm. Jim Arnett was also president and CEO of Molson Inc. (now Molson-Coors Beverage Company) from 1997 to 2000. Will has three siblings, two older twin sisters and a brother nine years his junior. Arnett played hockey competitively when he was a child and remains a dedicated fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Education

Though Will Arnett has described his home life as privileged and his family as supportive and loving, he had difficulties as a child and adolescent. Arnett believes he may have had an undiagnosed attention deficit disorder when he was young. He has described himself as regularly getting into trouble in his youth and being both disgruntled and restless.

At age 11, Arnett was sent to the Lakefield College School outside of Peterborough, an institution that had a reputation for handling “difficult” children. By his own admission, Arnett had a bad attitude and caused a lot of trouble. This ultimately led the school to ask him not to return after the school year had been completed.

He was subsequently enrolled in the Subway Academy II alternative school, which included acting classes at the Maggie Bassett Studio, located in Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre. Arnett later told the Toronto Star that his acting classes at Tarragon “turned things around for me. Finally, there was something I could put my energy into.” He then graduated from Leaside High School. He briefly attended Concordia University in Montreal to study theatre but left after one semester. Arnett speaks French fluently.

Early Career

In the 1980s, Will Arnett was in a comedy writing class with Mark McKinney, who at the time was a member of the sketch comedy group The Kids in the Hall. McKinney invited Arnett to see the troupe perform, but Arnett wasn’t interested and declined. He later stated this was evidence that he is a terrible judge of others’ talents.

In the late 1980s, Arnett began appearing in TV commercials. In 1990, he attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York City to study acting, with the intent to become a serious actor. One of his first prominent film roles was in the crime-drama Southie (1998). In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Arnett appeared mostly in small roles in films and television series. His early TV credits include appearances in Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Boston Public, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Will & Grace.

Arrested Development

Will Arnett’s breakout role came in 2003, when he was cast as George Oscar “Gob” Bluth II in the unconventional Fox TV comedy series Arrested Development. Gob (pronounced Jobe) Bluth is a frustrated professional magician whose career never quite got off the ground. It was a case of art imitating life, as Arnett had struggled throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s to find steady work. Arnett had been cast in several programs that either never made it past the pilot episode, were cancelled after only a few episodes, or in which his character was written out of the program early on. Arnett became so frustrated that he vowed he would no longer audition for pilots, including that of Arrested Development. But he changed his mind and was cast for his breakout role almost immediately after sending in his audition.

Though Arrested Development suffered from poor ratings, it was a critical favourite that quickly developed a considerable cult following (one that would help the program come back, years after its cancellation, on the streaming service Netflix). It also provided Arnett with considerable visibility and his first Emmy Award nomination.

Career Highlights

Will Arnett’s breakout role as the overly confident but bumbling Gob cemented him as a prominent comedic actor. Arnett enjoyed a breakout year in 2007. He was named a Future King of Comedy by Entertainment Weekly and one of the 20 Hottest New Faces in Comedy by Premiere magazine.

Arnett’s deft portrayal of Gob led to a series of roles as insecure, egomaniacal idiots. These included his recurring role as the nefarious and scheming television executive Devon Banks on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which Arnett received four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

In 2010, the Gold Derby TV Decade Awards named Arnett the Comedy Supporting Actor of the Decade for his role in Arrested Development. Arnett also voiced Batman in The Lego Movie, a part that would lead to repeat roles as Lego Batman, as well as a gig hosting Fox’s Lego Masters reality TV series.

Arnett’s unique comedic talents and distinct voice lent themselves to his next major role, that of the titular character in the dark, satirical animated series BoJack Horseman. Arnett plays a down-on-his-luck, self-destructive, has-been actor who happens to be a horse. Arnett has struggled with alcohol abuse over the course of his life and drew on his own life experiences for the part.

Other Activities

In addition to his acting work, Arnett is also one of the co-hosts of the popular SmartLess podcast, along with his close friends Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace).

Personal Life

Will Arnett was briefly married to actor Penelope Ann Miller from late 1994 to early 1995. He started dating Saturday Night Live’s Amy Poehler in 2000. The two were married in 2003, separated in 2012 and divorced in 2016. They have two sons together, born in 2008 and 2010. Arnett also has a child with businesswoman Alessandra Brawn, with whom he has been in a relationship since at least 2019.

Arnett has spoken openly about his long battle with alcoholism, his 15 years of sobriety, and a relapse he suffered in 2016 while making the Netflix series Flaked (2016–17), which was largely based on his experience as a recovering alcoholic. He has also spoken favourably of the role Alcoholics Anonymous has played in helping him recover from his relapse and stay sober since 2016.

Honours

Will Arnett has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards: once for Arrested Development (2006), four times for 30 Rock (2008, 2010–12) and twice for BoJack Horseman (2019, 2020). He was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2019.

Awards

• Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Arrested Development), Online Film & Television Association Awards (2005)
• Best Guest Actor in a Drama or Comedy Series (30 Rock), International Online Cinema Awards (2008)
• Best Comedy Guest Actor (30 Rock), Gold Derby TV Awards (2008)
• Comedy Supporting Actor of the Decade (Arrested Development), Gold Derby TV Awards (2010)
• Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Arrested Development), International Online Cinema Awards (2013)
• Best Voice-Over Performance in an Animated Program (BoJack Horseman), Online Film & Television Association Awards (2017, 2018)
• Best Voice-Over Performance (The Lego Batman Movie), Online Film & Television Association Awards (2017)
• Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production (BoJack Horseman), Annie Awards (2018)
• Best Voice Actor in an Animated Series (BoJack Horseman), Critics Choice Super Awards (2021)