CINEFILER

Chris Parnell

Born
February 5, 1967
​Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell (born February 5, 1967) is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell is currently one of the lead voices on the FX animated comedy Archer. In 2010, Parnell starred alongside his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz in the Comedy Central series Big Lake. After performing as a company player with The Groundlings for a number of years, Parnell was hired to join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player on September 26, 1998, and was promoted to repertory player the following season. In the summer of 2001, budget cuts and hiring four new cast members required Lorne Michaels to dismiss two cast members; he chose to lay off Parnell and Jerry Minor over Horatio Sanz, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph. While on SNL, Parnell appeared in numerous sketches, and commercial parodies, and performed memorable impressions of various celebrities. One of his most popular sketches is Lazy Sunday, a rap video he shot with Andy Samberg about buying cupcakes and going to see The Chronicles of Narnia. He has also performed raps about hosts Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst and Ashton Kutcher. In the summer of 2006, Lorne Michaels announced that four cast members would be fired due to budget cuts, but he did not say who. On September 22, 2006 it was announced that three cast members had been fired: Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Finesse Mitchell. This effectively made him the only SNL performer to have been fired twice by Lorne Michaels, though Parnell did say in a 2008 interview with The Sound of Young America podcast that he was okay with being let go this time, because he was considering leaving after that season anyway, but added that he probably would have stayed one last season if he was asked back. He had been with SNL for eight seasons; at the time only four people (Darrell Hammond, Tim Meadows, Kevin Nealon, and Al Franken) have been cast members longer. He has since made uncredited cameo appearances on the show, most recently in 2008 parodying newscasters Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, and Bob Schieffer. Parnell and his former SNL castmate Horatio Sanz recently starred together in Big Lake, a 2010 sitcom on Comedy Central from executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. He also recently appeared as Dr. Drummer/Santa in the SyFy Holiday Special episode from the television show Eureka, which aired on December 7, 2010 (Season 4 Episode 10).
Known For
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
(2018)
Stan / Fish Man (voice)
Hotel Transylvania
(2012)
Mr. Fly (voice)
The Dictator
(2012)
News Anchor
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
(2022)
Dave Bollinari (voice)
Hotel Transylvania 2
(2015)
Fly (voice)
Turbo
(2013)
Announcer #2 (voice)
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
(2018)
Walter
21 Jump Street
(2012)
Mr. Gordon
Hot Rod
(2007)
Barry Pasternack
Jingle All the Way
(1996)
Toy Store Sales Clerk
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
(2022)
Washington (voice)
The Ridiculous 6
(2015)
Bank Manager
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
(2004)
Garth Holliday
The Laundromat
(2019)
Doomed Gringo #2
Sisters
(2015)
Phil
Senior Year
(2022)
Jim Conway
Full Filmography
Acting
Jingle All the Way
(1996)
Toy Store Sales Clerk
A Freezerburnt Christmas
(1997)
The Ladies Man
(2000)
Phil Swanson
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell
(2002)
Himself / Various (archive footage)
Down with Love
(2003)
TV Emcee
Evil Alien Conquerors
(2003)
Du-ug
Barely Legal
(2003)
Mr. Ronald Greitzer
Farm Sluts
(2003)
Larry
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
(2004)
Garth Holliday
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
(2004)
Garth Holliday
Looking for Kitty
(2004)
Guy Borne
Ira & Abby
(2006)
Dr. Ronald Silverberg
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies
(2006)
Hot Rod
(2007)
Barry Pasternack
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
(2007)
Theo
I'm Reed Fish
(2007)
Ralph
The Grand
(2007)
Harold Melvin
Kabluey
(2007)
Frank
Sunny and Share Love You
(2007)
Kevin Keith Baker
Eavesdrop
(2008)
Terrence
Harold
(2008)
Coach Vanderpool
Paper Man
(2009)
Peter
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Amy Poehler
(2009)
Edward Turlington (archive footage)
Labor Pains
(2009)
Jerry Steinwald
The Women of SNL
(2010)
Various (archive footage)
The Dogfather
(2010)
Brian Franks
Kung Fu Magoo
(2010)
Cole Fusion / Ninja (voice)
Answer This!
(2011)
Brian Collins
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
(2011)
Mr. Thistleton (voice)
Hollywood & Wine
(2011)
Peter West
Hotel Transylvania
(2012)
Mr. Fly (voice)
The Five-Year Engagement
(2012)
Bill
The Dictator
(2012)
News Anchor
21 Jump Street
(2012)
Mr. Gordon
WordGirl: The Rise of Ms. Power
(2012)
Escape from Planet Earth
(2013)
Hammer (voice)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
(2013)
Garth Holliday
Turbo
(2013)
Announcer #2 (voice)
Break Point
(2014)
Jay LaRoche
AJ's Infinite Summer
(2014)
Dad (voice)
The Maya Rudolph Show
(2014)
Self
The Ridiculous 6
(2015)
Bank Manager
Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood
(2015)
Self
Sisters
(2015)
Phil
The Better Half
(2015)
Daniel
Hotel Transylvania 2
(2015)
Fly (voice)
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
(2016)
Migs (voice)
Electric City
(2016)
Voice Actor (voice)
Austin Found
(2017)
Alan Dickinson
Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special
(2017)
Dr. Vince Harbert
Battle of the Sexes
(2017)
DJ
Nature Cat: Ocean Commotion
(2017)
Houston / Sputnik / Dolphin (voice)
Life of the Party
(2018)
Wayne Truzack
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
(2018)
Walter
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
(2018)
Stan / Fish Man (voice)
Slice
(2018)
Mayor Tracy
The Laundromat
(2019)
Doomed Gringo #2
The Last Laugh
(2019)
Charlie Green
Nature Cat: A Nature Carol
(2019)
Narrator (voice)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
(2020)
Junior
I Am Woman
(2020)
Artie Mogull
Home Sweet Home Alone
(2021)
Uncle Stu
Finding ʻOhana
(2021)
Brown
Yung Punx: A Punk Parable
(2021)
therapist (voice)
Hot Mess Holiday
(2021)
Mike
Senior Year
(2022)
Jim Conway
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
(2022)
Dave Bollinari (voice)
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
(2022)
Washington (voice)
Millennial Hunter
(2023)
John (voice)
As We Know It
(2023)
Nature Cat's Nature Movie Special Extraordinaire
(2024)
Houston / Sir Galahad (voice)
Data provided by TMDB