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
(2012)
Mr. Fly (voice)
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
(2018)
Stan / Fish Man (voice)
Hotel Transylvania 2
(2015)
Fly (voice)
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
(2018)
Walter
The Dictator
(2012)
News Anchor
Jingle All the Way
(1996)
Toy Store Sales Clerk
Turbo
(2013)
Announcer #2 (voice)
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
(2022)
Dave Bollinari (voice)
21 Jump Street
(2012)
Mr. Gordon
Finding ʻOhana
(2021)
Brown
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
(2022)
Washington (voice)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
(2013)
Garth Holliday
The Ridiculous 6
(2015)
Bank Manager
Sisters
(2015)
Phil
Home Sweet Home Alone
(2021)
Uncle Stu
The Laundromat
(2019)
Doomed Gringo #2
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)
Evil Alien Conquerors
(2003)
Du-ug
Down with Love
(2003)
TV Emcee
Farm Sluts
(2003)
Larry
Barely Legal
(2003)
Mr. Ronald Greitzer
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
(2004)
Garth Holliday
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
(2004)
Garth Holliday
Looking for Kitty
(2004)
Guy Borne
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies
(2006)
Ira & Abby
(2006)
Dr. Ronald Silverberg
Sunny and Share Love You
(2007)
Kevin Keith Baker
I'm Reed Fish
(2007)
Ralph
Kabluey
(2007)
Frank
Hot Rod
(2007)
Barry Pasternack
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
(2007)
Theo
The Grand
(2007)
Harold Melvin
Harold
(2008)
Coach Vanderpool
Eavesdrop
(2008)
Terrence
Labor Pains
(2009)
Jerry Steinwald
Paper Man
(2009)
Peter
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Amy Poehler
(2009)
Edward Turlington (archive footage)
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)
WordGirl: The Rise of Ms. Power
(2012)
21 Jump Street
(2012)
Mr. Gordon
The Five-Year Engagement
(2012)
Bill
The Dictator
(2012)
News Anchor
Turbo
(2013)
Announcer #2 (voice)
Escape from Planet Earth
(2013)
Hammer (voice)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
(2013)
Garth Holliday
Break Point
(2014)
Jay LaRoche
AJ's Infinite Summer
(2014)
Dad (voice)
The Maya Rudolph Show
(2014)
Self
The Better Half
(2015)
Daniel
Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood
(2015)
Self
The Ridiculous 6
(2015)
Bank Manager
Sisters
(2015)
Phil
Hotel Transylvania 2
(2015)
Fly (voice)
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
(2016)
Migs (voice)
Electric City
(2016)
Voice Actor (voice)
Battle of the Sexes
(2017)
DJ
Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special
(2017)
Dr. Vince Harbert
Nature Cat: Ocean Commotion
(2017)
Houston / Sputnik / Dolphin (voice)
Austin Found
(2017)
Alan Dickinson
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
Nature Cat: The Return of Bad Dog Bart
(2018)
Houston (voice)
Nature Cat: A Nature Carol
(2019)
Narrator (voice)
The Laundromat
(2019)
Doomed Gringo #2
The Last Laugh
(2019)
Charlie Green
I Am Woman
(2020)
Artie Mogull
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
(2020)
Junior
Hot Mess Holiday
(2021)
Mike
Yung Punx: A Punk Parable
(2021)
therapist (voice)
Finding ʻOhana
(2021)
Brown
Home Sweet Home Alone
(2021)
Uncle Stu
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
(2022)
Dave Bollinari (voice)
Senior Year
(2022)
Jim Conway
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again
(2022)
Washington (voice)
As We Know It
(2023)
Millennial Hunter
(2023)
John (voice)
Nature Cat's Nature Movie Special Extraordinaire
(2024)
Houston / Sir Galahad (voice)
Data provided by TMDB