The star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Andy Samberg, is one of the most beloved comedians in show business. People have had nothing but kind words to describe him as a cast mate and as a boss, and his talent has provided him with a juicy resume that is impressive for someone who is only in his early forties.
He's been playing detective Jake Peralta in the (now) NBC sitcom since 2013 while simultaneously working on countless other projects and raising his child, and that alone is admirable. For fans who would like to know a little bit more about their favorite actor, here are some interesting facts.
10 He Changed His Name
A lot of celebrities decided to change their names when entering show business, sometimes for privacy and other times because they want a more interesting stage name. That was not the actor's case. He didn't even know he was going to be a successful artist when he changed his name from David A.J. Samberg to Andy. In fact, he was just five years old when that happened. He decided he didn't like his name and wanted a different one, and his parents complied.
9 Seal & Popstar
Andy's movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping from 2016 was about a rapper, Conner, who instantly rises to fame and performs several publicity stunts to stay relevant. One of them is proposing to his girlfriend on TV and have Seal serenade her.
"We have really good luck. It was similar to when we asked Michael Bolton to do the 'Jack Sparrow' music video. With Bolton, we had multiple meetings to convince him we’d protect him," Andy said about having him in the film. "I sent him the script and said, 'Check it out; if there’s anything that makes you uncomfortable, let me know.' He showed up, did it, and the crew died laughing."
8 Finding Your Roots
The PBS series, Finding Your Roots, has been helping celebrities find out more about their origin for years, and Andy Samberg was one of them. In an episode of the show hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., he discovered the truth about his maternal heritage.
His mother, Marjorie, who had been adopted as a baby, had never managed to find information about her biological family. They found out through the show that her father had been Sicilian, and even managed to get in touch with part of their Italian-Catholic family.
7 Saturday Night Live
Andy was a part of SNL from 2005 to 2012, and it was a very important part of his formative years. He rejoined two years later for the 40th-anniversary celebration. This is what he said about how he got the job.
"(After the auditions) I get called to go to New York and meet with Lorne Michaels but he never said, 'Congratulations, you’re on the show.' His assistant was smiling at me as I left and said, 'So, do you think you got it?' and I said I didn’t really know. 'Oh, you got it,' she said. It was awesome, kinda my dream since I was eight years old."
6 3-Way (The Golden Rule)
While on Saturday Night Live, Andy had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest artists in the world, two of them being Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake in 2011. In an interview with Time Out, he said singing with them was a lot of fun.
"Gaga was super laid-back. She was on the same episode of SNL as Justin, so she was really down with just being like… The third wheel. Literally. It’s funny that we made a song with two of the greatest vocalists of our time. And then there’s me, singing in a weird baritone."
5 His College Experience
Andy went to two different colleges. First, to University of California, Santa Cruz, and then he transfered to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He graduated there in 2000, and his college experience was a vital part of his growth as an artist.
"Both of them are super awesome," he said. "I don’t know, I’m not good at explaining what I was like. I mean, I was definitely not like a super diligent student. But just like in high school and everything before that … creative writing classes were the ones that I put all my effort into, so I guess they did inform my career because that’s what I cared about and that’s what I ended up doing."
4 His Digital Shorts
When it came to writing his digital shorts for Saturday Night Live, Andy said that, unlike most writers, he doesn't have a specific process.
He said that inspiration came in "all kinds of ways," and that meant that he would sometimes have a spontaneous idea weeks before a project was due and other times he had to force himself to come up with something because they needed the digital short for the next day. Either way, as fans obviously know, it would turn out amazing.
3 Lazy Sunday
One of Andy's most famous digital shorts is 'Lazy Sunday.' It came out at the end of 2005, Andy's first year in Saturday Night Live, and he said he never would have imagined that it would be so successful. Moreover, he didn't even know if it was going to be aired at all. He said that the video he'd done the week before was cut, so he wasn't sure if that one was going to make it on the show. The fact that it got so famous was very important for him because he felt he was finally being recognized for doing what he loved.
2 How He Met His Wife
Andy's wife, Joanna Newsom, is a talent of her own right. She's a classical musician, singer, and songwriter, and the artists make a lovely couple. The story of how they met is just as cute as the two of them. Apparently, Andy had a crush on her before he even met her. He would go to her concerts, loved her music, and thought he was beautiful. When they finally met, it wasn't long before they fell in love. The two of them have a baby daughter. Joanna has described Andy as her "favourite person in the world."
1 His Advice For Young People
With many years of experience under his belt, Andy has a lot to tell future generations of artists. When asked about what his advice was for young, aspiring comedy writers, this is what he said:
"Just write and shoot and perform. I would say the first 50 things I did were terrible. Not to say that everything we do now is great, but I look back at stuff that I did as recently as a few years ago and I feel a little embarrassed ’cause you learn so much so fast when you’re just working a lot. And you kind of work the kinks out and sort of get a lot of bad ideas out of your system. I think with comedy especially you have to figure out what your moves are, and figure out what does work for you and what doesn’t."