Molly Shannon’s major break came in 1995, when she was hired as a featured player on Saturday Night Live as a replacement for Janeane Garofalo. She was also one of the few cast members who were kept when program creator and producer Lorne Michaels revamped the cast. In her six-year stint, she played all sorts of recurring characters on the show, which included the quirky “joyologist” Helen Madden, and the 50-year old dancer Sally O’Malley. She was also popularly known for portraying neurotic, disturbed and overdramatic characters, and had made impressions of Courtney Love, Monica Lewinsky and Björk.

Following Saturday Night Live, Shannon made countless television appearances on shows like Sex and the City, Will & Grace, Ed, The Music Man, Cracking Up, and voice acted on The Amazing Screw-On Head. She also worked in many films like Osmosis Jane, Shallow Hal, Serendipity, My Boss’ Daughter, American Splendor, Scary Movie 4, Little Man and Shut Up and Sing. Most recently, she starred in the movie Year of the Dog, in which she played the character Peggy.

Shannon is currently working on several film projects such as Gray Matters and Evan Almighty. Gray Matters, which will be released on June 19, is a romantic comedy about a brother, a sister and the girl of their dreams. As for Evan Almighty, the comedy-fantasy film is scheduled for release on June 22. Furthermore, Shannon has many things lined up for 2008. She is included in the animated comedy film Igor, in which she will provide the voice of Eva, and in the movie Safety Glass as the character Penelope. She will also star on the TV pilot The Mastersons of Manhattan as the character Amanda Masterson.

-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist


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