Jorma Christopher Taccone (/ˈjɔːrmə təˈkni/ YOR-mə tə-KOH-nee;[2] born March 19, 1977) is an American writer, producer, director, comedian, actor, and musician. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island with his childhood friends Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. In 2010, Taccone co-wrote and directed the SNL spinoff film MacGruber, which was his directorial debut. He directed his second feature alongside Schaffer, the musical comedy Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which he also co-wrote and co-starred in with Schaffer and Samberg.

Jorma Taccone
Taccone in 2017
Born
Jorma Christopher Taccone[1]

(1977-03-19) March 19, 1977 (age 47)
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupations
  • Writer
  • producer
  • director
  • comedian
  • actor
  • musician
Years active2001–present
Spouse
(m. 2007)
Children2
FatherTony Taccone
Relatives
Comedy career
Medium
  • Television
  • music
  • internet
  • film
Genres
Musical career
GenresComedy hip hop
DiscographyThe Lonely Island discography
Member ofThe Lonely Island
Websitethelonelyisland.com

Personal life

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Taccone was born in Berkeley, California, to Suellen Ehnebuske and Tony Taccone, the artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.[3] His father is of half Italian and half Puerto Rican descent.[4] He attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated with a BA in Theater in 2000. He spent one semester at the University of Lancaster in United Kingdom as part of his degree study.[5][6] His brother, Asa, is a member of the band Electric Guest. He is named after Jorma Kaukonen, Jefferson Airplane's famed guitarist.[7]

Taccone lives in New York City. He is married to film director Marielle Heller, with whom he has a son (born December 2014)[8] and a daughter (born August 2020).[9] His brother-in-law, Nate, a musician, composed the scores for The Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me?.[10] His sister-in-law, Emily Heller, is a stand-up comic and a writer for the HBO comedy Barry.[10]

Career

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Taccone in 2007

In the fall of 2005, Samberg, Taccone, and Schaffer joined the staff of NBC's late-night variety show Saturday Night Live. Since then, as The Lonely Island, they have created more than 100 SNL Digital Shorts including the YouTube favorites "Lazy Sunday" (featuring Chris Parnell), "Jizz in My Pants", "I'm on a Boat" (featuring T-Pain) and the Emmy-winning "Dick in a Box" (featuring Justin Timberlake). Taccone produces much of the music for The Lonely Island, including "Lazy Sunday", "Dick in a Box", and many other tracks that appear on The Lonely Island first album, Incredibad, released in February 2009. As a director, he is responsible for the SNL shorts "MacGruber", "Business Meeting", "Sloths", "Giraffes", and others. He also directed a "MacGruber" Pepsi commercial spot for the 43rd Super Bowl, which aired February 1, 2009.

In 2007, Taccone co-starred in Paramount's Hot Rod (starring Andy Samberg, directed by Akiva Schaffer). He is one of the principal actors in the music video "Jizz in My Pants" too. He played Guy #2 in "We Like Sportz", reprising the role from "Just 2 Guyz", and the lead role of Brett in The Lonely Island's The 'Bu, the group's record-breaking contribution to Channel 101,[11] where he played a ninja who did not belong. The 'Bu, a parody of The OC, also starred Sarah Chalke as Melissa and Andy Samberg as Aaron. In the group's first Channel 101 show, "ITV Buzz Countdown", he played Chris Hoffman, a fictional VJ in a parody of MTV's Total Request Live.

Taccone made a cameo appearance in Role Models as Mitch from Graphics, where he sang a karaoke version of the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane"; and co-starred in the Gnarls Barkley music video for the song "Who's Gonna Save My Soul".

Taccone appeared as Chaka in Universal's 2009 film Land of the Lost (starring Will Ferrell), for which he was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor. In August 2009, he directed his first film, an adaptation of the Saturday Night Live sketch MacGruber that was featured as part of the group male vocals on Lightspeed Champion's album Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You. As of SNL's 36th season, he was no longer cited in the end credits, though he was still listed on the NBC website as a writer and holds the unofficial title of "Sexiest Member of Lonely Island". However, according to the band's website, thelonelyisland.com, "the Dudes" were still responsible for the SNL Digital Shorts. It was later confirmed Taccone had left Saturday Night Live, though he worked on some shorts in the 36th season.[12]

Taccone acted in season 5 of MyDamnChannel's Wainy Days and is the director of the AT&T Wireless television ad campaign It's Not Complicated.[13] He also had a recurring role on the HBO show Girls as the character Booth Jonathan.

In 2015, Taccone appeared in the Kickstarter short movie Kung Fury as Adolf Hitler (A.K.A. Kung-Führer). He will play this role again in the sequel Kung Fury 2.

In 2020, Taccone authored a children's book, illustrated by Dan Santat, titled Little Fox and the Wild Imagination.[14]

Taccone hosts The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast with Samberg, Schaffer and Seth Meyers, which discusses The Lonely Island's SNL Digital Shorts.[15]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
2007 Hot Rod No Uncredited No
2008 Extreme Movie No Yes No
2010 MacGruber Yes Yes No
2016 Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Yes Yes Yes Co-directed with Akiva Schaffer
2017 Brigsby Bear No No Yes
2020 Palm Springs No No Yes
TBA The Trip Yes No Executive Filming[16]

Executive producer

Acting roles

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 Hot Rod Kevin Powell
2008 Role Models Mitch from Graphics Cameo
2009 Land of the Lost Cha-Ka Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor
2012 The Watch Guy Cameo (with The Lonely Island)
2013 Grown Ups 2 Male Cheerleader Cameo (with The Lonely Island)
2014 The Lego Movie William Shakespeare Voice[17]
Neighbors Toga #3 Cameo (with The Lonely Island)
2015 Kung Fury Adolf Hitler
2016 Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Owen "Kid Contact" Bouchard[18]
Storks Miscellaneous Storks Voice[17]
2017 It Happened in L.A. Elliot
2018 Rampage Scuba Diver Deleted scene
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Earth-67) Voice[17]
2019 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Larry Poppins Voice
2020 An American Pickle Liam
I Used to Go Here Bradley Cooper [19]
2022 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Batman, Fan Con Announcer, Toon Car Voice[17]
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Pee-wee Herman [20]
The People We Hate at the Wedding Jonathan [21]
2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Adriano Tumino / Vulture, Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Earth-67) Voice[22][17]
2024 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Post-production[23]
TBA Kung Fury 2 Adolf Hitler Post-production[24]

Television

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Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
2001–2002 Spin City No No No Production staff: 7 episodes
2003–2005 The 'Bu No Yes Yes Web series
2004 2004 MTV Movie Awards No Yes No TV special
2005 Awesometown Yes Yes Yes Comedy-Short
2005 2005 MTV Movie Awards No Yes No
2005–2014 Saturday Night Live Yes Yes No Segment director: 26 episodes; writer: 101 episodes
2011–2013 Parks and Recreation Yes No No
2012 Up All Night Yes No No Episode: "First Birthday"
2013 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Yes No No Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2016 Party Over Here No No Yes
2017 The Gorburger Show No No Yes
2017–2019 I'm Sorry No No Yes
2018 Alone Together No No Yes
2018–2019 The Last O.G. Yes No Yes Director: 5 episodes
2019 Miracle Workers Yes No Yes Director: 2 episodes
2019–2021 PEN15 No No Yes
2019– I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson No No Yes
2021 MacGruber Yes Yes Yes
2024 Knuckles Yes No No Episode: "The Flames of Disaster"

Acting roles

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Year Title Role Notes
2005–2014 Saturday Night Live Various 22 episodes
2009 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Himself Episode: "Tennis"
2011 Up All Night Benjamin "B-Ro" Roth Episode: "Working Late and Working It"
2012–2013 Girls Booth Jonathan 3 episodes
2013–2014 The League Spazz
2014 Gravity Falls Gabe Bensen (voice) 2 episodes[17]
2014–2016 Comedy Bang! Bang! Himself 3 episodes
2015 Parks and Recreation Roscoe Santangelo
Man Seeking Woman Cupid Episode: "Sizzurp"
Major Lazer Various voices 3 episodes
2016 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Taylor Episode: "Coral Palms Pt. 1"
2017 Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special Punk Rocker Variety special
2018 Drunk History Mehmed the Conqueror Episode: "Halloween"
2019 Miracle Workers Kiss Cam Voiceover Guy (voice) Episode: "1 Day"
The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience Reporter / Walt Weiss / Joe Montana Variety special
Bless the Harts Craig (voice) Episode: "Myrtle Beach Memoirs"
2020 Helpsters Painter Pat Episode: "Firefighter Fran & Painter Pat"
2024 Knuckles Radio Host Announcer (voice) Episode: "Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There For You"

Songwriting for media

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Year Title Artist Production Notes
2005–2016 Various The Lonely Island Saturday Night Live
2010 "MacGruber's Theme" Cornbread Compton & The Silver Lake Chorus MacGruber
"The Perfect Number" Kristen Wiig
2014 "Everything is Awesome!" Jo-Li feat. The Lonely Island The Lego Movie
"Everything Is Awesome!" (Remix) Tegan and Sara feat. The Lonely Island
2016 Various Various Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
2019 "Super Cool" Beck feat. Robyn & The Lonely Island The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Additional lyrics

Videography

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References

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  1. ^ "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "MacGruber! Prop Test!" on YouTube
  3. ^ "Berkeley Repertory Theatre". Berkeleyrep.org. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  4. ^ Hurwitt, Robert (July 5, 2006), "Tony Taccone: Riding high on his recent successes, theater veteran has big plans for Berkeley Rep". Chronicle Theater Critic. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  5. ^ "Q&A with Jorma Taccone". dailybruin.com. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  6. ^ "Jorma Taccone '00 |". Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Stein, Ruthe (May 31, 2009). "Jorma Taccone - chimp off the old block". Sfgate.
  8. ^ "jorma taccone account". Jorma Taccone. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  9. ^ September 24, Peter Hartlaub. "For Jorma Taccone, the path to children's book 'Little Fox' runs through family". Datebook San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b Guthmann, Edward (October 15, 2018). "Alameda's Marielle Heller Is One Hot Hollywood Director". Oakland Magazine. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  11. ^ "Channel 101—The Unavoidable Future of Entertainment". Channel101.com. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  12. ^ "AV Club—The Lonely Island". avclub.com. May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  13. ^ "BBDO ATLANTA'S 'IT'S NOT COMPLICATED' FOR AT&T". lbbonline.co. November 30, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  14. ^ Taccone, Jorma (September 8, 2020). Little Fox and the Wild Imagination. Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 978-1250212504.
  15. ^ Millman, Ethan (April 5, 2024). "Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Will Break Down Every 'SNL' Short on New Podcast". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  16. ^ Ritman, Alex (November 19, 2024). "Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Timothy Olyphant and Juliette Lewis to Star in Jorma Taccone's Thriller The Trip". Variety. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d e f "Jorma Taccone (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 29, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  18. ^ "Popstar- Never Stop Never Stopping Featurette - Owen (2016) - Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone Movie HD -". Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  19. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (August 28, 2019). "Gillian Jacobs & Jemaine Clement Lead Cast In Kris Rey Comedy I Used To Go Here, Myriad Launches Sales". Deadline. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  20. ^ Bramesco, Charles (September 9, 2022). "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Review: Novelty Acts & Cult Heroes Take The Spotlight". The Playlist. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  21. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (September 21, 2021). "Amazon's The People We Hate at the Wedding, Starring Allison Janney, Kristen Bell and Ben Platt, Begins Production in London". Variety. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  22. ^ Burlingame, Russ (June 13, 2022). "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Casting for The Vulture, Captain Stacy Revealed". ComicBook.com. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  23. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (February 2, 2024). "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Adds Krysten Ritter, Cristo Fernández, Alyla Browne, and More". IGN. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  24. ^ Ritman, Alex (November 6, 2019). "Kung Fury 2 Director on Landing Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Fassbender for Follow-Up Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
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