Chris Parnell

Acteur·rice

5 février 1967 · 59 years old

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

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

Family Guy

1999

The Simpsons

1989

Rick and Morty

2013

American Dad!

2005

Friends

1994

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014

Seinfeld

1989

Conan

2010

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

2013

Curb Your Enthusiasm

2000

As an actor

Harry and the Mutant Mid-Century Furniture

Wake

Crohnie

Micro Budget

2026 · Toby

The Dink

2026

Mimics

2026 · Jack Conrad

Stop! That! Train!

2026 · Conductor Davenport

Lorne

2026 · Narrator

The Hawk

2026 · Anton

Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America

2026 · Benjamin Franklin

Breaking Bear

2026 · (voice)

SNL50: The Homecoming Concert

2025 · Self

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

2025 · Self (archive footage)

A Loud House Christmas Movie: Naughty or Nice

2025 · Gerald (voice)

Oh My God... Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances

2025 · Ted (voice)

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night

2025 · Self

Our Little Secret

2024 · Veterinarian

In Fidelity

2024 · Lyle Ayker

Fallout

2024 · Overseer Benjamin

Rock, Paper, Scissors

2024 · Parchment Paper (voice)

Millennial Hunter

2023 · John (voice)

As We Know It

2023 · Ted Sommers

My Adventures with Superman

2023 · Agent Slade Wilson (voice)

Krapopolis

2023 · Ares (voice)

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

2022 · Dave Bollinari (voice)

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again

2022 · Washington (voice)

Senior Year

2022 · Jim Conway

Rick and Morty: Summer's Sleepover

2022

Yung Punx: A Punk Parable

2021 · therapist (voice)

Hot Mess Holiday

2021 · Mike

Home Sweet Home Alone

2021 · Uncle Stu

Finding ʻOhana

2021 · Brown

Marvel's M.O.D.O.K.

2021 · Alvin Healy / Tenpin (voice)

Dogs in Space

2021 · Ed (voice)

Name That Tune

2021 · Self - Contestant

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend

2020 · Junior

I Am Woman

2020 · Artie Mogull

Dummy

2020 · Agent Chett

Close Enough

2020 · Ron (voice)

The Laundromat

2019 · Doomed Gringo #2

The Last Laugh

2019 · Charlie Green

Alien News Desk

2019

Love, Death & Robots

2019 · The Cat (voice), Sanchez (voice)

Miracle Workers

2019 · God's Dad

Life of the Party

2018 · Mr. Truzack (Wayne)

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

2018 · Walter

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

2018 · Stan / Fish Man (voice)

Slice

2018 · Mayor Tracy

grown-ish

2018 · Dean Burt Parker

Happy Together

2018 · Wayne

Austin Found

2017 · Alan Dickinson

Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special

2017 · Dr. Vince Harbert

Battle of the Sexes

2017 · DJ

Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins

2017 · Migs (voice)

Great News

2017 · Gerald

Will & Grace

2017 · Dr. DiLorenzo

Elena and the Secret of Avalor

2016 · Migs (voice)

Elena of Avalor

2016 · Migs (voice)

Ask the Storybots

2016

Bajillion Dollar Propertie$

2016 · Walton Rothchild

Match Game

2016 · Self - Panelist

The $100,000 Pyramid

2016 · Self

Rhett & Link's Buddy System

2016 · Vice Chairman

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)

Dawn of the Croods

2015 · Snoot / Dub (voice), Snoot / Evil Egg (voice), Snoot (voice)

Another Period

2015 · Dr. Sigmund Freudas

Highston

2015 · Wilbur Liggetts

The Spoils Before Dying

2015 · Bebop Jones

The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show

2015 · Mr. Peabody (voice)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

2015 · Junior

Adam Ruins Everything

2015

Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

2015 · Dustin Wallswreath / Jim McCoy / Cop (voice)

Break Point

2014 · Jay LaRoche

AJ's Infinite Summer

2014 · Dad (voice)

The Maya Rudolph Show

2014 · Self

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

2014 · HOA Ambassador, Voice Over (voice)

Benched

2014 · Mitch

The Tom and Jerry Show

2014 · Narrator (voice)

BoJack Horseman

2014 · Klaus / News Reporter (voice)

Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero

2014 · Judge Blort Clooney (voice)

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014 · Self - Guest

black-ish

2014 · Dean Parker

Garfunkel and Oates

2014 · Stan

Bad Judge

2014 · Douglas Riller

Turbo

2013 · Announcer #2 (voice)

Escape from Planet Earth

2013 · Hammer (voice)

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

2013 · Garth Holliday

Rick and Morty

2013 · Jerry Smith (voice)

Drunk History

2013 · Thomas Edison, Jim Bowie, King Charles II, Carl Sagan

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

2013 · Geoffrey Hoytsman

The Goldbergs

2013 · Harrison Whitby

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 Miss Power

2012

Gravity Falls

2012 · Host (voice), Additional Voices (voice)

Comedy Bang! Bang!

2012 · Poseidon, Stephendorff

Answer This!

2011 · Brian Collins

Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice

2011 · Mr. Thistleton (voice)

Hollywood & Wine

2011 · Peter West

Suburgatory

2011 · Fred Shay

I Just Want My Pants Back

2011 · JB

Bob's Burgers

2011 · Warren Fitzgerald (voice)

Workaholics

2011 · Bruce Benson

Mad Love

2011 · Officer Barrett

Kung Fu Magoo

2010 · Cole Fusion / Ninja (voice)

The Women of SNL

2010 · Various (archive footage)

The Dogfather

2010 · Brian Franks

Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again

2010 · Self

Conan

2010 · Self, Book Signing

Big Lake

2010 · Chris Henkel

Fish Hooks

2010 · Announcer / Allibut (voice)

T.U.F.F. Puppy

2010 · Caped Cod (voice)

Paper Man

2009 · Peter

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Amy Poehler

2009 · Edward Turlington (archive footage)

Labor Pains

2009 · Jerry Steinwald

Better Off Ted

2009 · Walter

Archer

2009 · Cyril Figgis (voice), Siegbert Fuchs (voice)

Glenn Martin, DDS

2009

Glee

2009 · Mario

Eavesdrop

2008 · Terrence

Harold

2008 · Coach Vanderpool

Miss Guided

2008 · Bruce Terry

Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday

2008

Childrens Hospital

2008 · Ron Pippin

The Life & Times of Tim

2008 · William (voice)

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

WordGirl

2007

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies

2006

Ira & Abby

2006 · Dr. Ronald Silverberg

30 Rock

2006 · Dr. Leo Spaceman

Eureka

2006 · Dr. Noah Drummer

American Dad!

2005 · Doctor (voice), (voice), Valet / Borax Employee (voice), Francine's Drinking Buddy (voice), Book on Tape (voice), Kidnapper (voice), Dr. Moe Munney (voice), James Garfield / Mint Worker (voice), Co-Worker (voice), James Garfield (voice), Train Actor (voice), Funeral Speaker (voice)

Robot Chicken

2005 · Scooter / Major Nelson (voice)

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

Down with Love

2003 · TV Emcee

Evil Alien Conquerors

2003 · Du-ug

Barely Legal

2003 · Mr. Ronald Greitzer

Farm Sluts

2003 · Larry

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell

2002 · Self / Various (archive footage)

The Religetables

2002

A Freezerburnt Christmas

2002

The Ladies Man

2000 · Phil Swanson

2000 · DJ Curtis Morris

Curb Your Enthusiasm

2000 · Hank

TV Funhouse

2000 · James Brolin (voice)

Family Guy

1999 · Joe Paterno (voice), Priest / Father Raccoon (voice), Highway Man (voice), White Guy (voice), Target Manager / Veterinarian (voice), Smarmy (voice), Priest (voice), Doug (voice), Guy at Pool / Priest (voice), Card Store Owner (voice)