Jorma Taccone

Jorma Christopher Taccone (/ˈjɔːrmə təˈkni/ YOR-mə tə-KOH-nee;[2] born March 19, 1977) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. He is one-third of the sketch comedy troupe The Lonely Island, with 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 materUCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer
  • director
  • producer
  • songwriter
Years active1990s–present
Spouse
(m. 2007)
Children2
Parent
Relatives
Comedy career
Medium
  • Television
  • music
  • internet
  • film
  • stand-up
Genres
Musical career
GenresComedy hip hop
DiscographyThe Lonely Island discography
Member ofThe Lonely Island
Websitethelonelyisland.com

Personal life

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

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

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
2007Hot RodNoUncreditedNo
2008Extreme MovieNoYesNo
2010MacGruberYesYesNo
2016Popstar: Never Stop Never StoppingYesYesYesCo-directed with Akiva Schaffer
2017Brigsby BearNoNoYes
2020Palm SpringsNoNoYes

Executive producer

Acting roles

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007Hot RodKevin Powell
2008Role ModelsMitch from GraphicsCameo
2009Land of the LostCha-KaNominated—Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor
2012The WatchGuyCameo (with The Lonely Island)
2013Grown Ups 2Male CheerleaderCameo (with The Lonely Island)
2014The Lego MovieWilliam ShakespeareVoice role
NeighborsToga #3Cameo (with The Lonely Island)
2015Kung FuryAdolf Hitler, a.k.a. "Kung Fuhrer"
2016Popstar: Never Stop Never StoppingOwen "Kid Contact" Bouchard[16]
StorksMiscellaneous StorkVoice role
2017It Happened in L.A.Elliot
2018RampageScuba DiverDeleted scene
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseNorman Osborn / Green Goblin, Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Earth-67)Voice roles
2019The Lego Movie 2: The Second PartLarry PoppinsVoice role
2020An American PickleLiam
I Used to Go HereBradley Cooper
2022Chip 'n Dale: Rescue RangersBatman, Fan Con Announcer, Toon CarVoice roles
Weird: The Al Yankovic StoryPee-wee Herman
The People We Hate at the WeddingJonathan
2023Spider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseAdriano Tumino / Vulture, Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Earth-67)Voice roles
2024Sonic the Hedgehog 3TBAPost-production
TBAKung Fury 2Adolf Hitler, a.k.a. "Kung Fuhrer"Post-production

Television

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
2001–2002Spin CityNoNoNoProduction staff: 7 episodes
2003–2005The 'BuNoYesYesWeb series
20042004 MTV Movie AwardsNoYesNoTV special
20052005 MTV Movie AwardsNoYesNo
2005–2014Saturday Night LiveYesYesNoSegment director: 26 episodes; writer: 101 episodes
2011–2013Parks and RecreationYesNoNo
2012Up All NightYesNoNoEpisode: "First Birthday"
2013Brooklyn Nine-NineYesNoNoEpisode: "Thanksgiving"
2016Party Over HereNoNoYes
2017The Gorburger ShowNoNoYes
2017–2019I'm SorryNoNoYes
2018Alone TogetherNoNoYes
2018–2019The Last O.G.YesNoYesDirector: 5 episodes
2019Miracle WorkersYesNoYesDirector: 2 episodes
2019–2021PEN15NoNoYes
2019–I Think You Should Leave with Tim RobinsonNoNoYes
2021MacGruberYesYesYes
2024KnucklesYesNoNoEpisode: "The Flames of Disaster"

Acting roles

YearTitleRoleNotes
2005–2014Saturday Night LiveVarious22 episodes
2009Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!HimselfEpisode: "Tennis"
2011Up All NightBenjamin "B-Ro" RothEpisode: "Working Late and Working It"
2012–2013GirlsBooth Jonathan3 episodes
2013–2014The LeagueSpazz
2014Gravity FallsGabe Bensen (voice)2 episodes
2014–2016Comedy Bang! Bang!Himself3 episodes
2015Parks and RecreationRoscoe Santangelo
Man Seeking WomanCupidEpisode: "Sizzurp"
Major LazerVarious voices3 episodes
2016Brooklyn Nine-NineTaylorEpisode: "Coral Palms Pt. 1"
2017Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day SpecialPunk RockerVariety special
2018Drunk HistoryMehmed the ConquerorEpisode: "Halloween"
2019Miracle WorkersKiss Cam Voiceover Guy (voice)Episode: "1 Day"
The Unauthorized Bash Brothers ExperienceReporter / Walt Weiss / Joe MontanaVariety special
Bless the HartsCraig (voice)Episode: "Myrtle Beach Memoirs"
2020HelpstersPainter PatEpisode: "Nurse Nina & Farmer Flynn/Firefighter Fran & Painter Pat"

Songwriting for media

YearTitleArtistProductionNotes
2005–2016VariousThe Lonely IslandSaturday Night Live
2010"MacGruber's Theme"Cornbread Compton & The Silver Lake ChorusMacGruber
"The Perfect Number"Kristen Wiig
2014"Everything is Awesome!"Jo-Li feat. The Lonely IslandThe Lego Movie
"Everything Is Awesome!" (Remix)Tegan and Sara feat. The Lonely Island
2016VariousVariousPopstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
2019"Super Cool"Beck feat. Robyn & The Lonely IslandThe Lego Movie 2: The Second PartAdditional lyrics

Videography

References