10 Chloe Fineman Facts (& How She Really Landed Her Spot On SNL)
It's a known fact that "Saturday Night Live" has launched dozens of Hollywood careers over the years ever since it first aired back in 1975. These days though, it's safe to say it's Chloe Fineman who is finding stardom on the weekly sketch comedy show. The Berkeley, California native made her "SNL" debut back in the Fall of 2019 before she was promoted to a full-time cast member in 2021. It was a dream job for Fineman who told Diablo that she had fallen in love with the show as a pre-teen after watching it at sleepovers. "We would rent all the 'Best of SNL' tapes from the video store, and we would watch that week's 'Saturday Night Live' on Sunday morning. We were obsessed," she said.
Before "SNL," Fineman had already cultivated a large following on Instagram and YouTube for her hilarious celebrity impressions that often went viral. Now, like many former "SNL" stars who came before her, Fineman has also transitioned into acting on the big screen, with roles in films like 2022's "Babylon" and a remake of "Father of the Bride." "It was a fantastic job," she gushed.
It's clear that Fineman has come a long way from being on TV for winning bird call contests (more on this later) to the comedy force she is today. But there is much more to the "Search Party" actor than what we see on screen. So let's break down 10 facts about Chloe Fineman.
Chloe Fineman did theater growing up
You could say that Chloe Fineman caught the performing bug as a toddler when she burst onto the stage at one of her dad's improv classes. She joked to Harper's Bazaar, "My dad was like, 'Let's get a cookie.'" Her answer? "I just want to finish my scene." Fineman was able to later spread her wings fully at summer camp. "The camp [did] 'skits' every morning while counselors put sunscreen on children ... And dare I say, that was my first stage," she told Jewish Journal.
The budding comedian continued to perform in high school, landing lead roles in several plays. Her acting teacher, Kim Taylor, told the Piedmont Exedra, "She was equally brilliant with comedy and drama." The "SNL" star had talent behind the scenes too — as well as after she'd completed her studies. "She's come back to help me direct productions here since she graduated ... and has led workshops in improvisation," Taylor noted.
Yet, perhaps Fineman's most exciting high school experience was performing bird calls on the "Late Show with David Letterman" after winning a contest. She dished to Diablo, "I remember being extremely competitive about it ... Once I got to go, it was amazing." After graduating, Fineman decided to attend New York University to study classical theater because she thought she'd be doing period pieces and dramas. However, fate had other plans. Fineman told Jewish Journal, "I think I came off too quirky or something because casting directors kept telling me to do comedy. Thank God."
The SNL star got her start doing improv
Chloe Fineman may have originally pursued classical theater but it seems she always knew that comedy was for her. She revealed to Diablo, "We did a trip down to Los Angeles ... to visit colleges, and I begged my parents to let me just go to L.A. and do the Groundlings." For those unfamiliar with the Groundlings, they're an improv sketch comedy theater where huge stars like Will Ferrell and Conan O'Brien began. While Fineman ended up going to college instead, she apparently wanted something more once she graduated. "So much of [school] was, you're given a script, you're just handed stuff," she explained to Harper's Bazaar.
Fineman eventually moved to LA where she finally joined the comedy troupe. Yet she admitted, "I joined the Groundlings as a way to make friends— it wasn't a calculated career move." Still, it was there, that she seemingly realized that she could take her career to the next level. "Suddenly [I] had this huge passion for dressing up in wigs so I started dreaming about 'SNL,'" she told Jewish Journal.
During this time, Fineman had also performed with the famous Upright Citizens Brigade — co-founded by Amy Poehler — and she was also named a New Face at the 2018 Just for Laughs Festival. She went on to land small roles on television after making her screen debut in a short film. "That was my first acting job, at 27. I really am the latest of bloomers," she told Harper's Bazaar.
Chloe Fineman found fame on Instagram
Chloe Fineman had a large social media following even before she became a cast member on "SNL." That was due to her impersonations that she says she initially worked on with the Groundlings. "I kept leaning into impressions and putting them online purely because it was fun," she told Jewish Journal. Fineman's takes on stars like Meryl Streep and Drew Barrymore were so good that she gained a lot of traction on her Instagram and YouTube. In 2018, a Vulture critic even noted her star power, writing, "[She is] absolutely one of the most talented new performers right now, and she's long overdue for a break."
When it comes to pretending to be celebrities, Fineman does her research. She explained to Paper, "I'm a bit of a stalker. I'll do the deepest dives on people and watch everything I can." She also tries to relate those stars to people she actually knows. "I like to find something about each character that feels very familiar to me," she told Diablo. Although Fineman had online fans, she still had to endure the intense audition process for "SNL." She also competed against her future co-stars, like Bowen Yang. "We all auditioned together years ago and then slowly have been added to the soup," she told Harper's Bazaar. Her Buddhist aunt even chanted for her to get the part. When she finally landed the job, she was as surprised as she was thrilled.
Chloe Fineman's boyfriend is a comedian too
Chloe Fineman has managed to keep her personal relationships very private. So much so that there's not a lot known about her boyfriend. Yet, the "Home Team" actor has been with her man since at least 2020, considering that she mentioned him in several interviews that year. For example, she told The Washington Post, "Initially being quarantined with my boyfriend was like, 'Oh my God, are we going to kill each other?' And then it kind of has turned into a beautiful rom-com."
Their relationship may be a "beautiful rom-com" but it appears to be long-distance too from Fineman mentioning to The Strategist that she has a beloved Smeg toaster for each of the two places where she apparently stays. "I have a red one of these in LA, where my boyfriend lives, and a white one in New York. I use it every day," she said. Yet having her boyfriend based in LA appears to have its perks. For one, he has more storage space for her comedy stuff. Fineman told Jewish Journal, "It's been really a blessing that my boyfriend lets me store all these wigs in his garage."
According to Glamour, Fineman's boyfriend is also a comedian and yes, the couple has argued over who can use the wigs for bits. That's probably why he was also okay with Fineman marrying someone else on Instagram Live — he understood it was just another skit. She told Vulture, "He rolled his eyes. He was happy I finally had something to do."
She owns hundreds of wigs
Chloe Fineman definitely has a thing for wigs which makes sense since her claim to fame is doing celebrity impressions. The actor told Glamour that she owns over 100 and brought several to her "SNL" audition. While Fineman now gets fitted with more upscale $5,000 wigs for the show, she got to share some of her own when she filmed "SNL at Home" during the pandemic. She told Jewish Journal, "I just happened to have JoJo Siwa, Carole Baskin, and [Timotheé] Chalamet wigs ... from other skits I had done at Groundlings ... just lying around in the garage."
Wigs remain a major part of Fineman's daily life at "SNL." "On a good week, I have [up to] six [wigs]," she told Allure. "We get in [to dress rehearsal] at ... 12 or one and then immediately go into wig prep." That allows Fineman to switch between wigs for different characters with ease. Beneath her wig cap, she wears pin curls in her hair so it's styled ready for the wig-free moment that ends the show. That means she wears a wig that looks like her actual hair in between sketches.
Unfortunately, all those wigs have taken their toll on Fineman's hair, as she told Byrdie that she noticed it was thinning during her first year at "SNL." As a result, she no longer cuts or colors it as much as she used to. "It's much healthier because of that," she told Allure.
Celebs love Chloe Fineman's impressions
It seems that a lot of celebrities love Chloe Fineman despite the fact that she got famous for making fun of them. Some had been following her before she was on TV and were excited when she landed the "SNL" gig. Comedy actor, Cheryl Hines congratulated the star in the comments of Fineman's Instagram announcement, writing, "Go shine!" Busy Philipps did as well, writing (via Stylist) "Truly the best news. I've been waiting for this announcement for years!"
During an episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (via The Hollywood Reporter), Fineman revealed that Timothée Chalamet apparently liked her impression of him so much that he wanted to work with her when he hosted "SNL," stating, "We should figure something out." During an appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show," the titular host couldn't contain her enthusiasm for the comedian's talents, telling Dineman, "I'm so excited. I'm such a fan."
"White Lotus" star Jennifer Coolidge was so taken by Fineman's impression of her that she gave her a shoutout on Instagram. Sharing the star's skit with her followers, she wrote, "A massive thanks to 'Saturday Night Live'! and to the exceptionally brilliant impressionist [Chloe Fineman] with your hilarious imitation!" It seems clear to most stars that Fineman's impersonations aren't mean-spirited but done as a tribute. She said so herself to Harper's Bazaar, stating, "I think naturally the people I want to do impressions of, I'm obsessed with them. And I find them wonderful, and want to share them with the world."
She's really into fashion and beauty
Some fans may be surprised to learn that Chloe Fineman has a super feminine side — something that she and other women in comedy may seemingly struggle with. "I love glamour and makeup and fashion. And I don't think I need to apologize," she told Glamour. "... It's hard in comedy. Everyone's like, 'Oh, I don't want to be pretty! I want to be funny.' It's such a trope ... But I'm just like, 'Bring on the lewks.'"
The star reiterated that point when telling Vanity Fair about her Marilyn Monroe look for "SNL." "[I] definitely wanted people to say I looked pretty, which is not something you do in comedy. You're never trying to be pretty." But Fineman certainly has style and even named chic celebs like Sienna Miller and Cate Blanchett as having influenced her aesthetic. Sharing what she was into, she said, "Suits [that] are like extremely feminine, corseted, bedazzled, glamorous stuff."
But as she explained to Bustle, she doesn't solely rely on clothes to express her style. Her favorite thing is beauty. "I'm a skin girl," she boasted. "And I love, love, love makeup. I like to collect it like art." While she says she wears less makeup these days, now that she gets it done for "SNL" every week, she insists on always wearing fake eyelashes. So much so that the show's makeup artists know to stick a lash on for even the least glamorous or most minor of her characters.
Chloe Fineman adores her co-stars
Chloe Fineman has had a lot of nice things to say about fellow actors she's worked with, as well as those who came before her on "SNL." For example, she gushed to Jewish Journal, "I love Fred Armisen, Adam Sandler, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon." She mentioned how she was inspired by Andy Samberg's comedy group, The Lonely Island, in particular, saying, "I watched them with my friends all the time, and then suddenly they were on 'SNL' so that — making your own videos — it could lead to stuff."
It seems that working with McKinnon was extra special for her too since she had a hard time seeing her leave "SNL." Fineman told E! News, "Everyone out there was crying, like a makeup artist, a crew member ... It was just really bittersweet. I felt really lucky to be at that episode." Fineman was presumably equally as sad to see Pete Davidson go, considering that she admitted to Page Six, "I find him deeply charming." She continued, "I remember my first year, going to all my girlfriends and being like, 'I get it.'"
Fineman also really took to her "Father of the Bride" cast, including Andy Garcia — whom she told Entertainment Weekly she now refers to as, "love-of-my-life Andy Garcia." Naturally, she was also just as smitten with the iconic Gloria Estefan. "She's the most down-to-earth, lovely, hilarious person. She really had me howling" Fineman told the outlet. "... [She] gave me my favorite life advice ever ... it was, 'Keep that a** up.'"
She is obsessed with her adorable dog
If you follow Chloe Fineman on social media, then you probably know just how much she adores her Shiba Inu dog, Peach. The "Big Mouth" actor has been taking her Instagram followers along on Peach's journey from the beginning ever since she shared an old photo of her younger self hugging a dog in October 2020. That's because she wrote, "In process of finally getting a dog so I can recreate this picture." Weeks later, she then let fans know that a dog has finally joined her life by posting an adorable video of the pup weeks later, writing, "Peach is so cute he can't stand it (p.s. this my new puppy)."
Since then Fineman has kept fans up to date with Peach's activities, whether he's laying on a picnic table or trying on his mom's wigs. She even took it a step further by creating his own account, strictly dedicated to his adventures. There, she's shared anything from Peach lunching out to him posing with his bestie at a dog boarding school.
If you're wondering why Peach went to boarding school in the first place, Fineman shared with Byrdie, "He steals — the 'Shiba steal." She continued, "The stuff he'll find in my bathroom and will run around my apartment with — toilet brush, tampon in wrapper — He's just hilarious." Upon Peach's graduation though, Fineman told People, "I'm gonna make him a little hat. And pray he's learned to stop chewing my eyeshadow."
Chloe Fineman brought joy during the pandemic
Chloe Fineman's career seemingly took off right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, considering that she had landed "SNL" in the fall of 2019. That doesn't mean she didn't stay in the headlines though since several news outlets covered her fake wedding to her bestie, Casey Thomas Brown, apparently believing it was real. "It blew my mind," she told Vulture. "And we were in mullet wigs!" Explaining why she did it, she added, "It was purely, 'How can we get through the boredom of quarantine?'"
The "SNL" star admitted that being on a break from the show was hard for her. "I think some of us are trying to make stuff for their Instagram, which is really fun, but not the same." Fineman did get to perform on "SNL At Home" where she still did sketches — just without an audience. "It's challenging but also weirdly a lot like Instagram on crack," she told Jewish Journal.
It seems that Fineman continuing to do comedy brought a lot of people joy, including to Drew Barrymore. During a visit to "The Drew Barrymore Show," the actor told Fineman that the quick-watch format of her skits provides immediate catharsis to those who watch them. Meanwhile, The Washington Post published an article stating that Fineman was the comedian that people needed in September 2020. "It's definitely a dark time," she told the outlet about thriving in the pandemic. "And I think my nature is to find the funny in it."