Jessica Williams (actress)

For the other comedian with the same birth name, see Punkie Johnson.

For the jazz pianist, see Jessica Williams (musician).

Jessica Renee Williams (born July 31, 1989)^[1] is an American actress and comedian. She has appeared as a senior correspondent on The Daily Show, as cohost of the podcast 2 Dope Queens, as Lally Hicks in the Fantastic Beasts film series, as Gaby in Shrinking, and as Meadow in Entergalactic.

Jessica Williams
Williams in 2016
Born	Jessica Renee Williams (1989-07-31) July 31, 1989 (age 35) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	California State University, Long Beach
Occupation(s)	Actress, comedian
Years active	2006–present

Early life

Williams was born in Los Angeles County, California. She attended Nathaniel Narbonne High School where she studied drama. She made her television debut as a series regular on the Nickelodeon series Just for Kicks in 2006,^[2] and in 2012, she became The Daily Show's youngest correspondent ever at 22 years old.^[3][4] She attended California State University, Long Beach.

Career

Williams made her Daily Show debut on January 11, 2012.^[5] Williams is a frequent performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.^[6] Williams also made appearances on Season 3 of HBO's Girls.^[7] She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York^[8] and Los Angeles, California.^[9] She appeared in the film People Places Things. She cohosted the comedy podcast 2 Dope Queens with Phoebe Robinson. Williams appears in an HBO special spun off from the podcast in February 2018.^[10] She appeared on her last regular Daily Show episode on June 30, 2016, but returned for a guest appearance on April 22, 2024, and October 28, 2024. ^[11][12] She starred in the 2017 Netflix comedy movie The Incredible Jessica James, as a character described by The Guardian as "a struggling Brooklyn-based playwright navigating the murky waters of modern romance while waiting impatiently for her big break."^[13]

Williams appeared in the sequels of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, titled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as Lally Hicks, a teacher from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.^[14] In 2023, Williams was a main cast member in the Apple TV+ show Shrinking.^[15] For her performance, she earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Crying in Public	Coffee Shop Crier	Short film
2013	Delivery Man	Tanya
2015	People Places Things	Kat
	Hot Tub Time Machine 2	Herself	Cameo role
	Tap Shoes & Violins	Charlie	Short film
2017	The Incredible Jessica James	Jessica James	Also executive producer
2018	Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald	Lally Hicks
2019	Corporate Animals	Jess
	Booksmart	Miss Fine
2020	Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia	TBA
2022	Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore	Lally Hicks
2024	Road House	Frankie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Just for Kicks	Vida Atwood	13 episodes
2012–2016, 2024	The Daily Show	Herself (correspondent)	142 episodes
2014	Girls	Karen	4 episodes
2018-2019	2 Dope Queens	Herself	8 episodes
2019	The Twilight Zone	Rei Tanaka	Episode: "Six Degrees of Freedom"
2021	I Heart Arlo	Elena	Voice role
	Love Life	Mia Hines	Main role
2022	Entergalactic	Meadow Watson	Voice role, television film
2023-present	Shrinking	Gaby	Main role

Podcast

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016–2018	2 Dope Queens	Herself (cohost)	Also co-creator, writer, executive producer

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2024	Critics' Choice Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Shrinking	Nominated	[16]
2024	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated	[17]
2024	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Nominated	[18]