33 Facts About Adam McKay

Adam McKay began his career in the 1990s as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live for two seasons.

Adam McKay rose to fame in the 2000s for his collaborations with comedian Will Ferrell and co-wrote his comedy films Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys .

Ferrell and Adam McKay later co-wrote and co-produced numerous television series and films, with Adam McKay himself co-produced their website Funny or Die through their company Gary Sanchez Productions.

Adam McKay began venturing into more dramatic territory in the 2010s.

Adam McKay was born in Denver and was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts and later Malvern, Pennsylvania by a mother who was a waitress, Sarah, and a musician father.

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Adam McKay attended Great Valley High School in Malvern, where he graduated in 1986.

Adam McKay then attended Pennsylvania State University for a year before transferring to Temple University, where he majored in English.

Adam McKay dropped out of Temple a semester-and-a-half before he was set to earn his bachelor's degree.

Adam McKay is one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv comedy group and a former performer at Chicago's ImprovOlympic, where he was a member of the improv group, The Family, whose members included Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Neil Flynn, Miles Stroth, and Ali Farahnakian, as well as Child's Play Touring Theatre.

In several politically charged sketches, Adam McKay played characters like Noam Chomsky as a substitute kindergarten teacher, and a hapless personnel manager trying to inform a corporate vice president of some disastrous IQ test results without losing his own job.

Adam McKay originally auditioned for Saturday Night Live to be an onscreen performer, but did not make the cut.

However, the scripts he submitted earned him a job as a writer from 1995, and within a year Adam McKay became head writer at age 27, a position he held until 2001.

Adam McKay directed a number of short films for the show, including the original SNL Digital Shorts.

Adam McKay encouraged his Second City friend Tina Fey to submit some of her scripts to Saturday Night Live, and she later succeeded him as head writer.

Shortly after leaving SNL, Adam McKay teamed up with comedian Will Ferrell to form Gary Sanchez Productions and write the comedy films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys, all of which he directed, produced and made cameo appearances in as an actor.

Adam McKay was one of the writers for the film The Campaign, and produced the film Daddy's Home, the latter of which reunited The Other Guys stars Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and was directed by Sean Anders.

Adam McKay rewrote the script for the Marvel Studios feature film Ant-Man, directed by Peyton Reed.

Adam McKay has expressed interest in helming a Silver Surfer movie for Marvel Studios.

In 2019, Adam McKay launched a new production company, Hyperobject Industries, which has a first look overall TV deal with HBO and a first look feature deal at Paramount Pictures.

Adam McKay has directed, and co-written with Will Ferrell, the films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues .

Adam McKay has directed an "alternate film" about Ron Burgundy that is considered a companion to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy entitled Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, which is made up mostly of alternative takes, deleted scenes, and scrapped sub-plots from the original film strung together with a narrative.

Adam McKay has directed a number of short films, including digital shorts for Saturday Night Live, and the short video "Good Cop, Baby Cop" for Funny or Die that stars his daughter Pearl.

Adam McKay directed and wrote the film adaptation of the Michael Lewis non-fiction book The Big Short, released in 2015.

Adam McKay received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work in the film, winning his first Academy Award in the latter category.

Adam McKay's most recent film is a Comedy drama, Don't Look Up, about two low level scientists trying to convince the world that a catastrophic comet is coming.

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Adam McKay wrote the script and produced the film for Netflix.

Adam McKay additionally produced "Broken: Jeffrey Epstein" and "Broken: Seeking Justice, " a podcast series that explored the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Adam McKay serves on the Creative Council of RepresentUs, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization.

Adam McKay is a supporter of the Democratic Party and endorsed Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in 2016 and again in 2020.

Adam McKay identifies as a democratic socialist and joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 2019.

Adam McKay first noticed shaking in his hands while performing with Second City at age 26.

Adam McKay was diagnosed with essential tremor in around 2000.

Adam McKay conducts print interviews lying down and televised ones in a special high backed chair to accommodate his disability.