Jessica Williams has always been good at making the silly seem serious. The 36-year-old actress and comedian has a sharp sense of humor that is always honest. She uses it to make fun of political absurdities on The Daily Show, play a wizarding teacher in the Fantastic Beasts universe, and deal with the messy world of grief and therapy in Shrinking. Williams was born on July 31, 1989, in the sunny sprawl of Los Angeles County. Since then, she has gone from high school drama clubs to Emmy-nominated stardom, showing that comedy isn’t just about the punchline; it’s also about the pause that lets the truth sink in.
Early Life: From the Stages of L.A. to the Lights of Improv
Jessica Renee Williams grew up in Los Angeles, where the city’s constant activity seemed perfect for her as a young performer. She got better at her craft at Nathaniel Narbonne High School by taking drama classes that made her love telling stories. In a 2023 interview, Williams joked, “I was that kid who would turn every recess into a full-blown improv session.” She remembered how she would get her classmates to do skits on the spot in the middle of the chaos of teenage life.
People noticed her talent. After high school, she went to California State University, Long Beach, where she got a degree in theater. Williams says that the real education came from doing stand-up comedy late at night at local clubs. By the time she was in her early 20s, she was already a regular at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) in Los Angeles, where Amy Poehler and Aubrey Plaza got their start. Williams honed the mix of satire and sincerity that would define her career in the sweaty, unscripted hilarity of the stage.
Nickelodeon, The Daily Show, and Podcast Royalty: Breaking In
Williams made her professional debut in 2006 as Vida Atwood on Nickelodeon’s soccer-themed show Just for Kicks. She appeared in 13 episodes. It was a good start, but her switch to satirical news reporting is what really made her famous. Williams made her first appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on January 11, 2012, when she was only 22 years old, making her the youngest correspondent ever. Over the course of four seasons, she worked as a senior correspondent on 143 episodes, breaking down everything from celebrity culture to systemic inequality with a mix of deadpan delivery and infectious energy.
Williams’ time in office ended on June 30, 2016, but she hasn’t moved far from the desk. She came back to guest host on April 22, 2024, October 28, 2024, and most recently on July 29, 2025. Each time, she reminded viewers why her new takes on old issues still feel revolutionary. She said after her most recent appearance, “Coming back feels like slipping into an old pair of jeans—comfortable but with room to move.”
Williams co-created and co-hosted the hit podcast 2 Dope Queens with Phoebe Robinson from 2016 to 2018, in addition to her TV success. The show, which was a wild celebration of being a Black woman, drew huge crowds to live tapings and led to an HBO special in February 2018. Williams was the executive producer and writer who helped create a space where vulnerability and vulgarity met. People praised it for its unfiltered joy.
Movies and TV: From Wizards to Therapists
Williams’ career on screen shows how versatile she is: one moment she can do magic, and the next she can deal with her feelings. In 2015, she had her big break in the indie dramedy People Places Things, where she played Kat, and then she had a memorable cameo in Hot Tub Time Machine 2. But it was The Incredible Jessica James on Netflix in 2017 that felt like fate. She played a playwright who was lost in Brooklyn’s dating scene. Williams not only starred in the movie, but also produced it, and critics praised it for capturing the “murky waters of modern romance.”
In 2018, she joined J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world as Lally Hicks, a charming professor from the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In 2022’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, she played the same character again, bringing a sense of calm to the franchise’s growing chaos.
Williams played Karen in four episodes of HBO’s Girls in 2014, Elena in the animated I Heart Arlo (2021), and Mia Hines in HBO Max’s Love Life. She also did voice work for the animated special Entergalactic in 2022, where she voiced Meadow Watson. But it was 2019’s Booksmart, where she played the mysterious Miss Fine in a high school comedy riot, and 2019’s Corporate Animals, where she made fun of corporate cannibalism (literally).
After that, Shrinking happened. The show, made by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel, will debut on Apple TV+ in 2023. Williams plays Dr. Gaby Evans (often spelled Gabby), a therapist whose own life falls apart while she helps others put theirs back together. Harrison Ford plays a gruff mentor, and Jason Segel plays a grieving widower. Shrinking expertly mixes dark humor with real therapy sessions. Gaby, played by Williams, is the emotional center of the story. She is flawed, fierce, and funny. Williams told People in 2025, “Gaby’s like a mirror for me in a lot of ways. She’s messy, but she’s trying.”
The second season of the show ended in 2024, and filming for the third season ended in July 2025. Williams recently gushed about a scene with Ford that made her “cry” off-script, calling his “destroying” performance during a quiet moment on set. She was still on the big screen in the 2024 Amazon Prime remake of Road House, where she played Frankie opposite Jake Gyllenhaal.
More genre-hopping is on the way: a voice role in the 2025 staged reading It’s a Yubby Nubby Ewok Murder Party: A Live Staged Reading of Star Wars – Return of the Jedi as Leia Organa/Boushh, and an untitled TV movie in the works with writer Jim Strouse.
Awards: Nominations for Emmys and the Walk-Out Vow
Williams has been rewarded for his work. For Shrinking, she has been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmys in 2023 and 2025, as well as a Critics’ Choice Award in 2024 and a Screen Actors Guild ensemble award in 2025. The buzz around the 2025 Emmys peaked in August when her nomination sent her name trending on Google and social media, thanks to panels with Segel and Ford.
Williams told People that if she wins, she will “walk out of the theater.” This was a shocking reaction plan that came out before the ceremony on September 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater. She laughed and said, “I’d be like a Black person watching a David Blaine trick and just walk out of the hood.” This was a reference to how Black people don’t do magic tricks. It’s classic Williams to use humor to take the focus off of herself, but she quickly gives Ford advice as a first-time nominee: “Bring a snack!”
Clay bowls, freezing eggs, and officiating weddings are all things that happen in my personal life.
Williams spends time in both Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles when she’s not working. She enjoys a life that is both creative and chaotic, as well as quiet and reflective. She once stopped an interview to go to a recording studio for Ringo Starr’s country album and said, “Sometimes you just have to say yes to your impulses.” She calls herself a “impulse yes-sayer.” Her hobbies are more artisanal. In 2025, she learned nerikomi, a Japanese clay-stacking technique, and proudly showed off the patterned bowl she made.
Williams talked about freezing her eggs in September 2025. It was a smart move, and surprisingly, it didn’t cause any “baby fever.” She thought about how to fit the experience into Gaby’s story while talking to people: “It’s not about rushing into motherhood; it’s about options.” She is also an ordained minister, and she got certified to officiate her friends’ weddings. She even jokingly offered to renew Ford and Calista Flockhart’s vows after 15 years of marriage.
Williams, a Black actress from Cameroon, has been open about the problems she faces in the business. In a SAG-AFTRA panel in May 2025, she talked about what it’s like to be a performer of color and how important it is to represent mental health. This is a theme that runs through Shrinking.
Why Jessica Williams is Important Now
Williams is a shining example of Black talent in many ways, especially in a year when Shrinking Season 3 is coming up and she is still winning Emmys. She’s not just funny; she’s the friend who gives you tissues and tells you when you’re being stupid. In 2025, she told Conan O’Brien that working with famous people like Ford reminds her that “vulnerability is the real superpower.” Jessica Williams is not only closing the gap between laughs and heartache, but she is also bridging it with each unfiltered truth. She has more roles coming up and that possible walk-out is now a part of Emmy history.
