Jon Rudnitsky (born November 22, 1989) is an American actor and comedian who was a cast member on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' for the 2015–2016 season and played McWatt in the 2019 miniseries ''
Catch-22
''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...
''.
Early life
Rudnitsky is a native of
Harrington Park, New Jersey
Harrington Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,664, His mother, Karen, is in charge of the gerontology center at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and his father, Steven, is a businessman in the
hospitality industry
The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, food and drink service, event planning, theme parks, travel and tourism. It includes hotels, tourism agencies, restaurants and bars.
Sector ...
.
Rudnitsky attended
Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan is a comprehensive four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from the suburban communities of Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan in Berge ...
. He subsequently studied acting at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. His uncle (his mother's brother) is
Michael Oren
Michael Bornstein Oren (Hebrew: מיכאל אורן; born Michael Scott Bornstein; May 20, 1955) is an American-born Israeli historian, author, politician, former ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset fo ...
, the former
Israeli Ambassador to the United States
The office of the Israeli Ambassador to the United States of America is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the State of Israel to the United States of America. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious position in the Isr ...
. Rudnitsky is
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
Career
Rudnitsky performed with
the Groundlings
The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques ...
. On August 31, 2015, it was announced that Rudnitsky would join the cast of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' as a featured player for the show's forty-first season. In the third episode of that season, Rudnitsky portrayed
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show ''Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties at C ...
in a sketch, acting as moderator for a Democratic presidential debate, for which he received criticism from Cooper. He has also done impressions of
Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He is the host of ''The Situat ...
,
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
,
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
,
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
, and
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
(in a dress rehearsal sketch on the season 41 episode hosted by
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
), while also doing a ''Dirty Dancing'' sketch for Weekend Update, which was seen as one of his high points for the season. On August 9, 2016, it was reported that Rudnitsky would not be returning to the show for the following season.
In 2017, Rudnitsky starred alongside
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...
in the romantic comedy film '' Home Again''. In 2018, Jon played Mike in the Netflix release ''
Set It Up
''Set It Up'' is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Claire Scanlon, written by Katie Silberman, and starring Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Taye Diggs, and Lucy Liu. The plot follows two overworked assistants who try to set up their deman ...
''.
He starred alongside
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series ''Glee'' (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recogni ...
and
Genevieve Angelson
Genevieve Rose Angelson is an American actress, best-known for playing Indigo on '' The Afterparty'', Patti Robinson on ''Good Girls Revolt'', and Ruth on '' Flack''.
Early life and education
Angelson was born in New York City to lawyer and busin ...
in the NBC pilot ''Relatively Happy'', which was not picked up.
In March 2020, Rudnitsky was cast as Mike Devries in the musical comedy-drama television series ''
The Big Leap
''The Big Leap'' is an American musical comedy-drama television series created by Liz Heldens, based on the British reality miniseries ''Big Ballet'', which aired on Fox during the 2021–22 television season. In March 2022, the series was c ...
'', which premiered on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...