Suzy Nakamura (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and improv comedian. She is known for her many guest appearances on sitcoms such as ''

According to Jim ''According to Jim'' is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children (and then five children, starting with the seventh season finale). It originally ran on ABC from October ...

'', ''

Half and Half "Half and half" is the name of various beverages and foods made of an equal-parts mixture of two substances, including dairy products, alcoholic beverages, and soft drinks. Alcoholic beverages Belgium In some cafés in Brussels, a "half en ...

'', ''

8 Simple Rules ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...

'', ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televisio ...

'' and ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'' and her recurring role in the early seasons of the drama ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' as assistant to the

Sam Seaborn Samuel Norman Seaborn is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama ''The West Wing''. From the beginning of the series in 1999 until the middle of the fourth season in 2003, he is deputy White House Communications Di ...

character, as well as Dr. Miura in the ABC

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of thr ...

''. She had leading roles in the television shows ''

Dr. Ken ''Dr. Ken'' is an American multi-camera sitcom that aired on ABC from October 2, 2015, to March 31, 2017. The series was created, written, and co-executive produced by its lead actor, Ken Jeong, who based the concept on his experience as a physic ...

'' and ''

Avenue 5 ''Avenue 5'' is a science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space e ...

''.

Early life

Nakamura was born and raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, to parents of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

descent. Her father was an English teacher for the

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

.Columbia College Chicago
"Columbia Chronicle (05/6/1991)"
(May 6, 1991). Columbia Chronicle, College Publications, College Archives & Special Collections, Columbia College Chicago. Her parents died within a year of each other when she was in her twenties. She has one older brother. Nakamura attended

Lane Technical College Prep High School Lane Tech College Prep High School (often shortened to Lane Tech, full name Albert Grannis Lane Technical College Preparatory High School), is a public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on ...

. After graduation, she joined the

Asian-American theatre Asian American theatre is theatre written, directed or acted by Asian Americans. From initial efforts by four theatre companies in the 1960s, Asian-American theatre has grown to around forty groups today. Early productions often had Asian themes o ...

company, MinaSama-No. Nakamura studied theater at

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

from 1987 to 1989. She would attend every other semester as she had to finance her education herself. In 1991, Nakamura was the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

woman to join

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

improvisational comedy troupe. She remained a part of the troupe for five years. Nakamura worked at

Crate & Barrel Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel (stylized as Crate&Barrel), is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the Uni ...

prior to working as an actor.

Career

Nakamura has acted in various films, television shows, commercials,

web-series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single ins ...

, and stage plays throughout her career, in addition to performing

improv comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

. She cofounded

The Second City Detroit The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre op ...

in 1993. Nakamura got her first film role as a troubled teen in

Rea Tajiri Rea Tajiri is a Japanese American video artist, filmmaker and screenwriter, known for her personal essay film '' History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige'' (1991). Early life Tajiri was born in 1958 in Chicago, Illinois. Tajiri's father, Vin ...

's Chicago-based film, ''Strawberry Fields'' (1997). It was an official selection at the

54th Venice International Film Festival The 54th annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 27 August to 6 September 1997. Jury The following people comprised the 1997 jury: * Jane Campion (New Zealand) (head of jury) * Ronald Bass (USA) * Véra Belmont (France) * ...

. On May 7, 2015,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

picked up Ken Jeong's ''

'' starring Jeong as a fictional version of himself and Nakamura as his wife for its 2015-16 Fall Season. Jeong had previously gotten Nakamura a role in

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films '' ...

's ''

Funny People ''Funny People'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason S ...

'', but the scene was ultimately cut. She was an honoree at the

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

' 52nd Visionary Award in 2018. In August 2018, it was announced that Nakamura had joined

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's television comedy ''

'' as Iris Kimura, the assistant to

Josh Gad Joshua Ilan Gad (born February 23, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Olaf in the '' Frozen'' franchise, playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical ''The Book of Mormon'', and playing Le Fou in the live-action adap ...

's billionaire character, Herman Judd. The series premiered on January 19, 2020. She had a recurring role as investigative reporter Irene Abe on FX's crime drama television series ''Snowfall''.

Personal life

Nakamura was married to Harry Hannigan. They separated in 2018 and have since divorced.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

* ''An Infinite Ache'' * ''The Showatorium'' * ''Coptors'' * ''Shogun's Heroes'' * ''Coed Prison Sluts - The Musical'' * ''The Armando Diaz Experience'' * ''The Deconstruction Derby'' * ''The Zodiac Thrillers'' * ''The Dickie Bell Twist Dance Party'' * ''Pen to Paper'' * ''The Second City Alumni Jam'' * ''The Powerhouse Variety Show'' * ''The Redwood Curtain'' * ''Power to the People Mover'' * ''National Touring Company'' (

- Chicago) * '' POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive'' ( Shubert Theatre - Broadway) as Jean

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Suzy American actresses of Japanese descent Actresses from Chicago Living people American film actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 1968 births