EW Lightbulb: Casey Wilson talks about her rise to sitcom stardom

Best known for her lead role on the gone-but-never-forgotten Happy Endings, Casey Wilson is a multihyphenate performer of the highest order. She first rose to prominence a few years ago as a performer on Saturday Night Live—a tenure that also saw the release of Bride Wars, a film she co-wrote with longtime collaborator June Diane Raphael. But that was mere prologue in her rise to funny glory: Her role as Penny Hartz on Happy Endings was a cult-comedy calling card, which led Wilson into her current roles as a regular on Hulu’s Housewives parody The Hotwives of Orlando and her lead role on NBC’s freshman sitcom Marry Me. She’s a regular presence in the cable comedy underground—a Kroll Show sketch here, a Drunk History cameo there—and she had a small but pivotal role in David Fincher’s bleak megahit Gone Girl.

Wilson sat down to talk about her career, her approach to acting, and her comedy history as part of EW Lightbulb, a series of conversations with today’s leading creators about their inspirations and their methods.