Amy Poehler is one of the most-known female comedians for a reason.
She has a knack for making us laugh, whether that’s on SNL , on Parks and Recreation , or in her memoir.
That’s not all — she also can make our hearts melt with her sweet moments with BFF, Tina Fey.
For more about Amy, here are 10+ random facts fans didn’t know.
RELATED STORIES
1. Both her parents were teachers:
Bill and Eileen Poehler worked in schools in Burlington, where the family lived.
Amy told Seventeen that she liked school. “I was the daughter of teachers, so school was always very important. I liked it.”
2. She used to work at an ice cream parlor called Chadwicks:
“We wore old-timey outfits and had to bang a drum, play a kazoo, and sing “Happy Birthday” to people while giving them free birthday sundaes,” she said .
“Lots of ice cream scooping and $1 tips. Fun fact: Rachel Dratch worked there a few years ahead of me but we never met!”
3. She’s not the only famous person in her family:
Her brother, Greg, starred and wrote the NBC series, Welcome to Sweden .
It was actually based on Greg’s life, so no wonder Amy was part of it, too! They also worked together in 2019’s Wine Country .
4. She has a collection of fake food:
“I have a thing for realistic-looking faux fruit,” she told The Huffington Post .
This includes tiny crocheted cupcakes and little carved pieces of sushi. “I even have a sleeping bag shaped like a slice of pizza. I have no idea where the obsession came from, but I hope it never ends.”
5. She and Tina Fey met in improv class:
Amy recalled the meeting in her book, Yes Please .
“She said there was another new improviser in another one of her classes whom she thought I would really like. Her name was Tina and she was like me but with brown hair.”
6. They’ve been best friends ever since.
They’ve starred in four movies together, in addition to their time on SNL . This includes Martin and Orloff , Mean Girls , and Baby Mama .
Their last movie, where they starred as sisters, was fittingly called Sisters .
7. Her favorite splurge is new underwear:
As a millionaire, she could buy whatever she wants. But she likes fancy underwear.
“I buy all over the world. I’m not shy about throwing away my gently used pairs and replacing them with new ones,” she once said .
8. Her favorite hobby is drawing:
It’s something that she does with her son.
“We tape the pictures to the wall and pretend our house is a mini art gallery. This will turn him into either a cultured museum enthusiast or a narcissist who believes all his artwork is good enough to hang.”
9. She’s an experienced rapper:
She used her skills to help Kevin G perform his iconic rap scene in Mean Girls .
“Amy definitely coached him on how to do the rap, and she actually gave him some of the moves and choreography for it,” the film’s director told Vulture .
10. She was once married to Will Arnett:
The comedic pair were married from 2003 to 2016. During this time, they welcomed two children together, Archie and Abel.
In 2007, Amy even played the sister of Will Arnett’s character in Blades of Glory .
11. She’s lent her voice to a lot of animated movies:
While she’s most known for her work in Inside Out , other animated movies that she’s done include Alvin and the Chipmunks , Hoodwinked Too! , Monsters vs. Aliens , and the third Shrek movie.
12. She doesn’t like working with babies:
It’s actually the reason there was a time jump in the final season of Park and Recreation .
Retta from the show told Vulture that Amy told the show that she refused to work with babies.
She was like, “I just had two kids.”
“I’ve had my share of babies for the last three years. I’m not doing another year of babies. Especially triplets.”
This may sound cold, but mothers will likely understand!
13. Two of her movies opened on the same day:
This is actually a rarity in Hollywood!
This took place in 2004 and the two movies were Mean Girls and Envy .
If people were smart, they’d have gone and seen Mean Girls , since it’s still a classic to this day.
14. Jon Hamm helped her through the birth of her first son:
“I was crying because my OB-GYN had just passed away, and he was a lovely man and I was in a real panic and I was so pregnant,” she revealed in her memoir.
“And a really, really pregnant woman crying is terrifying.”
She continued:
“I was sobbing and [Jon Hamm, the SNL host that week] … just kind of came to me and he was like, “I need you to pull it together — this is a big deal for me.” And it made me laugh so hard.”
15. She pinned a cocktail wiener to her bra for the iconic chihuahua scene in *Mean Girls*:
“I thought this dog was going to tear her apart,” Amanda Seyfried, who played Karen, told Entertainment Weekly .
“It was very effective. She was such a pro through it.”
She continued:
“She’s trying to do her lines and being so professional, and this dog is chomping on her fake boob. I’ll never forget that.”
