Actress Kristen Wiig, whom many know from her role in Bridesmaids, has revealed that she and her fiancé, Avi Rothman, have secretly welcomed twins. The babies were born earlier this year via surrogate.
In May, Kristen hosted Saturday Night Live and seemed to hint at becoming a mom during one of the show's Mother's Day skits. She thanked her mom, Laurie Johnston, and said, "This is the Mother's Day show, and at SNL, it's a very special time to celebrate moms. Unfortunately, probably like a lot of you, I can't be with my mom on this Mother's Day. So I hope it's OK, I would like to tell her I love her."
She also added, "I don't know if I truly appreciated my mom the first 45 years of my life. But this year I'm feeling especially grateful for her advice, her love. I'm so thankful for all the things she's taught me, like preparing to be a mom myself."
Kristen and Avi are pretty low-key, and the actress hasn't really shared a lot about their life together. They were first linked in 2016, when they vacationed together in Hawaii. At the time, a source close to the couple told People, "They've been secretly dating for a few months. He's her boyfriend. They're really happy together."
Kristen and Avi got engaged in 2019, after at least three years of dating. The two likely met through their jobs, as Avi is a writer and producer and has worked on films, including Codependents and Partners. He's also acted, and some know him for his role in Love, Sex, and Missed Connections.
Kristen has been married once before. She and her ex-husband, Hayes Hargove, were together from 2005 to 2009. In 2011, Kristen told Stella that she didn't plan to get married again.
"I probably won't ever get married [again]; it's not something that I would want to do. [In Bridesmaids we were careful] to not send the message that you need to get married. I think women put that pressure on themselves, maybe even more than society does, but if you're the single girl at the wedding, you know someone is going to ask you when you're going to get married."
Kristen has been working on a whole host of films and productions over the last year. Depending on how the health crisis impacts film release dates, she will be seen in Wonder Woman 1984, A Boy Called Christmas, and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar this year and in 2021.
Kristen was on the cast of Saturday Night Live for two years and then had a role in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up. She was in Bridesmaids in 2011 and won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Annie. Kristen also cowrote the movie with Annie Mumolo, and the pair were nominated for the Oscar for best original screenplay.
While she is often celebrated for her comedic skills, Kristen considers herself to be quite shy. In 2011, she told Interview, "I never considered myself to be funny — maybe because socially I can be a little shy sometimes. I just didn't think that you could be both." She also added that she prefers to play characters over being herself.
"I enjoy being characters rather than myself. If I had to get up and talk in front of a group of people just as myself, I would be terrified … But if I'm on stage in front of hundreds of people and I am a character doing a monologue, I'm totally fine."
Kristen fell into performing while in college. She attended the University of Arizona in Tucson as an art major and took a theater performance class for one of her credits. In fact, she liked it so much that she moved to Los Angeles when she still had a year left in her program (and didn't tell her parents).
"Of course, when I got there, I was like, what am I doing? I have no experience, and all the women here are models. It was one of those very Method classes where you have to sit for an hour with your eyes closed and pretend you're drinking, like, hot soup."
Like many who eventually go on to do well in Hollywood, Kristen had a whole bunch of truly strange jobs before getting her break. She reportedly worked in floral design and even ran a hotdog cart. She also waited tables, which put her in contact with people she would eventually work with.
She told the Los Angeles Times about it. "A couple times I've seen executives and I'm like, 'How do I know you? Oh, I used to give you Cobb salad and Arnold Palmers, and I had a tie and khaki pants on.'"
Her experience working different kinds of jobs may have impacted her a lot more than she realizes! In 2017, Esquire asked Kristen what she would do if she didn't act. She said, "You always have these fantasies of yourself, like, living a different life. Like being in a tiny apartment in some tiny town in France and just painting. I would love to do some weird art installation somewhere. I play the ukulele, and I would love to do that more and maybe do an album."
