Kristen Joy Schaal (/ʃɑːl/ SHAHL,[1] Dutch: [sxaːl]; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer.

She also played Mel on Flight of the Conchords, The Guide on What We Do in the Shadows, Hurshe Heartshe on The Heart, She Holler, and Carol Pilbasian on The Last Man on Earth.

Other roles include Amanda Simmons on The Hotwives of Orlando, Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock, Victoria Best on WordGirl, Trixie in the Toy Story franchise, Shannon on Despicable Me 2 and Anne on Wilfred.

[9][10] At the 2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, she won the Barry Award for her show Kristen Schaal As You Have Probably Never Seen Her Before, tying with Nina Conti.

[18] Schaal has also performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London, as part of The Secret Policeman's Ball 2008 in aid of Amnesty International, and at the Bonnaroo 2009 music festival.

[19][20] In 2010, Schaal appeared as a stand-up comic on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show and at the Solid Sound Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

[24][25] Schaal appeared on HBO's Flight of the Conchords as the stalker-fan Mel, a role which earned her an EWwy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009.

[33] Other film and television credits include Aqua Teen Hunger Force,[34] Snake 'n' Bacon,[27] Norbit, Get Him to the Greek,[35] Conviction, Cheap Seats,[36] Freak Show, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant,[37] Adam and Steve,[38] The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard,[39] Delirious,[40] Good News Week (Australia), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,[41][42] Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Education of Max Bickford,[43] Comedy Central's Contest Searchlight,[44] Ugly Betty,[45] How I Met Your Mother,[46] MTV's Human Giant,[47] and Mad Men.

[citation needed] She appeared in television commercials for T-Mobile,[48] Wendy's, RadioShack, Starburst,[42] Sony Xperia,[49] and Zaxby's.

[58] Schaal stars in her own web series, Penelope Princess of Pets, one episode of which doubled as the video for the New Pornographers' "Mutiny, I Promise You".

[68] Schaal guest starred on The Simpsons May 8, 2011, episode "Homer Scissorhands," in which she plays Taffy, a love interest of Milhouse.

"[69] Schaal voiced Shannon, a girl who goes on a date with Gru, in Despicable Me 2; she then appeared in a music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2014 song "Tacky", a parody of Pharrell Williams' "Happy".

[70][71] In 2013, Schaal guest starred in the two-part episode "Sea Tunt" of Archer, lending her voice to a character named Tiffy.

[72][73] In 2014, Schaal co-starred alongside Casey Wilson, Danielle Schneider, Tymberlee Hill, Andrea Savage, and Angela Kinsey in the first season of the Hulu original series The Hotwives of Orlando.

In 2020, she played the daughter of George Carlin's character in the sequel Bill & Ted Face the Music and guested on the first episode of Netflix's Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun.

[92] In 2017, during a charity stream hosted by Ethan Klein, Schaal revealed that she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy and a ruptured fallopian tube during an unspecified recording session for Gravity Falls, losing at least two litres of blood, and she underwent emergency surgery after being rushed to the hospital.