Chris Witaske

Chris Witaske, man, this guy’s everywhere lately. You probably know him best as Pete, the lovable goof from FX’s The Bear—the show that’s been cleaning up at the Emmys. But Chris isn’t just some fresh face; he’s been hustling in the comedy scene since he was basically a kid, starting out at The Second City in Chicago, which is kinda like comedy bootcamp for legends. Seriously, he was taking classes there when most of us were still figuring out how to do our homework. He snagged a regular spot on Netflix’s Love (shoutout to Judd Apatow for that one), and if you’re a TV junkie, you’ve definitely seen his mug pop up in all sorts of places: Curb Your Enthusiasm (Larry David’s world, baby), that indie darling Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig, and even The Wrong Missy. Dude’s got range, popping up in everything from Drunk History to New Girl to the HBO cult classic The Comeback. Oh, and rumor has it he’s about to show up in The Paper, the much-hyped Office reboot from Greg Daniels. Not too shabby. But wait, there’s more! If you’ve ever laughed at those Progressive commercials with Dr. Rick, turning into your parents, that’s Chris as Tom Pritchard—the straight man in a world gone full Boomer. And for animation fans, he co-created Chicago Party Aunt on Netflix, where he also voices, writes, and runs the show. Basically, if you’re into comedy, you’ve probably already laughed at something he’s done, whether you realized it or not.