Mary Elizabeth Ellis

Mary Elizabeth Ellis – yeah, that’s The Waitress from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but if you think that’s all she does, you’re missing out. She’s from Laurel, Mississippi, and honestly, her resume’s all over the place in the best way. She’s working with Ted Danson on Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside” (Mike Schur’s latest brainchild), and she’s popped up everywhere from “Unstable” to “Santa Clarita Diet,” “Lodge 49,” “The Grinder,” and even “New Girl.” Basically, if you’ve watched TV in the past decade, you’ve seen her. Jump to movies: she played Momma Anita in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” which, c’mon, that’s a flex. She’s about to show up in “RedOne” for Amazon with Chris Evans—so, y’know, casual. She’s also done Disney+’s “Godmothered,” “How it Ends” (that one premiered at Sundance, no big deal), “Masterminds” as Owen Wilson’s wife, the indie gem “The Last Time You Had Fun,” and “Free State of Jones” with Matthew McConaughey. But wait, she doesn’t just act—she writes. She co-wrote and starred in “A Quiet Little Marriage,” which snagged the Grand Jury prize at Slamdance. Plus, there’s the Adult Swim special “Mother May I Dance with Mary Jane’s Fist,” basically adapted from her own live show with Artemis Pebdani. Oh, and her directorial debut? The short film “The Last to Leave.” She’s done theater, too—“Trevor” at Circle X, which brought her back to her stage roots alongside Jimmi Simpson and Laurie Metcalf. And if you blinked, you probably still caught her as Kimber, the villainous daughter-in-law in Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” video. Mary Elizabeth Ellis lives in LA now, just soaking up that sunshine and, apparently, never taking a break.