Chris Witaske (born June 12, 1983) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Chris Czajkowski in the Netflix romantic comedy Love, and Pete in the Emmy Awards-winning FX on Hulu comedy series The Bear.
Chris Witaske | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 12, 1983 St. Charles, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2014–present |
Life and career
editWitaske was born in St. Charles, Illinois.[1] He began taking classes at Second City in Chicago as a teenager and also performed as a birthday party magician before focusing mainly on comedy and acting. Witaske attended St. Charles High School and after graduation, he commenced his studies at the University of Iowa where he majored in Theater Arts. He then moved to Chicago and worked at comedy venues including the Second City, iO, and Annoyance Theaters before moving to Los Angeles.[2][3][4]
In 2014, Witaske made his television acting debut in the Fox comedy-drama series New Girl. Following on from his first role, Witaske won other roles on a variety of TV shows and films including The Comeback, Teachers, Drunk History, Lady Bird, Unicorn Store, What Men Want, Arrested Development, Weird City, The Wrong Missy, and The Bear.
In 2016, Witaske was cast as Chris Czajkowski in the Netflix romantic comedy Love[5] and was promoted to a series regular role the following year.[6]
In July 2021, it was announced that Netflix had greenlit the adult animated series Chicago Party Aunt, created by Witaske with Jon Barinholtz and Katie Rich and based on the Twitter account Witaske created of the same name.[7] The series started airing on September 21, 2021.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Lady Bird | James | |
| Unicorn Store | Matt | ||
| 2019 | What Men Want | Eddie | |
| 2020 | The Wrong Missy | Rich | |
| 2022 | The Bubble | Josh | |
| 2024 | Omni Loop | Morris |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | New Girl | Bradley | Episode: "Dice" |
| The Comeback | Kevin | Episode: "Valerie Gets What She Really Wants" | |
| 2015 | W/ Bob & David | Salesman | Episode: "1.04" |
| 2016–2018 | Love | Chris Czajkowski | 17 episodes Recurring (season 1–2); Main (season 3) |
| 2017 | Drunk History | Alexander Hamilton | Episode: "Drunk History Christmas Special" |
| Teachers | Mr. Schmidt | Episode: "Passive Eggressive" | |
| 2018 | Arrested Development | Instructor | Episode: "Sinking Feelings" |
| Alone Together | Jason | Episode: "Crypto" | |
| 2019 | Fresh Off the Boat | Ken | Episode: "Just the Two of Us" |
| Weird City | Booj | Episode: "The One" | |
| Sunnyside | Tanner | Episode: "Skirt-Skirt!" | |
| 2021 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Deke | Episode: "Igor, Gregor, & Timor" |
| 2021–present | Chicago Party Aunt | Kurt (voice) | Also series co-creator |
| 2022–present | The Bear | Pete | 7 episodes |
| 2022–2024 | Is It Cake? | Himself / Judge | 4 episodes |
References
edit- ^ "Biography". Archived from the original on April 15, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ Casey, Chris (February 25, 2016). "St. Charles grad Chris Witaske stars in new Netflix original series". Kane County Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ McCarthy, Anne (November 23, 2016). "12 Questions with Comedian Chris Witaske". Medium. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ Switall, Rachel. "Q&A with Chris Witaske". West Suburban Living. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ Tasha, Robinson (February 17, 2016). "On Netflix's Love, crummy people still can't fix each other". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ Strause, Jackie (February 15, 2017). "Netflix's 'Love' Promotes Chris Witaske to Series Regular for Season 3 (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ "Chicago Party Aunt Twitter Account Inspires New Netflix Animated Series". CBS 2 Chicago. July 27, 2021. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.