Michael Showalter
Birthdate: June 17, 1970 (56 Years Old)
Birthplace: Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Michael Showalter is an improv comedian-turned-filmmaker who launched his feature filmmaking career as co-screenwriter (only) of director/co-writer David Wain’s cult comedy hit, Wet Hot American Summer (2001), co-starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper and Elizabeth Banks, and released by USA Films after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Showalter was star/director/writer of the comedy, The Baxter (2005), with Banks, Michelle Williams, Justin Theroux, Peter Dinklage, Rudd and Wain, and which was distributed by IFC Films.
Showalter reunited with director/co-writer David Wain as co-writer and producer of the satirical rom com, They Came Together (2014), starring Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Christopher Meloni, Bill Hader, Melanie Lynskey and Ed Helms, produced by Showalter-Wain and released by Lionsgate after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Showalter returned to the director’s chair (as well as being co-writer with Laura Terruso, and also taking an executive producer credit) on the acclaimed comedy, Hello, My Name is Doris (2015), based on Terruso’s short film, starring Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Stephen Root, Elizabeth Reaser, Natasha Lyonne and Tyne Daly, premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival and then grossing an excellent $14.7 million for Roadside Attractions (U.S.)/Sony Pictures Releasing International (based on estimated costs)
Michael Showalter was director only of the biopic based on Fenton Bailey’s and Randy Barbato’s non-fiction film portrait, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021), produced and starring Jessica Chastain (who won the Best Actress Oscar), with Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones and Vincent D’Onofrio, and released by Searchlight Pictures after launching at the Toronto Film Festival. Showalter followed up with another true story-based movie as director/producer of the queer comedy-drama, Spoiler Alert (2022), co-written by Davis Marshall Grant and Dan Savage from Michael Ausiello’s memoir, co-starring Jim Parsons (who was also a lead producer), Ben Aldridge, Sally Field and Bill Irwin, and received a limited released from Focus Features.
Showalter returned to the big screen as director/producer (after making two movies released via streaming) with the erotic thriller, Verity (2026), adapted from producer Colleen Hoover’s novel by screenwriter Nick Antosca (who was also a lead producer), with a cast topped by star/producer Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, produced (in part) and released in the U.S. and Canada by Amazon MGM Studios and abroad by Sony Pictures Releasing International.
Personal life
Known For
Michael Showalter Movies
Director
Previous (5)
- 2026 |
- 2022 |
Spoiler Alert
The story of Michael Ausiello and Kit Cowan's relationship, which takes a tragic turn when Cowan is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
- 2021 |
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
- 2017 |
The Big Sick
Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.
- 2016 |
Hello, My Name Is Doris
A self-help seminar inspires a sixty-something woman to romantically pursue her younger co-worker.
Producer
Previous (1)
- 2022 |
Spoiler Alert
The story of Michael Ausiello and Kit Cowan's relationship, which takes a tragic turn when Cowan is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Writer
Previous (1)
- 2016 |
Hello, My Name Is Doris
A self-help seminar inspires a sixty-something woman to romantically pursue her younger co-worker.
Actor
Previous (2)
- 2002 |
- 2001 |
Wet Hot American Summer
asCoop, Alan Shemper
Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, a group of counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day ends.
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