David Wain - Career

Career

Wain's first feature film Wet Hot American Summer (2001) is an absurdist summer camp comedy starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black and Elizabeth Banks. Wain directed the film, and co-wrote/co-produced it with Michael Showalter, who also plays a lead role. Showalter credits Wain with being an active and observant Jew who infused the movie with an authentically Jewish sense of humor.

His second feature film The Ten, starring Winona Ryder and Paul Rudd (and a large ensemble cast of well known actors) had a short theatrical run and was released on DVD on January 15, 2008.

Wain's third feature, Role Models, starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch and Elizabeth Banks, was his first widely released film. Released in theaters on November 7, 2008, the film received positive reviews from critics and fans alike, as well as earning $19 million dollars on its opening weekend. Its eventual worldwide gross was over $91 million.

Wain stars in a web series titled Wainy Days on the website My Damn Channel, which is in its fifth season as of December 2011. The series follows a fictionalized version of Wain through his everyday life as he tries to romance numerous women and discusses his problems with his friends at the sweatshop where he works. Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Corddry, Thomas Lennon, Josh Charles, A.D. Miles, Paul Rudd, and Michael Ian Black, and various other Stella/The State/Wet Hot American Summer alum have all guest-starred in various episodes.

As one third of the comedy troupe Stella, Wain has hosted a long running NYC nightclub show, toured the United States, made a series of shorts, and created a 2005 series on Comedy Central.

Wain is featured as the voice of The Warden in the animated series Superjail!. He was a featured commentator in the I Love the 70s series, I Love the 90s Part Deux series, and the weekly VH1 show Best Week Ever. Wain has also dabbled in theatre. He, Michael Showalter and Joe Lo Truglio wrote the play SEX, aka Wieners and Boobs. With The State, Wain co-wrote the book State by State with The State. He has appeared in such movies as The Baxter, Keeping the Faith and Role Models.

Wain's 4th feature film, Wanderlust, was released on February 24, 2012. It starred Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Malin Akerman, Alan Alda, and many more. Wain directed the film, from a screenplay he wrote with Ken Marino, and has a cameo in the film as a TV weatherman.