Before
Saturday Night Live, Shannon worked as a hostess at Cravings restaurant on
Sunset Boulevard, and as a food demo girl at Gelson's supermarket in
Marina Del Rey. She auditioned for her first big film role and was cast, playing the supporting part of Meg in the 1989
horror film remake of
The Phantom of the Opera, with
Robert Englund. In 1991, she had a brief appearance in the second season of
Twin Peaks as "the happy helping hand lady", and in 1993, she appeared with minor roles in three episodes of
In Living Color, the first in a fake TV commercial with
Shawn Wayans playing
Chris Rock, the second in a sketch with
Jim Carrey, playing LAPD Sergeant
Stacey Koon, and third being a parody of
Star Trek. Shannon's major break came in February 1995, when she was hired as a featured player on
Saturday Night Live to replace
Janeane Garofalo, who had left mid-season. Shannon was one of the few cast members to be kept (along with
David Spade,
Norm Macdonald,
Mark McKinney and
Tim Meadows) when
Lorne Michaels overhauled his cast and writers for season 21 (1995–96). She appeared in a 1997 episode of
Seinfeld titled "
The Summer of George", where she played Sam, the co-worker who drove
Elaine Benes crazy because she did not swing her arms while walking. She appeared in
Sheryl Crow's video for the song "A Change (Will Do You Good)" and played the recurring role of loony neighbor Val Bassett,
Grace Adler's nemesis, on
Will & Grace, appearing in five episodes over the sitcom's eight-season run. In 1998, she played the role of Emily Sanderson in the film
A Night at the Roxbury, featuring
Will Ferrell and
Chris Kattan who were also cast members of
SNL at the time. She appeared in
Sex and the City in a number of episodes. In 1999, Shannon starred in
Superstar, a feature film based on her character
Mary Katherine Gallagher, an awkward Catholic school student who aspires to be a musical superstar. Shannon had created the character while a student at NYU, and had expanded on her in a series of
SNL sketches prior to the film. During her run on SNL, Shannon starred in the films
Never Been Kissed (1999),
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000),
Osmosis Jones (2001) and
Serendipity (2001). Shannon left
SNL in 2001. In 2003, she appeared in the romantic comedy ''
My Boss's Daughter and the television remake of The Music Man''. In 2004, she starred in a short-lived
Fox network
television series Cracking Up. That same year, she guest starred in an episode of
Scrubs and starred as Mrs. Baker in the film
Good Boy! In 2006, Shannon was featured in the
Sofia Coppola-directed movie
Marie Antoinette as
Aunt Victoire. The next year, Shannon guest-starred on ABC's
Pushing Daisies, and appeared in the film
Evan Almighty. At that time, Shannon also made a move to drama, appearing in
Mike White's film
Year of the Dog in 2007. In 2013, Shannon joined White again, playing his love interest Eileen in the HBO show
Enlightened, for which she was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding guest actress. Shannon hosted
Saturday Night Live on May 12, 2007, making her the second former female cast member to host (after
Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and the first one to have been a cast member for Lorne Michaels (Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member under
Dick Ebersol). , Children's Book Festival on October 2, 2011, promoting her first children's book,
Tilly the Trickster. In 2008, Shannon starred as Kath in the American version of the Australian sitcom
Kath & Kim. In early 2010, Shannon was cast in a recurring role on the
Fox television series
Glee as Brenda Castle, an astronomy and badminton teacher who has a rivalry with main character
Sue Sylvester. She returned to
Saturday Night Live for a special
Mother's Day episode on May 8, 2010, and the October 2010 reunion special "Women of SNL". Shannon replaced
Katie Finneran in the role of Marge McDougall in the
Broadway revival of
Promises, Promises on October 12, 2010, and remained through its closure on January 2, 2011, along with co-stars
Sean Hayes and
Kristin Chenoweth. Shannon's first children's book,
Tilly the Trickster, was released September 1, 2011. As of spring 2012, she has replaced
Pauley Perrette as the spokesperson for
Expedia. In 2015, Shannon starred in the Sundance premiere of
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. She was a guest, along with
Denis Leary, on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on June 9, 2015. In 2016, Shannon co-starred in the
HBO comedy
Divorce opposite
Sarah Jessica Parker and
Thomas Haden Church. Shannon won the 2017
Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the highly acclaimed drama,
Other People. She had two films premiere at the 2017
Sundance Film Festival:
The Little Hours and
Fun Mom Dinner. In 2018, Shannon co-hosted the
Rose Parade with
Will Ferrell on Amazon Prime Video in character as fictional local television personalities, Tish and Cord. In 2018, Shannon and Ferrell co-hosted HBO's broadcast of the wedding of
Prince Harry and
Meghan Markle as their characters Tish and Cord. In 2018, Shannon co-starred in the critically acclaimed Netflix film
Private Life, playing prickly Cynthia. In 2022, Shannon released
Hello, Molly!: A Memoir (). In 2022, Shannon co-starred in the
Showtime comedy television series
I Love That for You alongside fellow former
SNL alum
Vanessa Bayer. In 2024, Shannon joined the cast of the
Hulu comedy series
Only Murders in the Building for its fourth season.
Saturday Night Live characters •
Mary Katherine Gallagher: Shannon's best known character. An odd, outcast student at a Catholic school who enjoyed performing in the choir and school plays. Shannon starred in the 1999 feature film
Superstar based on the character. •
Sally O'Malley: a proud 50-year-old dancer ("I'm FIFTY!") with a
bouffant hairdo, who wore tight red pants and proclaimed how much she loved to "kick, stretch and kick!" • Circe Nightshade: co-host of "
Goth Talk" (with
Chris Kattan). • Miss Colleen: co-host of "
Dog Show" (with
Will Ferrell). • Elizabeth: one of the "
Southern Gals." •
Helen Madden: an overly exuberant self-proclaimed "Joyologist", who appeared on talk shows with the trademark catchphrase "I love it, I love it, I love it!" • Veronica Kilvere: an airhead fashion model who hosts the "
Veronica & Co." talk show. • Janette Blow: wife of
Joe Blow (played by
Colin Quinn) on "The Local News"
public-access television cable TV talk show. • Terri Rialto: co-host of the NPR radio show "
Delicious Dish" (with
Ana Gasteyer). • Margaret Healy: a woman who enjoys doing many voices and accents. •
Jeannie Darcy: an unfunny
mullet-haired stand-up comedian, who ended almost every joke with the phrase "Don't get me started, don't even get me started!"
Celebrity impressions == Personal life ==