Theater After theater school, Watkins lived and worked in New York City for a year but struggled to build her career. She moved with a friend to
Portland, Oregon. She lived there from 1996 to 2000 and appeared onstage with
Portland Center Stage and the defunct improv group Toad City Productions. She traveled around the country doing regional theater, then decided to move to Los Angeles. and 2100 Square Feet.
Regional theater •
Portland Center Stage:
Hamlet (1999),
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1999),
Bus Stop (2000) • Portland Repertory Theatre:
Arcadia •
Artist Repertory Theatre:
The Misanthrope, How I Learned To Drive as well as Merchant of Venice, ''The Winter's Tale'' • triangle productions:
Angels in America,
The Food Chain •
Circle X Theatre: ''Laura Comstock's Bag Punching Dog
(2002) – LA Weekly
award, Sperm'' (2004) •
Vineyard Playhouse:
Fighting Words by Sunil Kuruvilla (2003)
Improv She became a regular performer at
The Groundlings, where she was discovered by
Saturday Night Live. Watkins said the appeal of sketch work is that she can write her own material. Watkins remained on
SNL as a featured player throughout the rest of the 2008–2009 season, up to the season finale on May 16, 2009. However, while
SNL was on summer hiatus, the news broke in early September 2009 that Watkins, along with fellow castmate
Casey Wilson, were both to be let go from the show and would not be returning for the 2009–10 season.
Recurring character on SNL • Angie Tempura: A geeky,
iced coffee-drinking computer nerd who snarks on celebrities and movies and is the creator of the snarky website "Bitch Pleeze" (www.bitchpleeze.com, which redirects to the SNL site). Though she insults celebrities, Angie was revealed to have a crush on
Zac Efron.
Later TV credits She recurred as Lucy opposite
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and
Hamish Linklater in the sitcom
The New Adventures of Old Christine, as well as appearing in recurring roles in the comedy programs
Enlightened,
New Girl, and
Anger Management. She has also made guest appearances on shows such as
Hung,
Childrens Hospital,
Kroll Show,
Key & Peele,
Curb Your Enthusiasm, and
Modern Family. Watkins also starred alongside
Malin Åkerman,
Bradley Whitford, and
Marcia Gay Harden in the short-lived, but well-received
ABC sitcom
Trophy Wife. The series aired for one season from September 2013 to May 2014. In 2015, it was announced that Watkins would star in the
Hulu series produced by
Jason Reitman called
Casual, which would be executive produced by
Liz Tigelaar. In 2018, she recurred on season two of the
Amazon Prime series
Catastrophe, playing the sister of lead character Rob Norris (
Rob Delaney). From 2019 to 2021, she has co-starred on the
CBS sitcom
The Unicorn.
Producing, writing Watkins co-created (with writing partner and fellow Groundling, Damon Jones) the short-lived 2014
USA Network comedy series
Benched. The series starred
Eliza Coupe and
Jay Harrington and premiered on October 28, 2014. Watkins and Jones were also executive producers on the show.
Film Watkins has appeared in supporting roles in films such as
Enough Said,
In a World...,
Afternoon Delight,
The Back-Up Plan,
Wanderlust,
They Came Together and
Lazy Eye. In 2023, Watkins starred in
Suze.
Podcasts In 2020, Watkins appeared in the supporting role of Irene O'Connor in the musical podcast
In Strange Woods. ==Personal life==