The surprising connection between Ellie Kemper and Amy Schumer
It’s been a pretty good year for Ellie Kemper, Nasim Pedrad, and Amy Schumer. Ellie Kemper starred as the plucky, determined Kimmy Schmidt in the Netflix hit Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Nasim Pedrad signed a deal with Fox to create and star in her own TV show; and Amy Schumer has taken the world by storm with a breakout season of Inside Amy Schumer and her critically acclaimed film Trainwreck.
It probably comes as no surprise that these stars are talented, driven, and hilarious, but what you might not have known is that each of these women has a writer sister whose worked on their TV shows. For the most part, Kim Caramele (Amy’s sister), Nina Pedrad, and Kemper prefer to stay offscreen, with their sisters taking up most of the limelight.
It just goes to show: No matter how far you come in Hollywood, it’s nice to have someone who really knows you by your side. Or in this case, someone who shares your DNA.
Nasim and Nina Pedrad
Former SNL and Mulaney star Nasim hit it big after Tina Fey saw her one woman show Me, Myself, and Iran and recommended to Lorne Michaels the comedian audition for SNL. Since then, Nasim has shown up as a recurring character on New Girl, where her sister Nina is a writer and producer. Prior to working on New Girl, Nina was a staff writer for 30 Rock, where she popped up once as a Persian contestant in the episode “A Goon’s Deed in a Weary World.” With Nasim’s deal to develop and star in a new show for Fox, it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing more awesome talent from the sisters in the years to come.
When asked what her parents did to wind up with two daughters who are successful comedians and sitcom writers, Nasim told Elle, “Absolutely nothing to do with entertainment. They were confused by all of this, but they were nothing but supportive—although I’m sure they would have loved it if I’d wanted to go to medical school. I can’t imagine anything more terrifying for immigrants who left their country [Iran] to give their children a better life than hearing that their daughters want to pursue comedy.”
Ellie and Carrie Kemper
Sisters Ellie and Carrie Kemper have a long history of working together, producing plays and home movies at a young age. One of them, Man Under the Stairs, is even on YouTube. This strong work ethic has clearly paid off, as Ellie Kemper had her first breakout role as receptionist Erin Hannon on The Office and Carrie served as a writer and executive story editor on the show from 2011-2013. These days, you can watch Ellie perfectly cast as Kimmy in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, while Carrie is still behind-the-scenes, writing for Emmy award-winning Silicon Valley. Of working together, Carried told the New York Times jokingly in 2010, “It’s a great sense of power over her. If she makes one false move, she’s off the show.” Ellie’s a writer as well, with works published on McSweeney’s and The Onion. With all of the talent combined between them, we can only hope they collaborate on a sequel (or even a reboot?) to Man Under the Stairs.
Amy Schumer and Kim Caramele
In 2013, Kim Caramele was working as a school psychologist when Amy asked her to leave her job and come write for her new Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer. Like any reasonable sister, Kim politely obliged and has been writing for and producing Amy’s show ever since. She served as associate producer on Trainwreck, and the two even live six blocks from each other on the Upper West Side. Basically, these two are so close they’re putting the rest of us sisterly relationships to shame. Amy affectionally refers to Kim as her #roadmanager on Twitter and Kim has remained steadfast by Amy’s side as her star continues to rise. The two have no plans to go their separate ways: They’ll soon pen a mother-daughter comedy to be directed by Paul Feig. We’re excited to see what the two have in store next, as long as they still make sure to carve out time to dance to Backstreet Boys and go speedboating with Jennifer Lawrence—both for their sake and for ours.
[Image via YouTube/Comedy Central]