Jennifer Irwin

A dark-haired comedic actress with pixieish looks and the ability to dramatically alter her appearance with small facial manipulations, Toronto-native Jennifer Irwin did some child acting work in Canadian productions like "Anne of Green Gables" (PBS, 1986) and the horror feature "The Gate" (1987) before joining the Second City comedy troupe. A graduate of Montreal's McGill University, Irwin worked with Second City from the mid-1990s, appearing in dozens of varied comedic stage performances including challenging improvisational pieces. With Canada as a hotbed of film production, Irwin landed supporting roles in many features, including 1996's "Mrs. Winterbourne" and 1998's "Blues Brothers 2000" while her performance in "Superstar," the 1999 feature adaptation of Molly Shannon's "Saturday Night Live" favorite Mary Katherine Gallagher merited a Canadian Comedy Award nomination. Other credits included a role in the Showtime TV-movie "Harlan County War," a dramatization based on Barbara Kopple's groundbreaking documentary "Harlan County USA," and supporting parts in the 2001 E! Entertainment Television original TV-movie comedy "Spinning Out of Control," starring a skewed Kathie Lee Gifford, and the action feature "Exit Wounds," starring Steven Seagal and DMX in a Detroit setting that bore all the landmarks of Toronto. Having made it in her hometown. Irwin set her sights on Los Angeles, where she hoped to launch a career as a comedic actress. Within weeks of arriving, she was cast on the NBC sitcom landed a guest role on CBS' "The Ellen Show" (2001) and a regular spot on the sitcom "Inside Schwartz" (NBC, 2001-02), where she portrayed Emily, the ambitious wife of David Cobert (Bryan Callen), the edgy best friend of Breckin Meyer's titular character.