Amy Poehler first appeared in the television special ‘Escape from It's a Wonderful Life’ in 1996. The following year, she was seen playing the role of ‘Amy’ in the sitcom, sketch comedy, and stand-up television series ‘Apartment 2F.’ In 1998, she made her big-screen debut in the American absurdist comedy film ‘Tomorrow Night’ directed by Louis C.K. The film received a mixed response from critics. The following year, she starred as ‘Ruth’ in the American sex comedy film ‘Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo’ directed by Mike Mitchell. While the film was panned by critics, it was a commercial success and grossed over $92.9 million on a budget of $17 million. She next appeared in films like ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ (2001), ‘Martin & Orloff’ (2002), ‘Mean Girls’ (2004), ‘Envy’ (2004), ‘Southland Tales’ (2006), ‘Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny’ (2006), ‘Blades of Glory’ (2007), ‘Shrek the Third’ (2007), ‘Shortcut to Happiness’ (2007), ‘Horton Hears a Who!’ (2008), ‘Baby Mama’ (2008), and ‘Hamlet 2’ (2008). In 2009, Poehler joined the main cast of the American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series ‘Parks and Recreation’ created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. She portrayed Leslie Knope in the series which earned her the ‘Golden Globe Award.’ ‘Parks and Recreation’ ran for 7 seasons and went off-air in 2020.
She continued to appear in television series and shows like ‘Saturday Night Live’ (2010), ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ (2012), ‘30 Rock’ (2012), ‘Louie’ (2012), ‘The Greatest Event in Television History’ (2013), ‘Broad City’ (2014), ‘Welcome to Sweden’ (2014-2015), ‘Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp’ (2015), ‘The UCB Show’ (2015-2017), ‘Making It’ (2018-present), and ‘Duncanville’ (2020-present). In 2021, she starred as ‘Lisa Johnson’ in the 2021 American comedy-drama film, ‘Moxie.’ The film was released on Netflix and received a mixed response from critics. Poehler was also the director of the film. That same year, she also hosted the ‘78th Golden Globe Awards.’