Maya Rudolph made her screen debut in the American medical drama television series ‘Chicago Hope’ in 1996. She played the role of ‘Nurse Leah Martine’ and continued to appear on the show until 1997. She went on to make her big-screen debut in the 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film ‘As Good as It Gets’ directed by James L. Brooks. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a major box office success, grossing over $314.1 million on a budget of $50 million. That same year, she also appeared in the American dystopian science fiction thriller film ‘Gattaca’ directed by Andrew Niccol. Even though the film saw critical acclaim upon release, it failed to achieve success at the box office. In 2000, she joined the cast of the American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show ‘Saturday Night Live.’ She starred in 153 episodes and received 2 ‘Primetime Emmy Awards’ for her performance in the show. She parted ways from ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 2007. In 2003, she starred as ‘Tara’ in the American black comedy film ‘Duplex’ directed by Danny DeVito. The film received a 35% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. She continued to star in films like ‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie’ (2004), ‘50 First Dates’ (2004), ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ (2006), ‘Idiocracy’ (2006), ‘Shrek the Third’ (2007), ‘Away We Go’ (2009), and ‘MacGruber’ (2010).Â
In 2010, she portrayed Deanne McKenzie in the Dennis Dugan-directed American comedy film ‘Grown Ups.’ The film, despite being largely panned by critics, was a decent commercial success, grossing over $271.4 million on a budget of $80 million. The following year, she starred as ‘Lillian Donovan’ in the American comedy film ‘Bridesmaids’ directed by Paul Feig. The film was a critical and commercial success. She was next seen in films like ‘Zookeeper’ (2011), ‘The Way, Way Back’ (2013), ‘Grown Ups 2’ (2013), ‘Turbo’ (2013), ‘The Nut Job’ (2014), ‘Big Hero 6’ (2014), ‘Strange Magic’ (2015), ‘Maggie's Plan’ (2015), ‘Mr. Pig’ (2016), ‘The Angry Birds Movie’ (2016), ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ (2016), ‘CHiPs’ (2017), ‘We Don't Belong Here’ (2017), ‘The Emoji Movie’ (2017), ‘The Happytime Murders’ (2018), ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part’ (2019), ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ (2019), ‘The Willoughbys’ (2020), ‘Hubie Halloween’ (2020), and ‘Licorice Pizza’ (2021). In 2022, she joined the voice cast of the American adult animated sitcom ‘Human Resources’ where she voiced Constance "Connie" LaCienega. The series was renewed for a second season in April 2022.
