Paula Pell plays Val in Netflix’s new comedy film Wine Country which just premiered on the streaming platform.
Val is a middle-aged lesbian who owns a vintage shop, recently had a knee replacement surgery, and is once again looking for love.
She meets and falls for a younger woman when she and her girl pals Abby (Amy Poehler), Naomi (Maya Rudoloph), Rebecca (Rachel Dratch), Catherine (Ana Gasteyer), Jenny (Emily Spivy), and Tammy (Tina Fey), decide to take a break from their workaholic lives by going on a wine tasting tour in California’s Napa Valley wine country as part of Rebecca’s 50th birthday weekend celebrations.
Former SNL cast member Amy Poehler, who produced and directed the movie, assembled a cast consisting of her real life friends.
The cast includes former SNL writers Paula Pell and Emily Spivy (who wrote the film with Liz Cackowski), and fellow SNL alumni Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, and Maya Rudolph.
According to the showrunners, the movie is based on the real-life vacation experiences of the cast.
If you’ve seen Wine Country, you will be familiar with Pell as Val in some of the movie’s funniest scenes. There are also awkward moments, including when she courts Maya Erskine’s character Jade.
If you’ve been wondering who Pell is and where you have seen her before, here is everything you need to know.
Who is Paula Pell?
Paula Pell is a comedian, writer and producer. She was born on April 15, 1963 in Joliet, Illinois and is best known as a writer for Saturday Night Live (1995-2013); also appearing in several SNL sketches. She also served as writer on the sitcom 30 Rock, in which she also appeared in a number of episodes, playing roles such as Pete Hornberger’s wife.
She played Rob Swanson’ mom in Parks and Recreation Season 4 and voiced Gadget Gal in Hulu’s The Awesomes (2013-2015) and played Dream Director and Mom’s Anger in Pixar’s Inside Out (2015).
She played Aunt Mo on Showtime’s SMILF, and Helen Henry DeMarcus on NBC’s comedy series A.P Bio (2018-2019).
Pell also created, co-wrote and executive produced the NBC series Thick and Thin (2006) and worked on the writing team for Judd Apatow’s movies Bridesmaids (2011) and This is 40 (2012).
She co-created Hudson Valley Ballers (2013) with James Anderson and made a cameo appearance in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).