Andy Samberg’s 10 Best Movie & TV Roles, Ranked According To IMDb

Many cast members from Saturday Night Live have gone on to have great careers. From Steve Martin to Chris Rock to Tina Fey to Amy Poehler to Jimmy Fallon and so many more. One that might not have been expected to shine as much as he did is Andy Samberg but he has become a huge star.

Known primarily for great SNL Digital Shorts and music videos, one-third of The Lonely Island has starred in some fantastic movies and television shows. While finding the best work of his career, it should be noted that no shows where he only appeared in an episode or two were included.

10 I Love You, Man (7.0)

It certainly seems like a lot of the movies that Andy Samberg nabbed a role in also involved some of the funniest names in Hollywood. 2009’s I Love You, Man falls under that category. Samberg is joined by Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, and many others.

The film focuses on a friendless man (Rudd) in search of a buddy to be the best man at his upcoming wedding. Samberg plays Robbie, the gay brother of the protagonist. This also sees Joe Lo Truglio in the cast, years before he played Samberg’s best friend in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

9 7 Days In Hell (7.1)

HBO original films typically air on the network and that’s what happened with this 2015 release. This sports mockumentary tells the story of Aaron Williams (Samberg) and Charles Poole (Kit Harington), who compete in what ends up being the longest tennis match in history.

It was inspired by the actual 2010 Wimbledon Championship match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner, which lasted over 11 hours. The comedic take was right up Samberg’s alley but allowed Harington to try something new. The supporting cast includes Mary Steenburgen, Fred Armisen, and Jon Hamm.

8 Hotel Transylvania (7.1)

From a box-office standpoint, this is the biggest hit of Andy Samberg’s career. Released in 2012, Hotel Transylvania grossed $358.4 million and ultimately spawned a franchise that has seen several sequels also hit theaters and become financially successful.

This first installment centers on Count Dracula (Adam Sandler), who runs a hotel for monsters, as he deals with the intrusion of a human named Jonathan (Samberg) who ultimately falls for his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez). Along with raking in money, it was nominated for a Golden Globe.

7 Cuckoo (7.2)

Here is probably the least known entry on this list. Airing on BBC Three, this British sitcom premiered in 2012 and ran until 2019 for 33 total episodes. Samberg starred early on as Dale Ashbrick Sr./Cuckoo before becoming a guest star in the second series.

Cuckoo is a slacker with big ideas and it drives his parents crazy. When Samberg was announced to not return for later episodes, Taylor Lautner took over as Cuckoo’s long-lost lovechild Dale. The show has been nominated for several major awards, including a BAFTA.

6 Brigsby Bear (7.3)

The Sundance Film Festival has been quite good to Andy Samberg’s career. One of the times was in 2017, which saw the premiere of Brigsby Bear, a film that was actually produced by The Lonely Island. It features one of the most unique premises in recent memory.

The tale follows James (Kyle Mooney), who is raised and held in an underground bunker and obsessed with a kids’ show called Brigsby Bear. After being rescued, he finds that the series was created by the man who held him captive and he sets out to make a movie based on the show.

5 Palm Springs (7.4)

The most recent entry on this list and another film produced by The Lonely Island. Palm Springs also happened to have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it also sold to Hulu for a record number somewhere in the range of $22 million.

Samberg stars as Nyles alongside the talented Cristin Milioti (Sarah Wilder). Both are trapped in a time loop at a wedding that they visit and they ultimately attempt to escape it together. The film was met with high praise for the acting, comedy, and creative take on the time loop genre.

4 Saturday Night Live (8.1)

Of course, this is where the world was truly introduced to Andy Samberg. He joined a long list of incredibly talented performers to be part of the Saturday Night Live cast. The show has been on the air since 1975, spanning 46 seasons and nearly 900 episodes.

Samberg was part of the cast between 2005 and 2012, appearing in 139 episodes and also working as a writer. While there, he didn’t have any iconic characters like some other cast members but he was part of several of the most memorable sketches in history.

3 Human Giant (8.2)

In 2008, Andy Samberg had a handful of appearances on another sketch comedy show. This one was Human Giant, which premiered in 2007 and ran for two seasons. Although it didn’t last long, Human Giant did feature several great names in comedy.

Among them were Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, Jason Woliner, and Paul Scheer. For a total of four episodes, Samberg played Jonathan. Other guest stars in history include John Krasinski, Michael Cera, Bob Odenkirk, Bill Hader, Tegan and Sara, and more.

2 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (8.4)

There are countless shows out there about police officers but none can probably top Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Premiering in 2013, the series centers on the cops at the 99th Precinct, led by immature detective Jake Peralta (Samberg) and stern captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher).

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has a remarkable ensemble cast including Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, and Terry Crews. The show scored a Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series thanks to how it portrays LGBTQ+ characters. It was canceled by FOX but picked up by NBC and is set to air its eighth season.

1 The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (8.5)

It might come as a surprise that this is the highest-rated piece of content Andy Samberg has starred in. The Netflix fantasy series works as a prequel to the 1982 film The Dark Crystal. It follows the quest of three Gelflings as they attempt to unite the Gelfling clans.

Though it was met with high praise, it only lasted a single season. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance featured the voice talents of Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nathalie Emmanuel, and more. Samberg voiced The Heretic in four of the ten episodes.

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