Alia Shawkat

Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress, singer and painter. She is known for her roles in The Old Man, State of Grace, Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom Arrested Development (2003–2006; 2013–2019), Dory Sief in the TBS and HBO Max comedy series Search Party (2016–2022) and Gertie Michaels in the 2015 horror-comedy film The Final Girls. She has also guest starred as Frances Cleveland, Virginia Hall, and Alexander Hamilton on Comedy Central's Drunk History. Early life Shawkat was born in Riverside, California, to Dina Shawkat (née Burke) and strip club owner Tony Shawkat. She grew up in Palm Springs. She has two brothers. Her father is from Baghdad, Iraq, and her mother is of Norwegian, Irish, and Italian descent. Her maternal grandfather was actor Paul Burke. Career From 2001 to 2004, Shawkat played Hannah in State of Grace. As Maeby Fünke, Shawkat was a regular cast member of Arrested Development for the entire run of the show from 2003 to 2019. The series received nearly universally positive reviews, with Shawkat's performance occasionally singled out for praise. Pop-culture commentator Brian M. Palmer remarked that she was "one of the brightest lights on a show populated solely by bright lights", and Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic described her as "one funny young lady." In an interview with The A.V. Club in 2010, Shawkat remarked that many of her "formative moments" as an actress took place on the Arrested Development set: " [Show creator] Mitch Hurwitz was like a father figure to me. In a way, it was great to be around [the cast], because I feel that my understanding of comedy was able to grow really well during that time." In 2009, Shawkat appeared in Whip It co-star Har Mar Superstar's music video for "Tall Boy", which also featured Eva Mendes and Eric Wareheim. In October 2009, it was announced that Shawkat, Har Mar, and Whip It co-star Elliot Page would produce and write a show for HBO called Stitch N' Bitch. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show "follows two painfully cool hipsters as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists—of any kind."