Noël Wells

Early life

Wells was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her father is a Tunisian immigrant, and her mother is of half Mexican descent. She attended Memorial High School in Victoria, Texas, where she was active in speech and debate and graduated as salutatorian. She graduated from University of Texas at Austin in 2010 with degrees in Plan II Honors and Radio-Television-Film. While attending college, she was a cast member of Esther’s Follies, Austin’s long-running musical satire show, where she performed in sketches and as a magician's assistant. Before becoming an actress, she worked as an editor and did motion graphics. She says her parents named her Noël because she was born two days before Christmas.

Career

In 2010, Wells moved to Los Angeles and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre with the sketch team "New Money". She has appeared in numerous Cracked.com and CollegeHumor videos, and is also known for her own sketch and parody videos which have over 15 million views on YouTube.

In 2013, Wells joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during its 39th season as a featured player along with fellow Upright Citizens Brigade performers John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, and Beck Bennett, as well as writer Mike O'Brien and stand-up Brooks Wheelan. On July 15, 2014, it was announced that Wells would not be returning for a second season.

Wells has made guest appearances on television programs such as The Aquabats! Super Show! and Comedy Bang! Bang!, as well as doing recurring voice work on Hulu's The Awesomes and Disney XD's Wander Over Yonder. In 2013, Wells starred in the independent film Forev which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

In 2015, she co-starred on the critically acclaimed Netflix comedy Master of None, created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang. Wells played Rachel, the love-interest of Ansari's character. Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall said the "Dev/Rachel story is so smartly developed, with such strong chemistry between Ansari and Wells”, while Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson said her portrayal of Rachel was a “star-making...performance. it’s subtle, but not minimalist or deadpan”. All 10 episodes premiered on November 6, 2015 and it won the 2016 Critics' Choice Award for Best Comedy.

As of August 2015, Wells and partner Flint Wainess are developing a sitcom pilot for Comedy Central titled Bad Couple, which Wells would star in if ordered to series. Wells and Wainess are also consulting writers on the upcoming Netflix animated children's series Green Eggs and Ham, based on the popular Dr. Seuss book.

Personal life

Wells is an avid photographer and has had her photography featured in exhibitions and the literary magazine Oxford American. She has lived in Los Angeles and New York.