Ike Barinholtz

Ike Barinholtz (birthname: Isaac Barinholtz) is a veteran comic performer who has also received acclaim as a writer-director in film and TV. He developed his comedy chops with the improv company, Boom Chicago, which included the likes of Jordan Peele, Josh Meyers, and Nicole Parker. Barinholtz racked up considerable live and ensemble comedy credits, including performances with Chicago’s legendary Second City, the Annoyance Theatre, and the Improv Olympic. 

Like most comics, Ike Barinholtz’s first breaks were in TV—first with the cult hit Eastbound & Down (2012) and as writer/executive story editor/actor of the hit Mindy Kaling series, The Mindy Project (2012-2017)—followed by guest appearances on Derek Waters’ Drunk History (2013) and hit shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2019).

After a decade-plus in minor films, Barinholtz reached the Hollywood big leagues in 2014 in Neighbors (and its 2016 sequel, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) with Seth Rogen and Zak Efron; Sisters (2015) with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph; DC Comics’ Suicide Squad (2016); James Franco’s acclaimed The Disaster Artist (2017) in which he did a cameo as himself; David Ayers’ cop/sci-fi drama Bright (2017) with Will Smith; Late Night (2019) with Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling; Craig Zobel’s Blumhouse horror film, The Hunt (2020) with Hilary Swank and Emma Roberts.

Barinholtz returned to his comedy roots in the self-referential Nicolas Cage adventure-comedy, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022). Ike Barinholtz has written, directed, and starred in the 2018 social satire, The Oath, opposite Tiffany Haddish, Nora Dunn, and John Cho, and is the screenwriter of the action comedy, Central Intelligence (2016), starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. He has contributed his vocal talents to several animated features, most notably as Lex Luthor in Phil Lord’s and Christopher Miller’s The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and in The Angry Birds Movie (2016).