Kristen Wiig's Biggest Movie Is This $1 Billion Blockbuster

Kristen Wiig has scaled the heights of Hollywood. From her big break on "Saturday Night Live" to co-writing the comedy classic "Bridesmaids" to executive producing the period dramedy "Palm Royale," Wiig has done it all. But you may not be aware of her extensive voice work for animated movies. In fact, her credits include everything from "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" to "How to Train Your Dragon" to "Sausage Party." But it would be the "Despicable Me" franchise that gave Wiig her first, and so far only, $1 billion blockbuster with 2017's "Despicable Me 3."

Wiig has been with "Despicable Me" since its beginnings in 2010. In the first movie she played Miss Hattie, the, well, despicable orphanage owner where the star of the franchise, Gru (Steve Carell), meets Agnes (Elsie Fisher), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Margo (Miranda Cosgrove). However, by "Despicable Me 2," Wiig was upgraded to co-star as Lucy Wilde, an operative of the Anti-Villain League and, by the end of the movie, Gru's new wife. She's continued to voice Lucy in "Despicable Me 3," where she's trying to navigate how to co-parent three preteen girls, and in "Despicable Me 4," where she becomes the mother of a new baby, Gru Jr. 

As the title suggests, "Despicable Me" is about the despicable Gru, a wicked mastermind competing for the label of best villain against similar wrongdoers. Determined to win the title, he attempts to steal the moon with the help of his mischievous yellow henchmen, the Minions. In preparing for the heist, he adopts Margo, Edith, and Agnes, to get close to his rival Vector (Jason Segel). By the end, however, Gru goes good and takes in the girls as his daughters.

The sequels follow Gru as he attempts to stay on the right side of the law while flirting with being bad. In "Despicable Me 2," he meets Kristen Wiig's Lucy, and they fall in love while trying to figure out who has a chemical that can turn otherwise docile creatures into killing machines. The two get married in "Despicable Me 3," but not long after, Gru reconnects with his long-lost twin brother, Dru (also Steve Carell). Despite making a living off pig farming, Dru yearns to be a villain like his sibling, which Gru is all too happy to help with. Meanwhile, Lucy earns Margo's devotion by shielding her from a boy's affections.

In the latest installment, "Despicable Me 4," the family must go into hiding when Gru botches the capture of a rival from his old villain school. 

While "Despicable Me 3" is Kristen Wiig's most successful film, with "Despicable Me 2" and "4" not far behind, she's had plenty of other animated hits under her belt, most notably with the "How to Train Your Dragon" series. All three animated entries are among her 10 most successful films globally. The DreamWorks-produced trilogy sees Wiig play Ruffnut, the twin of Tuffnut (T.J. Miller in 1 and 2, Justin Rupple in 3), and one of the teenagers who, led by Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), learns to ride dragons instead of killing them. 

Among Wiig's successful live-action films, while "Bridesmaids" is up there with a $289.6 million worldwide gross, a very different movie ranks as her most successful live-action adventure to date: 2015's "The Martian" with $653.6 million. Although most associate the film with Matt Damon's Mark Watney struggling to survive while stranded on the Red Planet, Wiig was indeed featured as Annie Montrose. Annie, the Director of Media Relations at NASA, is tasked with keeping the world informed of the astronaut's status during his time on Mars — so, no pressure.

Wiig has had quite a bit of success in her over two decades in the business in live-action and animation, whether in supporting or starring roles, a streak that is sure to continue.