Will Forte was born in Alameda County, California, and after graduating from UCLA with a degree in History, Forte had a brief career at a brokerage house before deciding to try comedy. Although he rarely performed stand-up, he joined the world-famous Groundlings and was hired as a writer for the series “The Jenny McCarthy Show,” “The Army Show,” and “The David Letterman Show.” Forte wrote the screenplay for The Brothers Solomon,and had the leading role of childlike "Dean Solomon," and played the title role and co-wrote the SNL film “MacGruber.”

Will Forte has moved into dramatic and straight roles on a television pilot titled “Rebounding.” Forte was cast in the Alexander Payne film “Nebraska,” and he starred as National Lampoon co-creator Douglas Kenney in the biographical film “A Futile and Stupid Gesture.”