Our 2022 Comedy Innovator, Maya Rudolph, one of "Saturday Night Live"’s most-beloved cast members, has defined her own niche in comedy: compassionate performances that are hilarious and grounded.⁠ ⁠ Audiences around the world want to watch her perform, and only the slightest twitch of her face begets giggles. She can impersonate an elusive chanteuse or an over-the-top Italian designer or make a phrase like “bubble bath” sound luxuriously burlesque. But years ago, when it came to public-facing parts of her job—interviews, talk shows, red carpets—she would find herself unable to be funny.⁠ ⁠ “It would always feel like someone was stealing my soul,” says Rudolph, 50, “That’s where, over the years, I created a persona to protect myself.”⁠ ⁠ Rudolph has a natural curiosity and playfulness that makes her characters feel sincere. That impulse toward empathy has informed her work in comedies like Bridesmaids and as one of "Saturday Night Live"’s most-beloved cast members for seven seasons. She won her second Emmy last year for an affable guest portrayal as Vice President Kamala Harris. Now a Hollywood fixture, Rudolph has become choosier about roles and collaborators, many of whom are friends. In the macabre 2018 Amazon drama Forever, she played a suburban wife alongside SNL alumnus Fred Armisen. In Nick Kroll’s adolescent Netflix series "Big Mouth," she voices the giddy Hormone Monstress, Connie. (Season 6 premiered in October.) In November, Rudolph stars opposite Amy Adams’s princess Giselle as the evil queen Malvina in the "Enchanted" sequel, "Disenchanted."⁠ ⁠ Rudolph’s sense of mirth works well for a Disney villain. “People just love Maya, and you need to love this villain,” says Adams. “She’s able to bring so much joy and energy to the set but also stay extraordinarily grounded in the truth of any moment, even when playing these larger-than-life comedic beasts.” Read more about our 2022 Comedy Innovator, at the link in bio. (🖊️: @clovito, 📷️: @gioncarlovalentine, styling: @ronbreezy, hair: @hairbyjohnd, makeup: @mollyrstern, manicurist: @thuybnguyen, production: @ctdinc, special projects: @specialprojectsmedia) #WSJInnovators