Chris Witaske
American actor (born 1983)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Witaske is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Chris Czajkowski in the Netflix romantic comedy Love, and Pete in the Emmy Awards-winning FX on Hulu comedy series The Bear.
Chris Witaske | |
|---|---|
| Born | St. Charles, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2014–present |
Life and career
Witaske was born in St. Charles, Illinois.[1] He began taking classes at Second City in Chicago as a teenager and also performed as a birthday party magician before focusing mainly on comedy and acting. Witaske attended St. Charles High School and after graduation, he commenced his studies at the University of Iowa where he majored in Theater Arts.[2] He then moved to Chicago and worked at comedy venues including the Second City, iO, and Annoyance Theaters before moving to Los Angeles.[3][4][5] In 2013, he and his Second City castmates made an appearance on stage at a Phish concert at FirstMerit Bank Pavilion.[6][7]
In 2014, Witaske made his television acting debut in the Fox comedy-drama series New Girl. Following on from his first role, Witaske won other roles on a variety of TV shows and films including The Comeback, Teachers, Drunk History, Lady Bird, Unicorn Store, What Men Want, Arrested Development, Weird City, The Wrong Missy, and The Bear. He plays Pete, a wholesome Midwestern lawyer and Natalie's husband, on The Bear.[8]
In 2016, Witaske was cast as Chris Czajkowski in the Netflix romantic comedy Love[9] and was promoted to a series regular role the following year.[10]
In July 2021, it was announced that Netflix had greenlit the adult animated series Chicago Party Aunt, created by Witaske with Jon Barinholtz and Katie Rich and based on the Twitter account Witaske created of the same name.[11] The series started airing on September 21, 2021.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Lady Bird | James | |
| Unicorn Store | Matt | ||
| 2019 | What Men Want | Eddie | |
| 2020 | The Wrong Missy | Rich | |
| 2022 | The Bubble | Josh | |
| 2024 | Omni Loop | Morris | |
| 2025 | Holland | Holland cop |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | New Girl | Bradley | Episode: "Dice" |
| The Comeback | Kevin | Episode: "Valerie Gets What She Really Wants" | |
| 2015 | W/ Bob & David | Salesman | Episode: "1.04" |
| 2016–2018 | Love | Chris Czajkowski | 17 episodes Recurring (season 1–2); Main (season 3) |
| 2017 | Drunk History | Alexander Hamilton | Episode: "Drunk History Christmas Special" |
| Teachers | Mr. Schmidt | Episode: "Passive Eggressive" | |
| 2018 | Arrested Development | Instructor | Episode: "Sinking Feelings" |
| Alone Together | Jason | Episode: "Crypto" | |
| 2019 | Fresh Off the Boat | Ken | Episode: "Just the Two of Us" |
| Weird City | Booj | Episode: "The One" | |
| Sunnyside | Tanner | Episode: "Skirt-Skirt!" | |
| 2021 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Deke | Episode: "Igor, Gregor, & Timor" |
| 2021–2022 | Chicago Party Aunt | Kurt (voice) | Also series co-creator |
| 2022–present | The Bear | Pete | 7 episodes |
| 2022–2024 | Is It Cake? | Himself / Judge | 4 episodes |
| 2026 | Free Bert | Landon Vanderthal | 6 episodes |