Emily Lynne Berthold may be best known as Kate McKinnon’s younger sister, but there’s considerably more to her career than that family connection. She has carved out her own place in comedy and entertainment as an actress, writer, comedian, and voice performer, working across television, animation, digital comedy, and scripted audio.
Her professional relationship with Kate McKinnon is one of the most interesting parts of her story. The sisters have worked together on several projects, including the 2015 digital comedy series Notary Publix and the Audible Original Heads Will Roll. Their creative partnership has continued into 2026 with Heads Will Roll: Heir Apparent, bringing Emily back alongside her sister for another chapter of their fantasy-comedy series.
For anyone searching for Emily Lynne Berthold, it’s worth looking beyond the familiar description of her as Kate McKinnon’s sister. Emily has developed a varied entertainment career of her own, while her long-running collaboration with Kate has become a distinctive part of that journey.
Emily Lynne Berthold Quick Bio Information
Full Name: Emily Lynne Berthold
Professional Name: Emily Lynne
Profession: Comedian, Actress, Writer, And Voice Performer
Known For: Comedy, Acting, Voice Work, And Scripted Audio
Famous Family Connection: Kate McKinnon’s Younger Sister
Birthday: November 18 Has Been Reported In Earlier Coverage; Her Birth Year Is Not Reliably Established
Comedy Project: Notary Publix
Notary Publix Release: 2015
Audio Series: Heads Will Roll
Heads Will Roll Creators: Emily Lynne And Kate McKinnon
Heads Will Roll Character: JoJo
Kate McKinnon’s Character: Queen Mortuana
Television Credit: Friends From College
Animation Credit: Nature Cat
Additional Animation Credit: Our Cartoon President
Sketch Comedy Credit: The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show
2026 Project: Heads Will Roll: Heir Apparent
Creative Partner: Kate McKinnon
Publicly Reported Partner: Matt Leary
Known Creative Areas: Comedy, Acting, Writing, Voice Performance, And Audio Storytelling
Who Is Emily Lynne Berthold?
Emily Lynne Berthold is an American comedian, actress, writer, and voice performer. In professional entertainment credits, she is generally listed as Emily Lynne. She is also known as Kate McKinnon’s younger sister.
Her résumé includes work in television, animation, sketch comedy, and scripted audio. Among her documented credits are Our Cartoon President, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, Friends from College, and Nature Cat. Her work has also included writing and creating comedy, particularly through her collaborations with Kate.
What makes Emily’s career stand out is its variety. She hasn’t confined herself to a single branch of entertainment. Instead, she has moved between on-screen acting, voice work, writing, and comedy, often taking on character-driven roles.
That versatility has allowed her to build a career that exists alongside Kate’s rather than simply underneath it. While Kate’s fame naturally brings attention to Emily, Emily has her own collection of professional credits and creative projects.
Emily Lynne Berthold’s Early Life And Family
Compared with her professional career, relatively little verified information is publicly available about Emily Lynne Berthold’s early life. What is clear is her family connection to Kate McKinnon and the close relationship the sisters have maintained over the years.
That distinction matters when looking at Emily’s biography. A number of online profiles repeat personal details about her, but not all of those claims are supported by reliable sources. Her professional credits, on the other hand, are much easier to establish.
Emily and Kate’s shared sense of humor eventually became more than a family trait. It developed into a creative connection that would lead to several professional collaborations. Over the years, the sisters have appeared together publicly and created comedy projects together.
Their working relationship also suggests that the two have been able to turn their personal chemistry into something that works on screen and in audio. That combination has become one of the defining features of Emily’s public career.
Emily Lynne Berthold’s Comedy Career
Comedy sits at the center of Emily Lynne Berthold’s professional life. Her work has covered sketch comedy, character acting, television, voice performance, writing, and scripted audio.
Her documented credits include Our Cartoon President, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, Friends from College, and Nature Cat, along with other productions. She has also received writing and creator credits, showing that her contribution to comedy isn’t limited to performing someone else’s material.
That broader creative experience is particularly noticeable in her character work. Emily has experience performing through both traditional on-camera acting and voice-based roles, giving her more than one way to approach comedy.
Her work in audio is another important part of that career. Without costumes, sets, or facial expressions to carry a scene, audio performers have to create personality through voice, rhythm, timing, and delivery. Emily’s recurring voice work shows how comfortably she has adapted to that format.
Emily Lynne Berthold And Kate McKinnon’s Creative Partnership
Emily and Kate’s professional relationship goes well beyond the occasional appearance of one famous sibling in the other’s project. They’ve actually created and performed comedy together.
The sisters share an instinct for character-based humor, and their collaborations give them plenty of room to use that chemistry. Their projects have ranged from short-form digital comedy to elaborate scripted audio.
Their partnership has also lasted for years. What began with projects such as Notary Publix eventually developed into Heads Will Roll, a much larger fantasy-comedy production.
That longevity makes their collaboration particularly notable. Emily isn’t simply associated with Kate because they happen to be sisters. They’ve repeatedly chosen to work together as writers, creators, and performers.
Notary Publix: The Sisters’ Early Comedy Collaboration
One of the earliest major examples of Emily Lynne Berthold and Kate McKinnon working together professionally was Notary Publix, a short-form comedy series released in 2015.
The series centered on the Fra Diavolo sisters, played by Emily and Kate, who worked as notaries. The comedy also featured Kate’s Saturday Night Live colleague Aidy Bryant as their rival, Erin Oatmeal.
The project is significant in Emily’s career because it placed her directly alongside Kate as a central performer. She wasn’t simply appearing because of their family relationship. She was part of the show’s core comedy and helped bring the characters to life.
Notary Publix also provided an early look at the kind of comedy the sisters could create together. Its short-form format allowed them to focus on exaggerated characters, quick exchanges, and the playful dynamic that would later become important to their audio work.
Emily Lynne Berthold’s Television And Animation Work
Emily’s résumé extends well beyond the projects she has created with Kate. Her documented television work includes an appearance on Friends from College, as well as work connected with Our Cartoon President and The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show.
Animation has also become a recurring part of her career. Her voice credits include Nature Cat, and she has also appeared in animated productions such as Donkey Hodie and Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls.
Voice acting can be a particularly demanding form of comedy. Performers often have to communicate a character’s personality without the benefit of facial expressions or physical movement. Timing and vocal delivery become central to making a character work.
For Emily, that format fits naturally with her comedy background. Her ability to create distinct characters through her voice has become one of the more consistent threads running through her professional work.
Heads Will Roll: Emily Lynne As JoJo
Emily’s collaboration with Kate reached another level with Heads Will Roll, the scripted comedy audio series the sisters created together.
The story centers on Queen Mortuana, voiced by Kate McKinnon, and her raven companion JoJo, played by Emily Lynne. The series blends fantasy with broad comedy, creating a deliberately exaggerated world filled with unusual characters and situations.
Emily’s role as JoJo gives her a strong opportunity to showcase her voice performance. Since listeners experience the story primarily through sound, the humor depends heavily on delivery, timing, personality, and character interaction.
The series also illustrates how naturally Emily and Kate work together. They aren’t simply sharing a cast. They’re part of the creative team responsible for building the world and characters.
Heads Will Roll: Heir Apparent In 2026
Emily Lynne Berthold’s work with Kate McKinnon has continued well beyond the original Heads Will Roll series.
Audible announced in April 2026 that the sisters would return for Heads Will Roll: Heir Apparent, the second season of their audio comedy. The new season was released on June 25, 2026.
Emily returned as JoJo, while Kate once again voiced Queen Mortuana. The new season also expanded the cast with performers including Megan Mullally, Richard Kind, Laurie Metcalf, Sam Richardson, D’Arcy Carden, Carrie Coon, Patti LuPone, Jimmy Fallon, and Jenifer Lewis.
The 2026 return is an important update for anyone reading older profiles of Emily. Earlier articles naturally focused on her work from the mid-2010s and the original Heads Will Roll. Her return as JoJo shows that the collaboration remains an active part of her career.
Emily Lynne Berthold’s Voice And Character Work
Voice performance has become one of the clearest themes in Emily’s résumé. Her animation credits and audio work show that she has developed experience creating characters primarily through her voice.
JoJo is perhaps the clearest example. The character exists within a fantasy world created by Emily and Kate, and Emily has to establish JoJo’s personality through dialogue and vocal performance.
Her animation work follows a similar principle. A successful animated character needs a distinctive voice and delivery that can communicate emotion, humor, and personality without relying on conventional on-camera acting.
This part of Emily’s career is easy to overlook when she is introduced primarily through her connection to Kate McKinnon. Yet her voice work represents a meaningful part of her own professional identity.
Who Is Emily Lynne Berthold’s Boyfriend, Matt Leary?
Earlier reports identified Matt Leary as Emily Lynne Berthold’s boyfriend and described him as a creative professional who works as a designer and illustrator.
Public posts have shown the two sharing personal moments, while Matt has also publicly celebrated Emily. Earlier coverage included a birthday message in which he expressed his affection for her.
Emily has occasionally used humor when discussing their relationship online, which fits naturally with the comedic personality she presents publicly.
Still, relationship information deserves some caution. Social-media posts provide only a snapshot of someone’s personal life, and circumstances can change. Older reports shouldn’t automatically be treated as confirmation of a person’s current relationship status.
For that reason, it’s most accurate to describe Matt Leary as a person who has been publicly identified as Emily’s partner in earlier coverage, without making unsupported claims about their current private life.
Emily Lynne Berthold And Kate McKinnon’s Sisterly Bond
Emily and Kate’s relationship can be seen in both their professional collaborations and the more personal moments Emily has shared publicly.
Over the years, Emily has posted childhood photographs of the sisters and added humorous captions about their younger years. Some of those posts gently teased Kate, while others simply celebrated their relationship as siblings.
The humor in those posts feels consistent with the sisters’ professional work. Their public interactions often have the same playful quality that comes through in their comedy projects.
Their ability to keep working together is also telling. The sisters have moved from childhood memories to professionally creating characters, writing comedy, and performing together. Their family relationship has clearly become an important source of creative chemistry.
Emily Lynne Berthold’s Online Presence
Emily has also maintained an online presence through social media and video content. Earlier coverage highlighted her Instagram activity, comedy posts, photographs with Kate, and a YouTube channel featuring humorous clips.
Some older articles reported specific numbers for her Instagram followers, posts, and YouTube subscribers. Those figures shouldn’t be presented as current in 2026 because social-media statistics can change considerably over time.
What remains relevant is the role online platforms have played in Emily’s creative presence. They have given her a place to share humor, personal moments, and material outside her formal television and audio credits.
Her online work complements her professional résumé rather than replacing it. The more substantial picture comes from looking at both her public posts and her documented entertainment credits.
Emily Lynne Berthold’s Personal Life And Public Privacy
There is understandable curiosity about Emily’s personal life because of her connection to Kate McKinnon. However, the available information about her career is much stronger than the information available about some private aspects of her life.
Her relationship with Kate is well documented through their joint projects. Earlier reporting has also discussed her relationship with Matt Leary. Beyond those areas, some online sources make additional claims about her age, education, residence, marriage, or other personal circumstances that aren’t consistently supported by authoritative sources.
A reliable biography should make that distinction clear. Repeating an uncertain claim simply because it appears on multiple websites doesn’t make the claim verified.
In Emily’s case, the strongest profile is one that focuses on her documented work while treating private or inconsistently sourced details with appropriate caution.
Why Emily Lynne Berthold Has A Career Of Her Own
It’s natural for Emily Lynne Berthold to be introduced through Kate McKinnon. Kate is a major name in comedy, and their sisterly relationship is an obvious point of interest. But stopping there would overlook much of Emily’s professional work.
Emily has built credits in television, animation, sketch comedy, writing, and scripted audio. Her documented résumé includes Our Cartoon President, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, Friends from College, and Nature Cat, among other projects.
Her collaborations with Kate are an important part of that résumé, but they’re not the whole story. Emily has also developed experience in areas where her own skills are particularly visible, especially character acting and voice performance.
That broader career makes her story more interesting. She isn’t simply a celebrity sibling who occasionally appears alongside a famous family member. She’s a working creative professional whose career has grown through several forms of comedy and performance.
Final Thoughts On Emily Lynne Berthold
Emily Lynne Berthold has developed a career that combines comedy, acting, writing, voice performance, and creative collaboration. Her relationship with Kate McKinnon has naturally attracted attention, but her own professional credits give readers a fuller picture of who she is.
The sisters’ collaboration began with projects such as Notary Publix and later expanded into Heads Will Roll, where Emily plays JoJo alongside Kate’s Queen Mortuana. In 2026, they returned with Heads Will Roll: Heir Apparent, showing that their creative partnership is still active.
Emily’s independent work matters just as much. Her credits in television and animation demonstrate that she has experience across several areas of entertainment, while her voice work has become an especially recognizable part of her résumé.
For readers discovering Emily Lynne Berthold, Kate McKinnon may be the connection that first sparks curiosity. But Emily’s own body of work tells a more complete story: she’s a versatile performer and creator who has developed a career of her own while maintaining one of her industry’s more unusual creative partnerships with her sister.
FAQs About Emily Lynne Berthold
Who Is Emily Lynne Berthold?
Emily Lynne Berthold is a comedian, actress, writer, and voice performer. She is also Kate McKinnon’s younger sister and has worked across television, animation, digital comedy, and scripted audio.
Is Emily Lynne Berthold Kate McKinnon’s Sister?
Yes. Emily Lynne is Kate McKinnon’s younger sister. The two have also worked together professionally on several comedy projects, including Notary Publix and Heads Will Roll.
What Is Emily Lynne Berthold Known For?
Emily is known for her comedy and character-based performance. Her documented work includes Notary Publix, Heads Will Roll, Our Cartoon President, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, Friends from College, and Nature Cat.
What Is Notary Publix?
Notary Publix is a short-form comedy series released in 2015. Emily Lynne and Kate McKinnon played sisters who worked as notaries, while Aidy Bryant appeared as their rival. The project was one of the sisters’ early professional comedy collaborations.
What Role Does Emily Lynne Play In Heads Will Roll?
Emily Lynne plays JoJo, the raven companion of Queen Mortuana, the character voiced by Kate McKinnon. Emily and Kate are also credited as creators of the series.
Is Heads Will Roll Returning In 2026?
Yes. Heads Will Roll: Heir Apparent was released on June 25, 2026. Emily returned as JoJo, while Kate returned as Queen Mortuana. The second season also features a large ensemble cast of established actors and comedians.
Has Emily Lynne Berthold Worked In Animation?
Yes. Emily’s documented voice work includes Nature Cat, and she has also appeared in animated productions including Our Cartoon President and Donkey Hodie.
Does Emily Lynne Berthold Have A Career Outside Her Sister’s Projects?
Yes. Although her collaborations with Kate are a major part of her career, Emily has her own acting, writing, and voice credits. Her work across television, animation, sketch comedy, and audio demonstrates a professional career that extends beyond projects involving her sister.
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