Nick Kroll is most interesting when inventing exaggerated comic characters and finding voices to sustain them. We rate that skill, though his supporting film appearances are not always a good reason to choose the film.
Fi1m perspective
Nick Kroll voices both Nick Birch and Maury the Hormone Monster in Big Mouth (2017–2025), among dozens of other characters. We like the commitment to finding so many different ways to be ridiculous. His route to that series runs through Rodney Ruxin in The League (2009–2015) and the sketch characters he created and played in Kroll Show (2013–2015). The character-making is what we would seek him out for; the supporting film work is less consistently rewarding.
In Garth Jennings’s Sing 2 (2021), he returns as the voice of Gunter, whom he also played in Sing (2016). The sequel makes decent family entertainment out of engaging voices and elaborate musical numbers, even when its crowded story asks too much of both. We enjoyed the musical numbers, then grew weary as the song snippets and lessons kept coming. That frustration matters when considering Kroll: a willing voice cast can only do so much when the film keeps stopping its performers to deliver another message. It is an acceptable family compromise, rather than the place to begin with his work.
Red One (2024), with Kroll as Ted, is a poorer use of an evening. Jake Kasdan makes the North Pole a security operation and Santa a hostage, but there is little enjoyment in the machinery assembled around that premise. J.K. Simmons supplies the warmth in a grey, joyless film, and there is no reason to pretend that Kroll’s presence rescues it. For anyone following him from his own programmes, this is a detour we would skip.
His recurring work with John Mulaney across sketch, stage and voice makes sense for a performer who enjoys developing comedy with others. Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett are his fellow creators on Big Mouth. The limitations are worth acknowledging: his arrogant figures can become familiar, while the bodily material in Little Big Boy (2022) can lose momentum. Start with Kroll Show if the character-making interests you; choose Sing 2 for an evening when everyone gets a vote.
Biography
Nick Kroll is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. He was born on 5 June 1978 in Rye, New York, and graduated from Georgetown University.
He is known for his role as Rodney Ruxin in the FX series The League (2009–2015) and for creating and starring in the Comedy Central series Kroll Show (2013–2015). Kroll co-created and stars in the Netflix animated series Big Mouth (2017–2025) and its spin-off Human Resources (2022–2023).
His film credits include voice roles in Sausage Party (2016), Sing (2016) and Sing 2 (2021), as well as appearances in Vacation (2015), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) and Red One (2024), in which he plays Ted.
