She’s a solo powerhouse, renowned for her knack in crafting captivating characters that bring laughter to life across stage, cinema, and TV screens.
Her career-defining moment arrived on a well-loved sketch comedy program, where she brought to life a character so memorable that it left everyone curious yet hesitant to inquire further.
The unexpected success of this sketch propelled it into a feature film centered around the same character.
Following this, the comedian graced major film productions, made a significant impact on popular television sitcoms, and launched a thriving two-woman touring show.
Even more than 30 years after her breakout role, she remains a dynamic force in entertainment, recently portraying a formidable mother in a Hulu series that concluded in 2021.
Have you figured out who she is?
She’s a one-woman act whose talent for creating charismatic characters has earned laughs on stage, film and television alike
Her most iconic role came on a famous sketch comedy show, where she portrayed an androgynous character that left the cast with a question no-one wanted to ask
The popularity of that skit exceeded expectations and led to a spin-off movie named after the character
It’s Julia Sweeney! Yes, Pat from Saturday Night Live.
At 66, comedienne JuliaSweeney was spotted on a rare Los Angeles outing, looking effortlessly stylish as she navigated aparking garage.
She wore a carefully coordinated gym ensemble, featuring gray-and-black capri leggings and a matching halter top, layered with a cream-colored zip-up jacket, a crisp white baseball cap and her signature wired glasses.
Completing the look, she strolled in black sneakers while carrying a pair of comfortable flip-flops.
Sweeney is best known for creating androgynous Pat on Saturday Night Live in the early 90’s and subsequently starring in a spin-off movie in 1994 called It’s Pat.
The skit’s theme song, opening with the unforgettable line, ‘What’s that? It’s Pat,’ became a pop-culture staple – though it later drew criticism for being problematic.
Julia Sweeney, 66, is best known for her SNL character Pat, the androgynous figure whose running gag had the cast nervously tiptoeing around the question of their gender
Sweeney was on SNL from 1990 to 1994 and starred alongside legends such as the late Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Rock, Al Franken and the late Chris Farley
Sweeney was seen in a car garage in Los Angeles in a carefully coordinated gym ensemble, featuring gray and black capri leggings and a matching halter top, paired with a cream-colored zip-up
For accessories, she wore black sneakers, prescription glasses and a white baseball cap while carrying a pair of comfortable flip-flops
In 2025, the character was reimagined in the documentary We Are Pat, transforming Pat from the butt of the joke into a fully realized non-binary identity.
Sweeney, who created the character, reflected on the journey, telling Entertainment Weekly she ‘acknowledged Pat’s history’ and her ‘own naivete,’ adding that the doc allowed her to feel proud of bringing the character to life decades earlier.
Her success on SNL didn’t stop when she left in 1994; she would go on to portray Raquel, the heiress to a San Fernando Valley junkyard, in Pulp Fiction, which premiered the same year she left the sketch show.
Sweeney’s former husband, Stephen Hibbert, also had a small role in the film as The Gimp, who appeared in one of the film’s most notorious scenes.
Sweeney’s big-screen credits include Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Coneheads, Vegas Vacation, Clockstoppers, Whatever It Takes and Stuart Little.
She later burst onto the sitcom scene, starring in George and Leo as Alice the nanny and Maybe It’s Me as Mary Stage.
Her success on SNL didn’t end when she left in 1994; that same year, she appeared in Pulp Fiction as Raquel, heiress to a San Fernando Valley junkyard
Sweeney in one of her most recent roles in the Hulu series, Shrill, playing the overbearing mother Vera Easton (right) – the show ended in 2021 after two seasons
Between 2009 and 2010, Sweeney hit the road with singer Jill Sobule in Jill and Julia, a lively two-woman show of songs, stories, and witty commentary.
A native of Spokane, Washington, Sweeney would again reference her time on SNL in the comedy series Work in Progress, where she played a leading role.
The Showtime series follows a middle-aged woman navigating depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, with a recurring focus on the complicated legacy of Pat, the character that made Sweeney famous.
The first season of the program, which consisted of nine episodes, debuted in December of 2019 and concluded during its second season in October 2021.
The program was met with widespread critical acclaim and currently holds a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The show was also put up for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2022.
Sweeney attended the ‘We Are Pat’ documentary premiere during the 2025 Tribeca Festival, which recontextualized Pat as a non-binary character rather than the butt of the joke
Sweeney adopted her daughter Mulan from China after being unable to have children after surviving cervical cancer. She married second husband Michael in 2008
During that same time, Sweeney starred as a reoccurring character on the Hulu series, Shrill, playing the overbearing mother, Vera Easton. The show came to an end in 2021.
Sweeney married Hibbert in 1989 but they divorced in 1994.
After a bad breakup stemming from the loss of her brother and her inability to have children due to cervical cancer, Sweeney made the arduous trip to China solo and adopted her daughter, Mulan.
Sweeney and Mulan, 25, a software engineer, welcomed her second husband Michael Blum into her home, and the couple married in 2008.
