Alia Shawkat Biography

Alia Martine Shawkat (  ; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Maeby Fünke in the Fox television series Arrested Development.

Personal life

Shawkat was born in Riverside, California to Dina (née Burke) and actor Tony Shawkat. She grew up in nearby Palm Springs. She has two brothers. The late actor Paul Burke was her maternal grandfather. She is of Iraqi descent on her father's side and Irish and Italian descent on her mother's side.

When she is not working (acting), she likes to paint; she has participated in gallery shows in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Paris. She also likes to make music and sing in jazz bars.

Career

As Maeby Fünke, Shawkat was a regular cast member of Arrested Development for the entire run of the show from 2003 to 2006. The series received nearly universally positive reviews, with Shawkat's performance occasionally singled out for praise. Pop-culture commentator Brian M. Palmer remarked that she was "one of the brightest lights on a show populated solely by bright lights," and Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic described her as "one funny young lady." In an interview with The A.V. Club in 2010, Shawkat remarked that many of her "formative moments" as an actress took place on the Arrested Development set: " [Show creator] Mitch Hurwitz was like a father figure to me. In a way, it was great to be around [the cast], because I feel that my understanding of comedy was able to grow really well during that time."

In 2009, Shawkat appeared in Whip It co-star Har Mar Superstar's music video for "Tall Boy", which also featured Eva Mendes and Eric Wareheim. In October 2009, it was announced that Shawkat, Har Mar, and fellow Whip It co-star Page would produce and write a show for HBO called Stitch N' Bitch. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show "follows two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists--of any kind."

Shawkat, along with Arrested Development co-star Mae Whitman, sang guest vocals on a number of tracks from indie-punk band Fake Problems' 2010 album Real Ghosts Caught on Tape.

Six years after the series was canceled by Fox, filming for a revived fourth season of Arrested Development began on August 7, 2012 and Shawkat reprised her role as Maeby Fünke. The season consists of 15 new episodes which debuted at the same time on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Each episode focuses on one particular character, with Shawkat's Maeby, now a high school senior, featured in episode 12, "Señoritis" and appearing in several other episodes of the season.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	JAG	Young Mac	1 Episode
	Three Kings	Amir's Daughter
2000	'	Dee	TV film
2002	State of Grace	Young Hannah Rayburn	Series regular
	Presidio Med	Tara Wegman	1 Episode
2003	Without a Trace	Siobhan Arintero	1 Episode
	Boomtown	Denise Stein	1 Episode
2003-2006	Arrested Development	Mae "Maeby" Fünke	Series regular (53 Episodes)
2005	Rebound	Amy
	Queen of Cactus Cove	Billie
	Last Call with Carson Daly	Herself	1 Episode
	Blow Out	Herself	1 Episode
2006	Veronica Mars	Stacy Wells	1 Episode
	Not Like Everyone Else	Brandi Blackbear	TV Film
	Deck the Halls	Madison Finch
2007	'	Screenwriting Manicurist	2 Episodes
2008	'	Charlotte	TV Film
	Bart Got a Room	Camille
	Prom Wars	Diana Riggs
	'	Robin	3 Episodes
2009	Amreeka	Salma
	Whip It	Pash
	Arrested Development Documentary Project	Herself
	Made in Hollywood	Herself	1 Episode
	Sundance Directors Lab	Herself	1 Episode
2010	'	Robin
	The League	April	1 Episode
	'	Seven	Post-production
2011	Cedar Rapids	Bree
	'	Vanessa
	"Our Deal"		Best Coast music video
2012	Damsels in Distress	Madge
	That's What She Said	Clementine
	Ruby Sparks	Mabel
2013	The To Do List	Fiona
	Night Moves	Post-production
	Arrested Development	Mae "Maeby" Fünke	13 Episodes
	The Late Late Show	Herself	1 Episode
	Life After Beth	Roz
	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Gail	1 Episode