Comedian Bo Burnham Is Foraying Into Dramatic Television, and We're Here for It
Updated March 25 2021, 7:01 p.m. ET
HBO has announced a new Adam McKay series about the Los Angeles Lakers, and comedian Bo Burnham has been tapped to play Larry Bird. Bo has been around Hollywood and the film industry for quite some time now, but he has yet to break into a starring television role (aside from his go at mockumentary TV with Zack Stone Is Gonna Be Famous).
Bo Burnham, who is now just 30 years old, has been rising in popularity since he was sharing comedic videos to YouTube when he was only 15. Now, he seems to have moved on from his musical comedy YouTube roots, but what does that mean for his net worth?
Bo Burnham reportedly has a net worth of $5 million.
Bo Burnham’s journey began as a YouTube star making musical comedy at the height of the video platform's early days. His most famous video, i’m bo yo, has almost 32 million views since it was posted in 2008. He was a musical comedy machine in the late 2000s, posting at least 15 viral videos, which is how he began accumulating his wealth.
From there, Bo was able to kickstart his standup comedy career. His first special aired on Comedy Central Presents back in 2009 when Bo was only 19 years old. His most recent special and tour, Make Happy, is currently streaming on Netflix, alongside its predecessor, what. Both of Bo’s Netflix specials are extremely provocative, using comedy to mock comedy, his fans, and the media, in a way that references George Carlin’s philosophically comedic legacy.
More recently, Bo Burnham has excelled in the film industry, where he’s added to his net worth.
Although Bo’s foray into television with Zack Stone Is Gonna Be Famous didn’t go as well as we all would have hoped, which many critics believe is due to it being on the wrong network (Bo was mocking MTV audiences in an MTV show), he was still able to break into the film industry big time.
Bo worked closely with Judd Apatow on Funny People and appeared in the movie in a short scene of the movie-within-the-movie, Yo Teach! However, in an interview with Pete Holmes on the You Made It Weird podcast, Bo talked about how he likes to leave old projects behind. He has no regrets, but wants to focus on what he’s doing now, which could change drastically from what he did in 2008.
After releasing a book of poetry, Egghead, in 2013, Bo made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film Eighth Grade in 2018, for which he also wrote the screenplay. As opposed to Bo’s past projects, this was a much more serious film, which might have built the bridge for Bo to work on more dramatic projects.
Bo Burnham’s net worth is only expected to grow from here.
Most recently, Bo was recognized for his performance in Promising Young Woman, in which he starred opposite Carey Mulligan. He plays the nice romantic interest, and it’s incredibly refreshing to see 6’5” comedically awkward and charming Bo as a romantic lead, especially in the scene where he’s dancing to a Paris Hilton song at the convenience store.
With the announcement that he will be in an HBO series as one of the leads, Bo Burnham’s career is only going upwards. He started off doing what inspired him, and that has opened the doors for him to do more of what he wants to do today.