Who Is Kate McKinnon's Sister? Here's Everything We Know About Comedian Emily Lynne Berthold
Published Oct. 8 2021, 5:32 p.m. ET
The cast members of Saturday Night Live are all supremely talented, and naturally, that includes comedian Kate McKinnon. Since joining the sketch series in 2012, she's treated audiences to some hilarious impressions of famous figures like Hillary Clinton, Justin Bieber, and Martha Stewart.
As it turns out, comedy runs in the family. Kate's younger sister is also in the business. If you haven't heard of her, it's time to get her on your radar. Here's everything we know about Kate's sister, Emily Lynne Berthold.
Kate McKinnon's sister, Emily Lynne Berthold, is an actress, writer, and comedian.
Kate's sister is Emily Lynne Berthold. (Kate's last name is also Berthold, but she adopted "McKinnon" as her career took off). The girls were born and raised in Sea Cliff, N.Y.
According to IMDb, Emily is an actress and writer, known for her work on Our Cartoon President (2018), The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show (2020), and Friends from College (2017).
She also does stand-up comedy and has a style very similar to Kate's. "I honestly thought it was Kate when she started talking," one user wrote in the comments of a YouTube video of Emily's act.
While Emily has never been on SNL, she and Kate have always been a comedy dream team. In 2015, they released Notary Publix, a six-episode web series for Comedy Central, in which they starred as two actresses in a show-within-a-show about sister notaries.
In 2021, they teamed up again to play sisters in a lighthearted commercial for Verizon.
The sister's mutual love of comedy developed at a young age. In a joint interview with Refinery 29, they revealed that they used to make up characters and put on mock skits in their family home. "There were a lot of videos made," Emily said.
Kate added that “there was a lot of sketch comedy in the house" and that their parents were SNL fans. "Our mom and dad are both very funny. And, they always encouraged us to look at things in a funny way," she said.
In 2017, when Kate won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series, she gave her family a huge shoutout in her acceptance speech. "On a personal note, thank you to my beautiful and hilarious mother and sister and to my father, who’s not with us anymore, but he made me start watching SNL when I was 12, so thank you, and I miss you pop," she said.
Kate and Emily's dad, Michael Thomas Berthold, died of brain cancer when Kate was 18.
Kate McKinnon waited three years to tell her sister she was gay.
In an interview with Columbia College, where Kate graduated from in 2006, she revealed that she knew she was gay by her freshman year of high school. However, no one at her school was out at the time.
At age 15, she privately told her parents the news. She then waited three years before telling her sister and letting the word out at school. ”I didn’t want people to harass her," she explained. Of course, Emily was very accepting of Kate's sexuality. Kate shared that Emily "adopted this as her cause too, even though she’s not gay."
Kate McKinnon is all over her sister's Instagram.
While Kate may not be on Instagram, Emily's handle is @phlegmilylynne. You can check out her profile where she occasionally shares photos of her and Kate, like this adorable throwback of them as kids. According to Emily's Instagram, she's in a relationship with artist Matt Leary. She also frequently shares photos of her cat as well as foodie pics.