Janet Varney

Early life

Varney was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She graduated as salutatorian from Rincon High School in 1993 and is an alumna of San Francisco State University, where she majored in theater, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1997. She later pursued a career in interior design before eventually finding her way back into acting. Varney was raised Mormon, but left the church at 17 and began to identify as an agnostic. Varney is of English and Scottish descent.

Career

Television projects

Varney made her television debut in 2004 as a guest on the Comedy Central debate show Crossballs. She has appeared as a guest star in series including Bones, Better Off Ted, How I Met Your Mother, Hot in Cleveland, and Psych. Varney has had recurring roles on the shows Entourage (HBO), Burning Love (Yahoo! Screen), Country Comfort (Netflix), You're the Worst (FX), and Take My Wife (Seeso).

In 2012, she co-created Neil's Puppet Dreams with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. That same year, Varney also began her role voicing the main character of Korra on the Nickelodeon animated series The Legend of Korra, a spin-off of the series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Varney voiced the character of Korra for all four seasons of the show, which ended in 2014. After a decade of voicing Korra in both the series and several video games, Varney later stepped down from the role with her final outing as the character being in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway in 2022.

In 2016, Varney was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her role on Everyone's Crazy But Us, a web series produced on Funny or Die.

Varney was a main cast member on IFC's Stan Against Evil, playing Sheriff Evie Barret. The show ran for three seasons from 2016 to 2018. She was also the host of ESCAPE!, a web series broadcast on Geek & Sundry where teams of celebrities work together to get out of an escape room. The show ran for one season in 2017.

In 2018 Varney created, produced and starred in Fortune Rookie, an 8-episode web series presented by IFC.

''Dinner and a Movie''

In 2005, Varney replaced Lisa Kushell as the host of the TBS cooking and entertainment show Dinner and a Movie. She appeared with Paul Gilmartin and Claud Mann in each episode, introducing films and injecting humor during the preparation of a creative dinner for some themes. The series was cancelled in 2011.

RiffTrax

Varney has written and performed several comedic audio commentaries for films along with fellow SF Sketchfest co-founder Cole Stratton. These appear on the RiffTrax website under the RiffTrax Presents branding, as they are officially sanctioned by RiffTrax founder and Mystery Science Theater 3000 alumnus Michael J. Nelson.

She has performed in Rifftrax commentaries for the following films:

• Footloose
• Poltergeist
• Ghost
• Dirty Dancing
• Jaws 3-D
• Flatliners
• The Lost Boys
• Dreamscape
• Batman vs Superman

Podcasts

In March 2012, Varney launched a podcast titled The JV Club, hosted on Nerdist.com from 2012 to 2018. In November 2018, it was announced that The JV Club would be moving to the Maximum Fun network. The podcast released its 500th episode in Jan 2023.

Varney has participated on a regular basis on the improv comedy podcast Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins, where she is referred to as "Little Janet" Varney. She is also one of the core cast members of the improvised SciFi podcast Voyage to the Stars, and the podcast Thrilling Adventure Hour.

Avatar: Braving the Elements, an official Nickelodeon companion podcast to Avatar: The Last Airbender, premiered on June 22, 2021, hosted by Varney (the voice of Korra) and Dante Basco (the voice of Zuko). Varney and Basco discuss key moments and behind-the scenes information from each episode.

Between 2017 and 2020, she appeared in three episodes on the improvised comedy fiction podcast Hello from the Magic Tavern as Braidwynn, an Elven warrior who later returns under the disguise of Crone Bakeress. From 2023 onwards, she returned as a different character, the evil queen Red Queen Merzia. She is also a frequent guest on the puzzle, riddle and lateral thinking podcast Hey Riddle Riddle.

Since 2022, Varney has voiced the character of Janet Lubelle on Welcome to Night Vale.

Other professional projects

Varney is the co-founder, creative director and producer of SF Sketchfest, the San Francisco Comedy Festival, and is also the co-founder of the San Francisco sketch group Totally False People. She is a core member of the Los Angeles based improv group Theme Park Improv. She performed with the Los Angeles and San Francisco-based group Sequel 4000.

Personal life

Varney dated comedian Chris Hardwick from 2004 to 2011. In 2018, Varney came out as bisexual. In young adulthood, Varney was diagnosed with depersonalization disorder.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Audio

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. 3By Phil Villarreal pvillarreal@azstarnet.com. "Former Tucsonan building screen career". Arizona Daily Star.
2. Villarreal, Phil. (April 15, 2012). "Justice keeps listeners posted on heart surgery". [[Arizona Daily Star]].
3. (May 7, 2015). "The JV Club #153: Felicia Day".
4. SF State Magazine. (Fall 2008). "Funny Business". San Francisco State University.
5. (August 22, 2012). "Conversations With Ross: Featuring Janet Varney".
6. (September 20, 2012). "The JV Club #29: Cara Santa Maria".
7. "Varney Family History". [[Ancestry.com]].
8. (June 30, 2022). "Janet Varney Won't Voice Avatar Korra Again".
9. "Outstanding Actress In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series Nominees / Winners 2016".
10. Petski, Denise. (January 28, 2019). "'Stan Against Evil' Canceled After Three Seasons On IFC". [[Deadline Hollywood.
11. (February 8, 2017). "Escape! With Janet Varney". [[YouTube]].
12. Manuel, Rob. (November 14, 2016). "Introducing ESCAPE! with Janet Varney". Geek & Sundry.
13. (November 29, 2018). "fortune-Janet Varney reads your palms in an absurdly fun web series".
14. "The JV Club". Nerdist.
15. "Special Announcement: The JV Club Joins Maximum Fun!". Soundcloud.
16. (January 26, 2023). "Episode #500 Special featuring Stephen Jackson & Brandon R. Reynolds of Journos!".
17. (November 25, 2019). "Janet Varney on 'Voyage to the Stars' Season 2".
18. "The Workjuice Players".
19. Dar, Taimur. (June 23, 2021). "INTERVIEW: Janet Varney and Dante Basco talk BRAVING THE ELEMENTS for the Last Airbender Podcast".
20. (September 10, 2023). "Season 4, Ep 89 - Merzia the Red Queen (w/ Janet Varney)".
21. "Theme Park Improv".
22. "An Actress's Hollywood Hills Home Is the Embodiment of a Hug".
23. Bacon, Caleb. (June 30, 2009). "Chris Hardwick: Nerdism For Fun and Profit". [[Gothamist.
24. D'Zurilla, Christie. (June 26, 2018). "Janet Varney, Chris Hardwick's ex-girlfriend, says he never abused her". [[Los Angeles Times]].
25. Varney, Janet. (June 28, 2018). "Janet Varney on Instagram".
26. (March 26, 2011). "Janet Varney".
27. (July 21, 2021). "DC's 'Injustice' Sets Cast for Animated Movie (Exclusive)".