Why Gale From Elemental Sounds So Familiar

"Elemental," the latest outing from Pixar, hits all the notes we've come to expect from the animation giant. There's Pixar's most inventive worldbuilding yet in the form of Element City, scrappy protagonists leading the way, and, oh yes, all of the feels.

"Elemental" is also Pixar's most straightforward love story to date. The film's star-crossed lovers are the elementally opposed Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) — she of fire and he of water — who set out on a mission to save her father's shop. Fire, water, earth, and air are all represented in "Elemental," though Gale Cumulus, Wade's blustery boss, is the most prominent air character.

Gale is voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey, who was delighted to add a Pixar project to her resume. "That's the biggest bucket list thing of any actor, to get that call from Pixar," the actress told AMovieGuy.com. "I said yes before I even knew what it was. I think someone said, 'Pix–' and I said, 'Uh-huh!' I'll play on an ant in a pile of trash, if that's what I have to do. I am in it to win it with Pixar."

McLendon-Covey may have finally ticked this one thing off her bucket list, but she's already assembled an impressive list of credits in her decades-long career. Here's where you may have seen and heard the actress before.

Wendi McLendon-Covey had a circuitous road to fame, and her career didn't really gain traction until adulthood. "No one in my family expected me to do much," she joked in an appearance on WTF with Marc Maron [35:14], later adding, "Nothing big started happening for me until I was in my 30s, and then life got really good once I was in my 40s." [1:12:08] The actress got her start as a member of Los Angeles' venerated improv troupe the Groundlings. Even after joining the main company, McLendon-Covey still had reservations. "I had just gotten into the Groundlings, but I was also feeling, like, 'Maybe this is never going to happen for me. I don't know. I don't have an agent, I don't have jack squat.'" [1:07:31]

Nevertheless, she auditioned for the role of Deputy Clementine Johnson on "Reno 911!" "I did my interpretation of what a sexy cop in Reno is, and to me, she's someone who thinks she's sexy," McLendon-Covey recalled. "It doesn't matter if she really is. She's not Hollywood sexy. She's just got some swagger .... She's a cop because they've got a dental plan, you know?" [1:08:35]

"Reno 911!" premiered in 2003 and remains one of McLendon-Covey's best-known roles. She reprised the role as the bawdy cop for Season 7 in 2020 and Season 8 in 2022, as well as the mockumentary series' movie specials.

Art imitates life, and that was certainly true of 2011's "Bridesmaids." In a 2012 interview with the American Film Institute, Wendi McLendon-Covey explained the film's matrimonial roots. "I knew Kristen [Wiig], Maya [Rudolph], and Melissa [McCarthy] from the Groundlings theater, and we all met 10 years ago at a bridal shower, if that's not the weirdest thing in the world."

Co-written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo and directed by Paul Feig, "Bridesmaids" was a box office smash, as well as the rare raunchy comedy to earn Oscar clout. The film follows Lillian's (Rudolph) ill-fated bridal party in the lead-up to her wedding. McLendon-Covey appears as Rita, Lillian's caustic cousin seeking a much-deserved break from her house full of adolescent sons.

Given that "Bridesmaids" was a Groundlings reunion, it's no surprise that the cast had a great time riffing throughout the production. "I can't speak to how much they actually used, but we improvised a lot of stuff," McLendon-Covey told Marc Maron on his podcast. "I think the funniest stuff lives on the DVD, in the three hours of extra footage that they couldn't include." [1:22:34]

Loosely based on showrunner Adam F. Goldberg's own childhood in the 1980s, ABC's "The Goldbergs" follows the wacky misadventures of the eponymous family in suburban Philadelphia. Throughout the show's run between 2013 and 2023, Wendi McLendon-Covey portrayed Beverly Goldberg, the overbearing family matriarch. For her performance, she earned Critics Choice Awards nominations in 2014 and 2016.

Not unlike her character, McLendon-Covey had to weather plenty of ups and downs on set, including Jeff Garlin's dismissal from the series following allegations of misconduct towards members of the show's crew. The cast also contended with the death of cast member George Segal at the beginning of the ninth season.

Despite the hardships, McLendon-Covey was devastated when "The Goldbergs" was canceled after 10 seasons. To add salt to the wound, the cast didn't know they were canceled until two days before the wrap party. "I really thought we were going to squeak out an 11th [season]," the actress told The AV Club, "and when I found out that we were going away, it felt like the bottom dropped out from under me."

Luckily, McLendon-Covey bounced back quickly, and she's already landed a new comedy series at NBC.

In addition to over two decades of on-screen acting gigs, Wendi McLendon-Covey has also padded her resume with voice roles, making her extremely prepared to join the Pixar universe in "Elemental." The actress has had appearances in "The Looney Tunes Show," "Crossing Swords," and "Solar Opposites," and she's also held down steady gigs on a number of series.

For several years, McLendon-Covey has sustained a working relationship with the team at "Bob's Burgers," appearing four times between 2012 and 2019 as Mudflap. A hard-drinking biker, Mudflap makes her debut in Season 3, Episode 1 when a biker gang, the One-Eyed Snakes, arrives in town for a compatriot's memorial service. She eventually marries Critter, who is voiced by McLendon-Covey's fellow "Reno 911!" cast member Robert Ben Garant.

McLendon-Covey is also a familiar presence on "American Dad!" Between 2015 and 2023, the actress has appeared in six different episodes, voicing a variety of characters from Monkey Trainer to Autograph Seeker.

In 2018, Wendi McLendon-Covey began voicing Nancy Green on the Disney Channel animated series "Big City Greens." She still voices Nancy, yet another animated biker chick, and has appeared in 42 episodes to date, making it her longest-running voice role. "Big City Greens" is unique for its healthy depiction of a divorced couple who get along and are amicable co-parents. 

"What I love that Disney is doing really well is that they celebrate all types of families," McLendon-Covey told D23. "Sometimes your family gets fractured and you bring in new people. Sometimes people can co-parent, and it's actually better."

Additionally, the actress loves playing a maternal badass. "I love that the Green family all embrace each other's idiosyncrasies," she continued. "And Mom has been in jail! She's a motorcycle mama who's been in jail for releasing a cow into the wild. That's as close to a superhero as I'm ever going to play."

Wendi McLendon-Covey may have fulfilled a career aspiration by working in a Pixar movie, but just a few years prior, she got the opportunity to collaborate with another coveted studio: Marvel. "Marvel's M.O.D.O.K." tells the story of a down-on-his-luck supervillain looking to rebuild his image. Part of M.O.D.O.K.'s woes are work-related. As the shoddy leader of the evil organization Advanced Idea Mechanics, M.O.D.O.K. has nearly bankrupted the enterprise, leaving room for tech bro Austin Van Der Sleet (Beck Bennett) to weasel his way in.

Another thorn in M.O.D.O.K.'s side is his work rival Monica Rappaccini, who McLendon-Covey voiced for six episodes. Monica is smarter and more competent than M.O.D.O.K., and she's eager to take his job. Their rivalry comes to a head in an all-out brawl, culminating in Monica's promotion to Scientist Supreme. Ultimately, Monica opts to continue working under M.O.D.O.K. rather than the stifling GRUMBL.

In Polygon's review of the series, critic Samantha Nelson called the character — brought to life by McLendon-Covey's vivid voiceover — a series highlight. "M.O.D.O.K.'s professional rival Monica Rappaccini, a fellow super-scientist driven to evil by sexism, is fiercely entertaining," writes Nelson, "and she produces some of the most bizarre and grotesque demonstrations of the show's visual prowess with her horrifying biological experiments."