Why Penny From The Wedding Planner Looks So Familiar

Every romantic-comedy lead needs a best friend by their side to guide them through the ups and downs of a new relationship. Someone needs to be there to crack jokes and give them sound advice when they're not too busy being adorkable in front of the person of their dreams. For Mary (Jennifer Lopez) in 2001's The Wedding Planner, that's Judy Greer's Penny. She's ultimately the one that gets Mary to go to an outdoor movie with Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). She promptly leaves the two alone so that they can share a romantic dance together ... at least until Mary realizes Steve's engaged to another woman.

The role is par the course for Greer, who's earned a reputation for herself for always being the best friend in flicks like What Women Want, 13 Going on 30, and 27 Dresses. Perhaps her and Kathryn Hahn can team up together for their own rom-com where the best friends finally take the spotlight and get a chance to pursue their own meet-cutes. Until then, Greer has an expansive filmography filled with movies and TV shows in pretty much every genre you can think of. Here are just some of the places you've likely seen her before. 

There's good reason why Judy Greer is often the best friend in romantic comedies — she's straight-up hilarious. The leads have to be somewhat down-to-earth, but she can throw out zingers left and right. It's what made her a perfect candidate to really delve into absurdist humor with the role of Kitty Sanchez on Arrested Development. 

She's introduced in the show's first season as the assistant to George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor), and it's eventually revealed that she had an affair with her boss where he uncovered secrets about the United States and Iraq. As a result, the members of the Bluth family who aren't in prison have to keep her on the company payroll so that she'll keep quiet. Greer came back to the role when the show was revived on Netflix years later, except this time, Kitty's an assistant to Ron Howard (played by himself) but without the "friends with benefits" component. 

Now anytime someone says, "Say goodbye to these" or "Spring break," Kitty Sanchez immediately comes to mind. 

In case you're not a particular fan of rom-coms in the 1990s and 2000s, you've likely seen Judy Greer pop up in an array of blockbusters as of late, including Jurassic World and Tomorrowland. She's even showed up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Maggie Lang a.k.a. the ex-wife of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and mother of Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). 

In the first Ant-Man, Maggie's pretty hesitant about allowing Scott to be close to their daughter after he was released from prison so recently. She also wants him to start paying child support, but by the end of the movie — once he demonstrates he can be a force for good as a superhero — she finally starts letting him in. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, they have a much more amicable relationship, even though Scott's on house arrest as a result of breaking the Sokovia Accords. Truth be told, Maggie and Scott have one of the most interesting relationships in the MCU because Scott's not interested in winning her back like some viewers may initially suspect. She's happy with her new husband, and they prove they can adequately co-parent together. 

No word yet on whether Greer will be back for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but considering how it seems like Cassie — who will be played by Kathryn Newton this time around — will have a much more prominent role, we suspect she'll show up at least briefly. 

Through her decades of work, it's abundantly clear that Judy Greer is one of the wittiest actresses working today. It's part of what made it such a sharp turn when she took a decidedly different role in 2018's Halloween. In the horror reboot, she plays Karen, the daughter of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). The two have an estranged relationship due to Laurie teaching Karen to be paranoid growing up and raising her in an environment where she had to be constantly vigilant for fear that Michael Myers could return to extract his vengeance on Laurie and her family. 

She made it out alive in that film, but as is the case with any good movie monster, Michael Myers will return in two sequels — Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. Judy Greer is confirmed to have a role in both films, and one would surmise she'll put the survival training her mother gave her to good use now that the killer is out there and angrier than ever. One thing's clear from all of this — Judy Greer can do anything and everything a project asks of her, making it easy to see why she's one of the most in-demand actresses working today.