EXCLUSIVE: Chris Parnell is continuing his education and has signed on to Melissa McCarthy’s college-set comedy Life of the Party, which began filming last week in Atlanta. Described as in the vein of the 1986 Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back to School, Life of the Party stars McCarthy as an adult attending university much later in life, with Parnell playing one of her professors. Maya Rudolph, Gillian Jacobs, Jacki Weaver, Molly Gordon, Jessie Ennis, Jimmy O. Yang and Adria Arjona also star in the Ben Falcone-directed film that hits theaters May 11, 2018. Parnell voices Cyril Figgis on FX’s Archer and next will be seen in Amazon’s upcoming dramedy series Highston. The SNL alum also is known for roles on 30 Rock and Rick and Morty among many others. He is repped by UTA and Rise Management.

Nicky Whelan has joined the cast of Tragedy Girls, rounding out a cast that includes Kerry Rhodes, Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandrea Shipp, Craig Robinson and Josh Hutcherson. The Tyler McIntyre-directed horror comedy follows two death-obsessed teenage girls with their own online show about real-life tragedies who send their small Midwestern town into a frenzy as they strive to cement a legacy as modern horror legends. Whelan will play high school teacher Mrs. Kent in the film. Known for roles in Hall Pass, The Wedding Ringer and Left Behind, Whelan recently starred in the Netflix film Rebirth and soon will be seen in the El Rey Network’s Robert Rodriguez-produced From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series. She’s repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment and ICM,