Born: 24 July 1977, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
In 2017, “turning 40 was a gift that I didn’t know I needed,” comedian Michelle Buteau has said. “That’s when I hit a new stride in my life and in my career. Shit really comes together when you don’t give a fuck anymore.” She had been doing comedy since 2001, inspired by the 9/11 tragedy—“I was like, ‘wow, people are dying, so I should start living.’” She later recalled, “It took a good four or five years of doing this thing that I love to do, and having no idea where it would go and whether it could make me money.”
Buteau’s 2020 memoir, Survival of the Thickest, was adapted into a 2023 Netflix series of the same title—which, of course, she co-created, starred in, and produced. She’s also co-starred in films and series like The First Wives Club (2019-2022) and Babes (2024), in addition to scene-stealing performances in supporting roles in films like Always Be My Maybe (2019). Her first Netflix special Welcome to Buteaupia won a Critics Choice Award in 2021. She’s also the first woman to record a comedy special—her second for Netflix—at Radio City Music Hall in 2024, and began hosting the American version of social media competition show The Circle in 2020.
In 2024, an interviewer commented, “It must feel good to be Michelle Buteau right now.”
“It does feel good, but it always felt good,” she responded. “Even though I’m doing all these things, I’ve always been doing these things, but for no money, because I love it. But now I’m getting paid.”
Having twins in her 40s and struggling with infertility also changed her perspective.
“I feel like people think… you just have it all figured out by 40, you should be doing your thing. It’s like, “No, we don’t have it all figured out. We’re still growing. We’re still trying to level up, whether it’s financially or emotionally, whatever it is,” Buteau has said. “But if you can find joy in the work, then 20 years feels like five minutes.”