Janet Varney

Janet Maureen Varney is an American comedic actress best known for hosting TBS's Dinner and a Movie. She voiced Korra, May, and additional characters in The Legend of Korra.
Varney hosts the official podcast, Avatar: Braving the Elements, with Dante Basco.
== The Legend of Korra credits ==
=== Korra ===
52 episodes
=== May ===
=== Additional voices ===
== Avatar: Braving the Elements credits ==
=== Host ===
113 free episodes and 7 premium episodes
* 1. "The Boy in the Iceberg"
* 2. "Origin Stories with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko Pt. 1"
* 3. "Origin Stories with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko Pt. 2"
* 4. "The Avatar Returns"
* 5. "Origin Stories with Eric Coleman"
* 6. "The Southern Air Temple"
* 7. "Meet the Cast: Jack De Sena ("Sokka")"
* 8. ""The Warriors of Kyoshi" with Jennie Kwan"
* 9. "Suki Speaks: More with Jennie Kwan!"
* 10. ""The King of Omashu" with André Sogliuzzo"
* 11. "Meet the Writer with John O'Bryan"
* 12. ""Imprisoned" with Kevin Michael Richardson"
* 13. "Martial Arts Deep Dive with Sifu Kisu and Bryan Konietzko"
* 14. "The Winter Solstice Part One: The Spirit World"
* 15. "Meet the Cast with Zach Tyler Eisen"
* 16. "The Winter Solstice Part Two: Avatar Roku with James Garrett ("Avatar Roku")"
* 17. "Meet the Voice Director with Andrea Romano"
* 18. ""The Waterbending Scroll" with Ify Nwadiwe"
* 19. "Spotlight on Music with Jeremy Zuckerman and Hrishikesh Hirway"
* 20. ""Jet" with Crawford Wilson"
* 21. "Animal Roll Call with Dee Bradley Baker"
* 22. "Midseason Superfan Quiz Show!"
* 23. ""The Great Divide""
* 24. "The Great Divide Debate!"
* 25. ""The Storm" with Jack De Sena"
* 26. "Life Lessons with Karama Horne and Ijeoma Njaka"
* 27. ""The Blue Spirit""
* 28. "Sound Off! With Benjamin Wynn"
* 29. ""The Fortuneteller" with Evanna Lynch"
* 30. "Fan Favorite Holiday Special"
* 31. "“Bato of the Water Tribe” with Migizi Pensoneau"
* 32. "Meet The Cast: Jennifer Hale (“Avatar Kyoshi,” “June”)"
* 33. "“The Deserter” with Tim Hedrick"
* 34. "Family Ties with Cheyenne Ewulu"
* 35. ""The Northern Air Temple" with Jason Mantzoukas"
* 36. "The Science! with Adam Savage"
* 37. ""The Waterbending Master" with Johanna Braddy"
* 38. "Meet the Director: Giancarlo Volpe"
* 39. ""The Siege of the North Part 1" with Christopher Sabat"
* 40. "Recapaganza! with Hector Navarro"
* 41. ""The Siege of the North, Part 2" with Gene Luen Yang"
* 42. "Season One Finale with Jack De Sena, Jennie Kwan, Antoine Bandele & Kendall Byrd"
* 43. "Live From New York Comic Con '21!"
* 44. "Fan Favorite Special"
* 45. "Live From New York Emerald Con '21!"
* 46. "Zach Tyler Eisen on Aang & More!"
* 47. "Book Two: Earth!"
* 48. ""The Avatar State""
* 49. "Meet the Cast: Grey DeLisle Griffin"
* 50. ""The Cave of Two Lovers" with Jack DeSena"
* 51. "Secret Tunnel! with Joshua Hamilton and Jeremy Zuckerman"
* 52. ""Return to Omashu" with Jennie Kwan"
* 53. "Meet the Cast: Olivia Hack ("Ty Lee")"
* 54. ""The Swamp" with Hector Navarro"
* 55. "Best Bending Battle!"
* 56. "Live from San Diego Comic Con!"
* 57. ""Avatar Day" with James Sie"
* 58. "Meet the Cast: Cricket Leigh ("Mai")"
* 59. ""The Blind Bandit" with Ethan Spaulding"
* 60. "Creating an Icon: TOPH! with Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko"
* 61. "Meet the Cast: Michaela Jill Murphy "Toph""
* 62. ""Zuko Alone" with Adal Rifai"
* 63. "Avatar on the Page with Tim Hedrick"
* 64. ""The Chase" with Erika Ishii"
* 66. "Fandom Crossover"
* 67. ""Bitter Work""
* 68. "Season 2 Midseason Superfan Quiz Show!"
* 69. ""The Library" with Phil Yu"
* 70. "Inspired by the Avatarverse with Daniel Mertzlufft & Katherine Lynn-Rose"
* 71. ""The Desert" with Jason Mantzoukas"
* 72. "Roleplaying and Playing Roles with Sam Riegel"
* 73. ""The Serpent's Pass" with Afiya Augustine & Vincent Bernard"
* 74. "Braving the Elements LIVE from London!"
* 75. ""The Drill" with Karama Horne"
* 76. "Live From New York Comic Con 2022!"
* 77. "Our Avatar Studios Friends with Isabella Boettcher & Pramodh Manian"
* 78. ""City of Walls and Secrets" with Bryan Konietzko"
* 79. "Meet a Legend with Lauren Tom"
* 80. ""The Tales of Ba Sing Se" with Danielle Radford"
* 81. "Holiday Special: "Book Two: Earth" with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko"
* 82. "A New Year Celebration with Grey DeLisle"
* 83. "More "Tales of Ba Sing Se" with Andrew Huebner and Katie Mattila"
* 84. ""Appa's Lost Days" with Evanna Lynch"
* 85. "Comic Relief with Ron Funches"
* 86. "Beautiful Design with Elsa Garagarza, Bryan Konietzko, & Angela Song Mueller"
* 87. ""Lake Laogai" with Joel Kim Booster"
* 88. "Disability in the Avatarverse with Jimmy Clare and Ru Jones"
* 89. ""The Earth King" with Grey DeLisle"
* 90. "Remembering Mako with Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, & Andrea Romano"
* 91. ""The Guru" with Migizi Pensoneau"
* 92. "Meet the Cast with Greg Baldwin"
* 93. "Turning Points with Ijeoma Njaka"
* 94. ""The Crossroads of Destiny" with Michael DiMartino and Zach Tyler Eisen"
* 95. "The Origins of Toph Beifong with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko"
* 96. "Michaela Jill Murphy on Playing Toph Beifong"
* 97. "Lauren Tom on Voice Acting, Joo Dee, and more!"
* 98. "Retelling the "Tales of Ba Sing Se" with Danielle Radford"
* 99. "The Hilarity of Avatar with Ron Funches"
* 100. "Bringing the Avatarverse to Life with Eric Coleman"
* 101. "Book Three: Fire"
* 101.5. "Secrets from the Vault: Zuko's Scar & Darker Themes from the Avatarverse"
* 102. "'The Awakening' with Giancarlo Volpe"
* 102.5. "Secrets from the Vault: Would Zuko really kill Aang?"
* 103. "'The Headband' with John O'Bryan"
* 104. "New Bending! with Superfans"
* 104.5. "Secrets from the Vault: Young Love and Familiar Faces"
* 105. "'The Painted Lady' with Faith Erin Hicks"
* 106. "Bookbending! with F.C. Yee & Nancy Wu"
* 106.5. "Secrets from the Vault: What about Book 4?"
* 107. "'Sokka's Master' with Jack De Sena"
* 108. "The Music of Avatar with Jeremy Zuckerman & Jeff Adams"
* 108.5. "Secrets from the Vault: We love the 80s!"
* 109. "'The Beach' with Olivia Hack & Cricket Leigh"
* 110. "Drawing the Avatarverse with Lauren Montgomery"
* 110.5. "Secrets from the Vault: Avatar Dreams"
* 111. "'The Avatar and the Firelord' with Ify Nwadiwe"
* 112. "'The Runaway' with Michaela Jill Murphy"
* 113. "Choose Your Fate with Superfans"
* 113.5. "Secrets from the Vault: Sword Fights & Bryke Bites"
* 114. "'The Puppetmaster' with Joaquim Dos Santos"
== Selected other credits ==
=== Television work ===
* Best Player (TV movie)
* Bones
* Burning Love
* Childrens Hospital
* Dinner & a Movie
* Entourage
* Hot in Cleveland
* How I Met Your Mother
* Stan Against Evil
* The Exes
* The Legend of Vox Machina
* You're the Worst
=== Filmography ===
* Injustice (2021)
* Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse (2014)
* Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (2011)
* The Selling of Scarry Manor (2011)
* Still Waiting ... (2009)
* Drillbit Taylor (2008)
* Dante's Inferno (2007)
* Catwoman (2004)
* Stuck (2003)
=== Other credits ===
* Dinner & a Movie (writer)
* Neil's Puppet Dreams (executive producer, soundtrack writer, and writer)
* Noel Coward's Last Play (short - producer)
* The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (soundtrack vocalist)
* The Legend of Korra (video game)
== Personal life ==
Janet Varney was born in Arizona and eventually moved to San Francisco. An alumnus of San Francisco State University, Varney has worked for and co-founded several comedy troupes, and was in a relationship with Chris Hardwick, who voiced the adult Sokka in The Legend of Korra, between 2004 and 2011. In film, Varney has appeared alongside Owen Wilson in Drillbit Taylor, Halle Berry in Catwoman, and in the Lionsgate feature Still Waiting as part of a comedy ensemble that includes Justin Long, John Michael Higgins, and Luiz Guzman. Varney recently played the female lead in the teen comedy Nic & Tristan. She also starred opposite iCarly's Jerry Trainor and Jennette McCurdy in the 2010 Nickelodeon Original television movie Best Player.
Varney is the co-creator and co-producer of one of the largest and most successful comedy festivals in the country, the San Francisco Sketchfest. She is well known for co-hosting TBS' Dinner & a Movie and the Mark Burnett-Steven Spielberg-produced film competition On the Lot. She has also starred in the sketch series HPC with Dave Koechner, Diedrich Bader, and Kristin Wiig, and Sean Hayes' sketch series for Fox, Man Stroke Woman.
She has guest starred on many hit shows, including How I Met Your Mother, Better Off Ted, Psych, Bones, What About Brian?, and Halfway Home. Varney continues to recur as smart, sexy television executive Amy Miller on HBO's Entourage. In 2009, Varney signed on to star in an ABC comedy series from Jeff Strauss titled Married Not Dead.
== Trivia ==
* Janet Varney identifies with the character of Korra in the fact that she shares Korra's impatience and enthusiasm for a lot of things, as well as the loyal friendships and the concern about right and wrong in the world. However, she does believe that Korra is about a hundred times cooler than she will ever be.
* Varney has stated that if she could be a bender, she would be either a firebender, as she has always had a serious fascination with fire, or a waterbender, because she likes its effects and because she was fascinated by large bodies of water growing up in a desert area. On the other hand, she thinks she would be the worst at airbending.
* During an exclusive San Diego Comic-Con 2014 interview for Wikia, Varney mentioned that Varrick and Lin Beifong are her favorite characters on the show.Avatar The Legend of Korra - SDCC 2014 Cast Interview
* In an interview with Nick Animation, Varney stated that her favorite book is Book Four: Balance and her favorite antagonist is Kuvira.
* Janet Varney wrote a song with Paul Gilmartin and Grey DeLisle, the voice actor who voiced Azula in Avatar: The Last Airbender, called "Daddy Drank" for the characters she and Grey DeLisle play opposite Paul's Republican Congressman character, Richard Martin.
* Varney came out as bisexual on her Instagram page in June 2018 to celebrate Pride month, though she had previously been open about her sexuality on her podcast.
* Varney participated in a live reading of Turf Wars Part One with Seychelle Gabriel on April 6, 2020, where she reprised her role of Korra, as well as providing the voice of Tonraq. She also took part in a second live reading with Gabriel and joined by fellow Korra voice actors P. J. Byrne, David Faustino, and Mindy Sterling on May 27.
== References ==
de:Janet Varney
es:Janet Varney
Category:A to Z
Category:Real world
Category:Voice actors