Mae Whitman, the 'Bland' Star of Arrested Development, Celebrates Her 38th Birthday

Make your celebratory mayoneggs: Mae Whitman, the actor behind TV's greatest running joke, turns 38 today.

Whitman famously played Ann in the cult classic comedy series Arrested Development. Ann - also known as Bland, Plant, or Egg - is the girlfriend of Michael Cera's character, George Michael (not to be confused with the famous singer). Ann is a homely-looking daughter of a pastor with a very... subdued personality.

The running joke throughout the series is that Ann is so boring and forgettable that every member of the Bluth family forgets she even exists. Jason Bateman's character Michael Bluth, George Michael's father, commits this especially egregiously, often questioning his son's decision to date Ann with a single word: "Her?"

'Arrested Development's Most Memorable Ann Jokes

Ann's unmemorable plainness leads to some of the series' most memorable quotes:

"I know her name's not Annabelle. That's just how I remember her name, because her body is kind of shaped like a ... she's the belle of the ball!" Michael says after learning Ann is competing in a beauty pageant - well, an inner beauty pageant.

"That's his girlfriend? Is she funny or something?" GOB asks upon meeting her in Mexico for the first time.

"Way to plant, Ann!" George Michael exclaims, praising Ann's ability to sit in one place. This then leads Michael to say to his son, "Why don't you and Plant go wait in the stair car?"

"Ann, I wasn't sure if you got my message!" Michael says when he sees Ann at a family function he invited her to. "I wasn't sure if you got my message."

Ann replies, "It wasn't a message. We talked."

Michael then tells George Michael that the connection he sees between him and his girlfriend is so clear, "It's as Ann as the nose on Plain's face."

Funnily enough, the show actually changed actors after Ann's first appearance - and hardly anyone noticed. The original gag was to have a different actor play Ann in each episode, but Whitman was so good at not making an impression that she made... quite the impression.

"They stuck with me, which I feel like is a real insult," Whitman said on Couch Surfing (via Looper). "They were like, 'No, no, you're making the whole "not memorable" thing work, we'll just go with that.'"

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 12:55 PM.