Maria Bello Biography

Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in the films Permanent Midnight (1998), Payback (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), The Cooler (2003), A History of Violence (2005), Thank You for Smoking (2006), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) and Prisoners (2013). Bello is known for her role as Dr. Anna Del Amico on the NBC medical drama ER (1997-1998). She starred as Lucy Robbins on the Fox series Touch alongside Kiefer Sutherland in 2013 and currently stars as Michelle McBride on the Amazon original series Goliath.

Early life

Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to Kathy, a school nurse and teacher, and Joe Bello, a contractor. Her father is Italian American, with roots in Montella, Italy, and her mother is Polish American. She grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family and graduated from Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania. She majored in political science at Villanova University. Following graduation, Bello honed her acting skills in a number of New York theater productions.

Career

Bello's early TV appearances include episodes of The Commish (1991), Due South (1994), Nowhere Man (1995), Misery Loves Company (1995) and ER (1997-98).

Her breakthrough came when she was cast as Mrs. Smith in the TV series spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith, though the show was canceled after eight weeks. She then appeared in the final three episodes of the third season of ER as pediatrician Dr. Anna Del Amico and was a regular cast member during the medical drama's fourth season.

Bello moved on to films, landing a role in Coyote Ugly (2000). She was nominated for the Golden Globe award twice: for Best Supporting Actress in The Cooler (2003) and for Best Actress in A History of Violence (2005). She starred in The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) as Jocelyn.

In 2008, Bello starred in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor as Evelyn O'Connell. In December 2008, Bello began developing a drama for HBO. Besides starring in the new series, Bello will also serve as an executive producer. She starred in the 2009 drama film The Yellow Handkerchief, which was released in theatres on February 26, 2010 by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

In 2010 Bello guest starred in two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The following year, she starred in the TV series Prime Suspect, which was canceled after 13 episodes.

Bello sits on the board of The CQ Matrix Company. In 2014, she starred alongside Frank Grillo in the James Wan-produced thriller Demonic.

Humanitarian efforts

In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Bello founded WE ADVANCE with Aleda Frishman, Alison Thompson and Barbara Guillaume. It is an organization that encourages Haitian women to collaborate in making healthcare a priority, and putting an end to domestic violence within their communities. Currently the organization is based in a health clinic and a community outreach center in Cit Soleil. Bello is also a board member of Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG), a non-profit NGO that undertakes activism on behalf of genocide victims of the Darfur Conflict.

Personal life

Bello has a son with former boyfriend Dan McDermott.

In November 2013, Bello wrote about having a same-sex relationship with her then-partner and then-friend, Clare Munn.

She published a book, Whatever...Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves (Dey Street Books, April 28, 2015).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Permanent Midnight	Kitty
1999	Payback	Rosie
2000	Coyote Ugly	Lil Lovell
2000	Duets	Suzi Loomis
2001	China: The Panda Adventure	Ruth Harkness
2002	Auto Focus	Patricia Olson / Patricia Crane / Sigrid Valdis
2003	'	Natalie Belisario
2004	Silver City	Nora Allardyce
2004	Secret Window	Amy Rainey
2005	Assault on Precinct 13	Alex Sabian
2005	'	Edie Stall
2005	'	Adlle
2006	Thank You for Smoking	Polly Bailey
2006	'	Marcia Prior Glass
2006	Flicka	Nell McLaughlin
2006	World Trade Center	Donna McLoughlin
2007	'	Jocelyn
2007	Towelhead	Gail Monahan
2007	Butterfly on a Wheel	Abby Randall	aka Shattered
2008	Downloading Nancy	Nancy Stockwell
2008	'	May
2008	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Evelyn O'Connell	Replacing Rachel Weisz
2009	'	Suky
2010	'	Sally Wilcox
2010	Grown Ups	Sally Lamonsoff
2011	Beautiful Boy	Kate Carroll
2011	Abduction	Mara Harper
2011	Carjacked	Lorraine
2013	Grown Ups 2	Sally Lamonsoff
2013	Prisoners	Grace Dover
2013	Third Person	Theresa
2014	Big Driver	Tess Thorne
2015	McFarland, USA	Cheryl White
2015	Demonic	Dr. Elizabeth Klein
2015	Bravetown	Martha
2016	The 5th Wave	Sergeant Reznik
2016	The Confirmation	Bonnie
2016	Lights Out	Sophie
2016	The Late Bloomer	Brenda Newmans
2016	Max Steel	Molly McGrath
2016	Wait Till Helen Comes (A.K.A. Little Girl's Secret)	Jean
2016	In Search of Fellini	Claire	completed
2017	Monumental	Agent McFadden	post-production
2018	Undying		post-production
2018	Every Day	Lindsey	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Mrs. Smith	13 episodes
1997-1998	ER	Dr. Anna Del Amico	Season 4
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Vivian Arliss	2 episodes
2011-2012	Prime Suspect	Jane Timoney	13 episodes
2012-2013	Touch	Lucy Robbins	13 episodes
2016	Goliath	Michelle McBride	8 episodes
2017	The Walking Dead	Unknown	Season 8

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1997	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	ER
2000	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy/Romance	Coyote Ugly
2003	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	The Cooler
	National Society of Film Critics Award	Best Supporting Actress
	Online Film Critics Society Award	est Supporting Actress
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
2005	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award	Best Supporting Actress	A History of Violence
	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award	Best Supporting Performance
	Chicago Film Critics Association Award	Best Supporting Actress
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award	Best Supporting Actress
	London Film Critics Circle Awards	Actress of the Year
	New York Film Critics Circle Award	Best Supporting Actress
	Online Film Critics Society Award	Best Supporting Actress
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
	Village Voice Film Poll Award	Best Supporting Performance
2006	RiverRun International Film Festival's Jury Prize	Best Actress	The Sisters
	Dixie Film Festival Prize	Outstanding Actress in a Film
2009	Independent Spirit Award	Best Female Lead	Downloading Nancy
2013	National Board of Review Award	Best Cast	Prisoners