Mary Elizabeth Winstead Biography

Summary

"Mary Elizabeth Winstead" (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress. She has been called a scream queen, à la Jamie Lee Curtis, because of her roles in the horror films "Final Destination 3", "Black Christmas" and "Death Proof", but she has also branched out into other genres, including comedy ("Sky High"), drama ("Bobby") and action ("Live Free or Die Hard"). She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her work in "Passions", and, as part of the cast of "Bobby", for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Early life

Winstead was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the daughter of Betty Lou (née Knight) and James Ronald Winstead. When she was five, her family moved to Sandy, Utah, a Salt Lake City suburb. Her interest in performing art also began to emerge with interests in ballet and acting. As a child, Winstead appeared in the Mountain West Ballet's version of "The Nutcracker". Hoping to become a ballerina, at the age of eleven, she received the opportunity to study dance in a summer program of the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. There, she studied ballet and jazz dance, but decided to also study acting. Winstead ended up appearing on Broadway during Donny Osmond's successful run of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". She was also a member of the International Children's Choir during her youth and honed her skills performing at her church.

Career

Early work (1997–2004)

She began her acting career in the late 1990s, guest starring in episodes of the CBS dramas "Touched by an Angel" and "Promised Land", before being cast as Jessica Bennett in the NBC soap opera "Passions", a role she played from 1999 to 2000. She subsequently appeared in the short-lived CBS drama series "Wolf Lake" (2001-2002), and in the made-for-television film "Monster Island" (2002).

Mainstream success (2005–2006)

Trying her hand at comedy, she went the independent film route as the Jewish daughter of a large, zany family in the indie feature "Checking Out", but her screen time fared better in the more mainstream Walt Disney Pictures confection "Sky High", which was both financially and critically successful. She starred as Gwen Grayson, the in-disguise alter ego of the supervillain Royal Pain.

After the exposure "Sky High" provided, 2006 saw her forge a professional relationship with the creative team of James Wong and Glen Morgan, formerly best known for their memorable contributions to "The X-Files". She and her co-star, Ryan Merriman, landed in the path of the grim reaper's master plan in "Final Destination 3". She had failed to land a part in the second film in the trilogy, but found her place in the third installment, which to this day is the most successful of the trilogy. Morgan and Wong wanted to collaborate with her again and convinced her to appear in their sorority slasher "Black Christmas". The film, however, failed with critics and viewers. One day, she inadvertently received a chance to lampoon horror scream queens when "The Tonight Show" host Jay Leno, unaware of who she was, knocked on her front door and included her in a comedy segment spoofing horror movies.

The same year, she appeared in Emilio Estevez's "Bobby", a valentine to the politics and morals of Robert F. Kennedy, which drew moderate critical attention, and became a minor box office success. The film's cast included Laurence Fishburne, Anthony Hopkins, Ashton Kutcher, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, and Sharon Stone, but most of her scenes were with Shia LaBeouf and Brian Geraghty. She and her co-stars were nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture.

Recent work (2007–present)

In 2007, she appeared in a pair of high-profile event films. Quentin Tarantino cast her as a well-intentioned but vapid and naïve actress in his high-speed segment of "Grindhouse" called "Death Proof", his half of a double-billed feature. The film failed to produce ticket sales, but drew critical acclaim. Death Proof is also the second film to feature both Winstead and Kurt Russell. The same summer, hot off the heels of its release, Winstead received another shot at action as Lucy McClane in "Live Free or Die Hard" co-starring Bruce Willis. The film earned over $130 million domestically and drew excellent reviews, making it the highest grossing film that features Winstead.

She has recently screen tested for the role of Wonder Woman in the film adaption of "Justice League".

She starred in "Make it Happen", a dance film. The film went straight to DVD in the US, and gained only a small collection in the UK, which eventually led to its financial failure. In late 2007, Winstead also wrote a letter to her fans, promising them that more, thriving projects are on the way. Sure enough, on May 16, 2008, it was announced that Winstead would co-star opposite Michael Cera in forthcoming comic-book adaptation "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". Filming started in early March 2009, and expected for release in 2010.

In 2008, it was also revealed that she was to play the leading role in boyfriend Riley Stearns's short film project, "Stop/Eject". The short film has already finished shooting, and is now undergoing post-production. IMDb had also revealed that Mary is to be interviewed and appearing in documentary "Showing Up", along with numerous other celebrities such as co-stars Kristen Cloke and Andrea Martin, and many others. The documentary, which tells about the actors' experience while auditioning, is expected for release in 2010.

Winstead is also, at the time, experimenting with the singing industry, and is working with music producer Thai Long Ly.