Maria Bello Biography

This section contains Maria Bello Biography
Maria Bello was born in Pennsylvania on April 18, 1967. Her father is Italian American, while her mother is Polish, but she grew up in a Roman Catholic tradition. She attended the Archbishop Carroll High School and the Villanova University, where she took up political science. Although Maria Bello originally did not have plans to become an actor, she took up acting during her senior year, and soon enough she was cast in off Broadway plays.

After she graduated, Maria Bello moved to New York, and was a struggling with the compensation she got with theatrical productions and also did a bartending job on the side. She also landed a few commercials, although the pay for what she was doing was very minimal. In 1992, Maria Bello co-founded Harlem’s Dreamyard Drama Project, a non profit program that put together education with the arts to join artists with kids at risk. This resulted with children throughout New York having better opportunity at achieving academic excellence.

In 1995, Maria Bello got her big break by starring in the 1995 television movie The Commish, and this was followed by a role on the action show, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Although the show only lasted 8 weeks, her next role was that of Dr. Anna del Amico, a pediatrician, for the show ER. Although Maria Bello was originally hired for just four episodes, she was able to showcase her talent as an actress and was asked to be a regular by the producers of ER.

In 1998, Maria Bello starred opposite Ben Stiller in the movie Permanent Midnight, a film adaptation of Jerry Stahl’s book about heroin addiction. She also continued working with Dreamyard, and engaged in activities that benefited children who had been affected by calamities throughout the world. By 1999, she started doing movies, such as Coyote Ugly and Duets in 2000, Auto Focus in 2002, The Cooler in 2003, and a History of Violence in 2005. Maria Bello was nominated a Golden Globe for The Cooler and A History of Violence, and also won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award in the category of Favorite Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Romance for her performance in Coyote Ugly.

Maria Bello’s more recent films include Secret Window in 2004, which she starred with Johnny Depp, Silver City, and Assault on Precinct 13. She also starred in the family movie, Flicka, in 2006, as well as The Jane Austen Book Club.

Maria Bello has one son, Jack, with her boyfriend, Dan McDermott. She is also best friends with Carrie Anne Moss.

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