Biography
Born in Pennsylvania c. 1967, Maria Bello attended Villanova University as a political science major, but acting ability - evident from an early drama class - altered her career plans. Following graduation, Bello honed her acting skills in a number of New York theater productions before she broke through to the public as one of the leads in the short-lived TV spy comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1996). Bello gained broader primetime exposure as Dr. Anna Del Amico on NBC's blockbuster
ER during the 1997 season and segued into films with her performance as recovering junkie
Ben Stiller's confidante in the film-a-clef
Permanent Midnight (1998), adapted from Jerry Stahl's harrowing book.
Bello scored her first pop hit as
Mel Gibson's beautiful cohort in the harsh crime drama
Payback (1999). Poised to potentially become one of the select group of actors who transition smoothly from television to film, Bello co-starred as one of the bottle-tossing, bar-stomping babes in charge of the titular drinking establishment in the Bruckheimer-produced hellraiser
Coyote Ugly (2000).
When
Coyote Ugly failed to live up to box office hopes, Bello starred as Suzi Loomis in
Bruce Paltrow's
Duets, and as Ruth Harkness in the IMAX feature China: The Panda Adventure (2001), based on her real-life experiences with the eponymous creatures. Bello scored a bona fide critical, if not financial, hit with
Paul Schrader's biopic about slain
Hogan's Heroes star
Bob Crane,
Auto Focus (2002). As Crane's co-star and second wife Patricia, Bello holds her own opposite
Greg Kinnear's bravura performance as the nymphomaniacal Crane, evoking the complex emotions of a spouse who accepts yet ultimately cannot contend with her husband's desires.
A year after
Auto Focus, Bello would score even bigger with the critics with a starring role alongside William H. Macy in the gritty Vegas romance
The Cooler. As the cocktail waitress who falls for Macy's sadsack ne'er-do-well, Bello brought a sense of extreme realism to her character. The film netted her a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Screen Actors Guild and a runner-up prize from The National Society of Film Critics.
In early 2004, Bello appeared as
Johnny Depp's estranged wife in the
Stephen King adaptation The Secret Window, and in
John Sayles' well-received political thriller
Silver City. Though subsequent appearances in the fairly forgettable
Assault on Precinct 13,
The Dark, and
The Sisters followed in 2005, Bello's Golden Globe-nommed performance as an unassuming housewife who married into mystery in
A History of Violence, coupled with her prominent performance as a determined alcohol lobbyist in the critically-acclaimed
Thank You for Smoking, helped to get her back in the good graces of critics and end the year on a decidedly high note.
When 2006 arrived, Bello joined
Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, and Maggie Gyllenhall in
World Trade Center,
Oliver Stone's docudrama/survival picture that recounted the experiences of two Port Authority firefighters trapped beneath the rubble of the destroyed buildings. Bello joins the cast of the same year's
Flicka, adapted from the seminal children's novel by Mary O'Hara (and incarnated decades prior as the movie and TV series
My Friend Flicka) , alongside
Alison Lohman and country singer
Tim McGraw.
Active in social causes as well, Maria Bello co-founded the Harlem not-for-profit arts and education program, Dream Yard Drama Project for Kids. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide