Maria Bello Biography

Maria Elana Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress.

Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania to an Italian American father and a Polish American mother, Bello grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family. She attended Villanova University, majoring in political science. She had every intention of becoming a lawyer, but took an acting class during her senior year, just for fun. Demonstrating a natural aptitude for acting, she was soon cast in small off-Broadway plays, such as "The Killer Inside Me", "Small Town Gals With Big Problems" and "Urban Planning". She later guest-starred on episodes of "The Commish" (1991), "Nowhere Man" (1995), "Misery Loves Company" (1995) and "Due South" (1994).

Bello got her breaktrough when producers Kenny Lenhart and John J. Sakmar cast her in the spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1996) as Mrs. Smith; they remembered her from her performance in a failed pilot that was a remake of the classic TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958/I). The show was cancelled after just eight weeks on the air. Then came a spot on ER as Dr. Anna DelAmico, in which she guest-starred on the final three episodes of the third season. The show's producers were so impressed with her that they asked her back as a regular on the series. Bello also had a lead role in the movie Coyote Ugly. She has been twice nominated for a Golden Globe: In 2003, as Supporting Actress for The Cooler and in 2005, as Best Actress for A History of Violence.

Bello practices Muay Thai (lethal) kickboxing. Bello and her TV exec boyfriend, Dan McDermott, welcomed on 5 March 2001 their first child, Jackson Blue McDermott.

She is good friends with actresses Mariska Hargitay and Carrie-Anne Moss. Bello is the godmother of Moss's first son. Moss is the godmother of Bello's son Jack.