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An attractive blond native of
Norristown, Pennsylvania, Maria Bello moved to NYC where she spent about
six years doing the struggling-actress thing, appearing in numerous stage
productions, shooting a few commercials, including her golden moment as
the Amstel Light girl, and co-founding Harlem's Dream Yard Drama Project,
a nonprofit arts and education program for urban kids. She made her TV
debut in a guest appearance on the Fox comedy "Misery Loves Company" and
demonstrated her versatility with a strong romantic turn opposite Bruce
Greenwood in an episode of "Nowhere Man" (UPN). Bello made her TV-movie
debut in "The Commish: In the Shadow of the Gallows" (ABC, 1995) before
landing a choice role as a spy opposite Scott Bakula on the short-lived
1996 CBS action series "Mr. & Mrs. Smith". She checked into County General
Hospital for three "ER" episodes as sassy pediatrician Anna Del Amico, a
character which became a regular on the popular series for one season
(1997-98). Bello made a strong sexy impression as a recovering junkie to
whom screenwriter Jerry Stahl (Ben Stiller) recounts his past in in
"Permanent Midnight" (1998).
With each successive role, Bello found a new dimension to her characters,
which were typically hard-as-nails on the outside but warm and vulnerable
on the inside. In 1999 she starred as a hooker with ties to Mel Gibson in
"Payback" and in 2000 she made a strong impression as the sultry
leather-clad owner of the bar "Coyote Ugly" (which provided the name for
the otherwise stupefying film) and den-mother to its collection of
midriff-baring bartenders. She also appeared as another vulnerable sexpot
in director Bruce Paltrow's "Duets" (2000) and switched gears for the
nature-oriented IMAX film "China: The Panda Adenture," in which she plays
a widow following in her husband's footsteps as she studies the Chinese
Panda in the 1930s (2001). Bello resurfaced again in 2002 in Paul
Schrader's gritty "Auto Focus," playing the TV actress wife of 1960s
"Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear), who led a kinky secret sex
life that led to his murder. |
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"I don't think you understand
what levels or what fears until you have a child of your own. I
mean, I've never loved someone so much and I've never been so afraid
in my life. And the truth is I would kill someone, whoever tried to
hurt him. I would. I have no doubt about it."
"I think I take a film because I'm in the process of discovering
something about myself." |
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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor (2008) .... Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell
... aka The Mummy 3 (USA: informal title)
Yellow Handkerchief (2008)
Downloading Nancy (2007) .... Nancy
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) .... Jocelyn
Nothing Is Private (2007) .... Gail
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007) .... Abby Warner
... aka Shattered (USA: new title)
Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut (2006) (V) .... Rosie
Flicka (2006) .... Nell McLaughlin
World Trade Center (2006) .... Donna McLoughlin
Thank You for Smoking (2005) .... Polly Bailey
A History of Violence (2005) .... Edie Stall
... aka A History of Violence (Germany)
The Dark (2005) .... Adèle
... aka The Dark (Germany)
The Sisters (2005) .... Marcia Prior Glass
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) .... Dr. Alex Sabian
... aka Assaut sur le central 13 (France)
Silver City (2004) .... Nora Allardyce
Secret Window (2004) .... Amy Rainey
Nobody's Perfect (2004)
The Cooler (2003) .... Natalie Belisario
100 Mile Rule (2002) .... Monica
Auto Focus (2002) .... Patricia Olson/Patrica Crane/Sigrid Valdis
China: The Panda Adventure (2001) .... Ruth Harkness
Born in Brooklyn (2001) (TV)
Duets (2000) .... Suzi Loomis
Coyote Ugly (2000) .... Lil
Sam the Man (2000) .... Anastasia Powell
Payback (1999/I) .... Rosie
Permanent Midnight (1998) .... Kitty
"ER" .... Dr. Anna Del Amico (25 episodes, 1997-1998)
- A Hole in the Heart (1998) TV Episode .... Dr. Anna Del Amico
- Suffer the Little Children (1998) TV Episode .... Dr. Anna Del
Amico
- Of Past Regret and Future Fear (1998) TV Episode .... Dr. Anna Del
Amico
- Shades of Gray (1998) TV Episode .... Dr. Anna Del Amico
- Gut Reaction (1998) TV Episode .... Dr. Anna Del Amico
(20 more)
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" .... Mrs. Smith (13 episodes, 1996)
- The Space Flight Episode (1996) TV Episode .... Mrs. Smith
- The Kidnapping Episode (1996) TV Episode .... Mrs. Smith
- The Coma Episode (1996) TV Episode .... Mrs. Smith
- The Publishing Episode (1996) TV Episode .... Mrs. Smith
- The Grape Escape (1996) TV Episode .... Mrs. Smith
(8 more)
"Due South" .... Mackenzie King (1 episode, 1996)
- One Good Man (1996) TV Episode .... Mackenzie King
"The Commish" .... Betsy (1 episode, 1995)
- In the Shadows of the Gallows (1995) TV Episode .... Betsy
The Commish: In the Shadow of the Gallows (1995) (TV) .... Betsy
"Nowhere Man" .... Emily Noonan (1 episode, 1995)
- The Enemy Within (1995) TV Episode .... Emily Noonan
"Misery Loves Company" .... Joe's Former Film Student (1 episode,
1995)
- That Book by Nabokov (1995) TV Episode .... Joe's Former Film
Student
Maintenance (1992) .... Eddie |
