Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Mary Elizabeth Winstead was married to film director and writer, Riley Stearns, from 2010 to 2017.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead was born on November 28, 1984, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina to Betty Lou Knight and James Ronald. She has one elder brother and three elder sisters.

At the age of five, her parents decided to move to Sandy, Utah, near Salt Lake City. She was a bright child and was admitted to advanced classes at the Peruvian Park Elementary school.

Her talents were not limited to the classroom and she joined Joffrey Ballet summer program in Chicago, Illinois to enhance her dancing skills. Her singing abilities led her to perform in the ‘International Children’s Choir’ as well at the early age of 12.

Winstead initially strived to be a ballerina and even participated in small ballet productions. But she was compelled to abandon her ballet career when she was 13, as she grew too tall. She realized that her body was changing too much to meet the requirements and instead focused on acting. This also meant that she had to be homeschooled for most of her high school years. She graduated in 2004 while pursuing a career in acting.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s first appearance was in the musical ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, starring Donny Osmond in 1996. She was only 12 years old and admitted later on that the experience wasn’t fun enough for her.

Her performance in the show opened up new avenues and she bagged quite a few guest roles in TV series’. In 1997, she appeared in the uncredited role of Kristy Cordis in the episode, ‘A Delicate Balance’, in the series ‘Touched by an Angel’.

In 1998, she was cast as Chloe in the series ‘Promised Land’. Her acting skills were noticed in the episodes ‘Denver, Welcome Home’ and ‘Recycled’ and this led to her first major break.

In 1999, Mary Elizabeth Winstead landed the role of Jessica Bennet in the NBC series ‘Passions’. She appeared on 90 episodes and won praise for her performance, until her departure in 2000. She also played Annie Jacobs in the movie ‘The Long Road Home’, in 1999 and Tara in the movie ‘Father Can’t Cope’, the following year.

She received her first major lead role in the supernatural thriller ‘Wolf Lake’ aired on CBS. She played the role of Sophia Donner and made her first appearance in the pilot ‘Meat the Parents’ on September 19, 2001. Low ratings led to the cancellation of the series after 10 episodes. The final episode, ‘If These Wolves Could Talk’ starring Winstead was aired on May 1, 2002.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s most important works include ‘Sky High’, which went on to gross US$86.4 million at the Box Office.

‘Final Destination 3’ earned US$ 117.72 million. The film remained the highest grossing sequel of the franchise until 2009.

10 Cloverfield Lane’’ is another milestone in her career. Made on a budget of US$ 15 million, the movie has grossed US$ 110.2 million.