Biography Of Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Mary Elizabeth Winstead 

(born November 28, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her first major role was that of Jessica Bennett on the NBC soap opera Passions (1999–2000). She came to wider attention for her roles in the horror series Wolf Lake (2001–2002), the horror films Final Destination 3 (2006) and Death Proof (2007), and the slasher film Black Christmas (2006); by the end of the 2000s she had gained a reputation as a scream queen.

Further success came with her roles as John McClane's daughter in Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Her critically acclaimed performance as an alcoholic struggling with sobriety in the drama Smashed (2012) was followed by a series of roles in other independent films, including The Beauty Inside (2012), The Spectacular Now (2013), Faults (2014), Alex of Venice (2014), and Swiss Army Man (2016). Winstead had further horror film roles in The Thing (2011), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). Since 2013, Winstead has performed as music duo Got a Girl with Dan the Automator.

Winstead returned to television with the drama series The Returned (2015), the comedy series BrainDead (2016), the medical drama series Mercy Street (2016–17), and the third season of the crime drama Fargo (2017). Her other roles include the comedy-drama All About Nina (2018), the action film Gemini Man (2019), the Huntress in Birds of Prey (2020), and Hera Syndulla in the Star Wars series Ahsoka (2023).

Mary Elizabeth Winstead was born on November 28, 1984, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to Betty Lou (née Knight) and James Ronald Winstead  and is the youngest of five children. Her grandfather, Ambler William Winstead, was a cousin of actress Ava Gardner.  When she was five years old, her family moved to Sandy, Utah, where she attended Peruvian Park Elementary and took advanced classes. She studied dance in a Joffrey Ballet summer program in Chicago  and sang in the International Children's Choir. During her youth, she hoped to pursue a career as a ballerina and appeared in local ballet productions. As she entered her teens, she was forced to quit ballet due to her height. She later said, "I realized pretty early on that I was already too tall by the time I was 13... You know, your body has to stay that way for your entire life, and it's pretty hard on your muscles and your bones."  Realizing a dance career was unlikely, she turned to acting.  As she was still a teenager at the time, this required her to be homeschooled through most of high school

Winstead appeared in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond.  After her brief performance in that show, Winstead began making appearances in various television series and earned guest roles in Touched by an Angel and Promised Land. She gained her first major role as Jessica Bennett in the NBC soap opera Passions, from 1999 to 2000. She left to pursue other interests, later stating, "I really had one of the smallest roles on Passions, so I didn't get too involved... I was able to leave pretty easily".  Winstead's next significant television role was in the short-lived CBS drama series Wolf Lake (2001–02), as the daughter of Tim Matheson's character. The series was canceled after ten episodes. In 2004, Winstead played a supporting role in MTV's made-for-television film Monster Island. She was offered a role in the film A Cinderella Story, but turned it down as she had just graduated from school and was going on a cruise with friends (where she met Riley Stearns, her future husband)

Winstead appeared opposite Aaron Paul in Smashed, an independent drama directed by James Ponsoldt about a married alcoholic couple (Paul and Winstead) whose relationship is put to test when the wife decides to get sober. She said that the film was shot in 19 days. Screened during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,  Winstead's performance earned her rave reviews, with JoBlo.com calling it: "the type of performance that could be Award-worthy if given the right kind of build-up by whichever studio picks it up". The film was released theatrically on October 12, 2012, and saw Winstead snagging the Dallas International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. During a promotional interview for the movie with website Collider, she expressed pride in working on an independent project: "It's something I've been trying to do for years and years [...] It's almost like my first movie in a weird way, cause it's my first movie in this world, which is a world I've been trying to break into. [I've wanted] to be around filmmakers that are trying new things and not part of the system, so to speak, and they're doing things on their own terms." 

Winstead played the role of Mary Todd Lincoln opposite Benjamin Walker in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The film, also released in 2012, received a mixed critical response while it flopped at the box off  Nevertheless, critics praised Winstead's performance. The San Jose Mercury News called Winstead "a standout", and the Illinois Times film critic wrote, "Winstead humanizes Mary [Todd Lincoln] by giving her a fiery wit and sense of resolve in the face of considerable adversity". Winstead was commended for scenes opposite Benjamin Walker, with Little White Lies writing that they shared: "a sweet chemistry that gives their handful of scenes an endearing warmth".  In 2012, Winstead and Topher Grace appeared in The Beauty Inside, an "interactive social film". It was broken into six filmed episodes interspersed with interactive storytelling, all on Alex (the main character)'s Facebook timeline. He awakes each day with a different appearance; Winstead appeared as Leah, Alex's love interest. The web series served as an advertising campaign for Intel and Toshiba; it ran from August 16 through September 20, 2012.

Winstead has expressed her interest in singing, but initially did not plan on pursuing it as a career. "I wasn't ever really going to be a singer, but it's just something I've always loved."  For her part in 2007's Death Proof, Tarantino had Winstead sing an a cappella cover of The Shirelles' hit recording "Baby It's You".  She was asked without warning to perform the song and the cast were reportedly "gob-smacked" by her singing. Winstead and music producer Thai Long Ly eventually co-wrote a song, called "Warmth of Him". Although first rumored to be a pre-release single, Winstead confirmed that she was just exploring her interest and did not plan at the time on releasing any music albums.

In an interview with Complex magazine for the June/July 2012 issue, Winstead revealed she was working with Dan the Automator and was indeed planning on releasing a music album. The duo formed the band Got a Girl the following year, and released their demo "You & Me" on May 21, 2013. The album, titled I Love You but I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now, was released on July 22, 2014, via Bulk Recordings.  The first single, "Did We Live Too Fast" premiered on June 3,  and its music video, directed by Hope Larson, premiered online on June 16.^[147] The album features heavy influences of French pop music, with Winstead detailing that the inspiration behind the project came from "French '60s pop—Jane Birkin, and stuff like that. It's kind of married with Dan's sensibility, which is his beats and a little bit of that low-key hip-hop vibe. So it makes for something that's very unique; it's very lounge-y and light. It's got a little bit of a French quality."  All lyrics were written by Winstead while all music was composed by Dan the Automator.

Winstead was also featured on the songs "The Agony" and "Look Across The Sky" on Deltron 3030's second studio album Event 2,  released on September 30, 2013. 

In November 2016, Honus Honus from experimental band Man Man released a song on SoundCloud, "Santa Monica," that features Winstead. In December 2016, Portugal. The Man released the single and video for "Noise Pollution (Version A, Vocal Up Mix 1.3)" from their album Woodstock, featuring Winstead and Zoe Manville

In 2010, Winstead married filmmaker Riley Stearns, whom she had met at age eighteen on an ocean cruise.  She starred in and produced Stearns's debut feature film, Faults, in 2014.  She announced their separation in May 2017  and their divorce was finalized later that year. 

It was reported in October 2017 that she was in a relationship with Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, whom she had met on the set of the third season of the Fargo television series.  Their son, Laurie, was born on June 27, 2021.  Winstead and McGregor married in April 2022

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