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Maria Bello
at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on March 5, 2010
Born	Maria Elena Bello April 18, 1967 (1967-04-18) (age 42) Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Domestic partner(s)	Dan McDermott Bryn Mooser (engaged July 2008)

Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress best known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Thank You for Smoking, and A History of Violence. For television she's best known for her role as Dr. Anna Del Amico on the NBC medical drama ER.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Kathy, a teacher and school nurse, and Joe Bello, a contractor.¹ Her father is Italian American and her mother Polish American.²³⁴ She grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family and graduated from Archbishop Carroll High School (Radnor, Pennsylvania). Later she attended Villanova University, majoring in political science. She intended to become a lawyer, but took an acting class during her senior year, just for fun. 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) Due South (1994), and ER (1997-98).

Career

Bello's breakthrough came when the producers Kerry Lenhart and John J. Sakmar cast her as Mrs. Smith in the spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The show was cancelled after just eight weeks on the air. Then came a guest stint on ER as the feisty pediatrician Dr. Anna Del Amico, in which she guest-starred in the final three episodes of the third season. Bello remained on the show for one season as a regular cast member, departing after the medical drama's 4th season. The actress went on into movies landing a role in Coyote Ugly. She has been nominated for the Golden Globe award twice: for Best Supporting Actress in The Cooler (2003) and for Best Actress in A History of Violence (2005). She also starred in The Jane Austen Book Club as Jocelyn.

In 2008 Bello starred in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor as Evy O'Connell, taking over from Rachel Weisz. Bello has stated that she has signed up for three more Mummy films.^{citation needed}

In December 2008 Bello began developing a drama for HBO. Besides starring in the new series, Bello will also serve as an executive producer.⁵

Bello's latest project, the 2009 Sundance film The Yellow Handkerchief, will be released in theaters on February 26, 2010 by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Personal life

Bello has a son named Jackson Blue, born in 2001, with former long-time boyfriend Dan McDermott. Bello is also a Muay Thai practitioner. In July 2008 she became engaged to musician Bryn Mooser; a date for the wedding has not been announced.⁶ Bello and Carrie-Anne Moss of The Matrix are best friends, and they are godmother to each others' first-born children.⁷

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1997	ER	Dr. Anna Del Amico	25 episodes (1997–2009) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
1998	Permanent Midnight	Kitty
1999	Payback	Rosie
2000	Coyote Ugly	Lil Lovell	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy/Romance
	Duets	Suzi Loomis
2002	Auto Focus	Patricia Olson / Patrica Crane / Sigrid Valdis
2003	The Cooler	Natalie Belisario	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
2004	Silver City	Nora Allardyce
	Secret Window	Amy Rainey
2005	Assault on Precinct 13	Alex Sabian
	A History of Violence	Edie Stall	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Performance Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
	The Dark	Adele
2006	Thank You For Smoking	Polly Bailey
	The Sisters	Marcia Prior Glass
	Flicka	Nell McLaughlin
	World Trade Center	Donna McLoughlin
2007	The Jane Austen Book Club	Jocelyn
	Towelhead	Gail
	Butterfly on a Wheel	Abby Warner	aka Shattered
2008	Downloading Nancy	Nancy	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
	The Yellow Handkerchief	May
	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Evelyn Carnahan-O'Connell
2009	The Private Lives of Pippa Lee	Suky
2010	The Company Men	Sally Wilcox	post-production
	Grown Ups	Sally Lamonsoff	post-production

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Maria Bello

• Maria Bello at the Internet Movie Database
• Maria Bello at Allmovie
• Maria Bello at Yahoo! Movies