CelebSweet » American Actress Maria Bello

American Actress Maria Bello

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

Early life
Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Kathy, a teacher and school nurse, and Joe Bello, a contractor. Her father is Italian American and her mother Polish American. 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.

American Actress Maria Bello

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.

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

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

It was announced in 2010 that Bello will guest-star in two episodes of Law & Order: SVU.

Bello is set to star in the NBC TV series Prime Suspect in fall of 2011.

Personal life
Bello has a son named Jackson Blue, born in 2001, with former long-time boyfriend Dan McDermott. She became engaged to musician Bryn Mooser in July 2008 , but they broke off their engagement some time before October 2010.

According to reports, her best friend is actress Carrie-Anne Moss, best known for her role in The Matrix, and each serves as godmother to the other's first-born child.

Bello is a Muay Thai practitioner.

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, Maria Bello along with Aleda Frishman, Alison Thompson, and Barbara Guillaume founded WE ADVANCE. The focus of WE ADVANCE is to create a grassroots movement empowering Haitian women to collaborate toward making healthcare a priority, and putting an end to GBV (Gender-based Violence) within their communities. The organization seeks to act as a central agency to network the organizations working on women's issues in Haiti, and to provide urgent care to women victimized by the disaster. Currently their programs are headquartered in one health clinic and one community outreach center in Cite Soleil, Haiti.

Bello sits on the board of The CQ Matrix company.