‏Mary Stein‏

Mary....is an unselfconsciously amusing bundle of heart and brains. Her unconventional views and passion make it obvious why top directors are thrilled to add her creative spark to their projects.Mary grabbed Ron Howard's attention with her enigmatic performance as 'Miss Floom', the hotel landlady in George Miller's Babe: Pig in the City which was voted by Siskel & Ebert "The Best Film of 1998" and is the sequel to the Oscar nominated film Babe. Mary went on to play, the Whoville school teacher, 'Miss Rue Who' under Rons' direction in Universals' blockbuster release of November 2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas, alongside Jim Carrey, Molly Shannon, and Christine Baranski. During the shooting of The Grinch, she also worked with Chris Coloumbus'1492 Company with Whoopi Goldberg and Brendan Fraser as the less than sober bar tart Lulu La Rue' in Fox searchlights' Monkeybone released in 2001. After impressing, six time Oscar winning makeup artist, Rick Baker on the set of The Grinch, with her unique look an grace, Mary happily makes cameo appearances in his many projects.In the fall of 2002, Mary was invited aboard two widely divergent TV shows. As Mike Fresco & his team of writers made changes to the popular series Providence, placing it in the ER instead of a clinic, they also brought some quirk to the mix by creating the character Gerda, an outrageous nudge, with Mary. At the same time, Mary was cast as the befuddled temp, Myrna, on Ben Afflecks' original new TV show Push, Nevada and quickly became a recurring character. Mary also guest starred as Sandra Conley, a 28 year old pregnant patient with Marfans Syndrome, on an episode of MDs' directed by Peter Horton.In the spring 2006, Mary's Solo Show "-Dolphin Dreams-" co-written & directed by Rondell Sheridan was produced as part of an evening of Original Solo Shows staged at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, California. In 2006, she also began appearing on General Hospital as Ms. Sneed, the hospital administrator and starred as the villain Billy Stahl in the Indie Film, Tillamook Treasure. In the spring of 2007, Mary portrayed Nurse Theresa in the horror film Portal which was screened at The Cannes Film Festival. In the spring of 2008, Mary was seen at The Cannes Film Festival again as Mrs. Hutchins in The Changeling starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood. The Changeling was nominated for a Palme d'Or Award at The Cannes Film Festival 2008 and is expected to be released in November 2008. Mary can also be seen this fall on the new CBS TV series "The Ex List" with fellow Juilliard Alumni Elizabeth Reaser. In 2010, Mary's yearning to be back on stage lead her to Montreal where she worked with Cirque D Soleil to help develop their new show "Iris" directed by Phillip DeCoufle based on the evolution of cinema. It gave her a chance to spread her wings as an improviser and physical comedian utilizing her love of physical comedy, dance and movement. Her work with Cirque inspired Mary to develop a physical comedy piece titled "Baby, Oh Baby!" which se performed on stage in Los Angeles numerous times at The Comedy Store, The Electric Lodge & Highways Performance Space.In the fall of 2011, Mary found herself on the Fox Lot in Mexico with Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson, and Kevin James playing Martha, a church gossip in the family film "Little Boy" directed by Alejandro Monteverde. The film has recently been bought by Mark Burnett's Open Road Pictures and is slated to hit theaters in Febuary as the befuddled temp, Myrna, on Ben Afflecks' original new TV show Push, Nevada and quickly became a recurring character. Mary also guest starred as Sandra Conley, a 28 year old pregnant patient with Marfans Syndrome, on an episode of MDs' directed by Peter Horton.In the spring 2006, Mary's Solo Show "-Dolphin Dreams-" co-written & directed by Rondell Sheridan was produced as part of an evening of Original Solo Shows staged at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, California. In 2006, she also began appearing on General Hospital as Ms. Sneed, the hospital administrator and starred as the villain Billy Stahl in the Indie Film, Tillamook Treasure. In the spring of 2007, Mary portrayed Nurse Theresa in the horror film Portal which was screened at The Cannes Film Festival. In the spring of 2008, Mary was seen at The Cannes Film Festival again as Mrs. Hutchins in The Changeling starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood. The Changeling was nominated for a Palme d'Or Award at The Cannes Film Festival 2008 and is expected to be released in November 2008. Mary can also be seen this fall on the new CBS TV series "The Ex List" with fellow Juilliard Alumni Elizabeth Reaser. In 2010, Mary's yearning to be back on stage lead her to Montreal where she worked with Cirque D Soleil to help develop their new show "Iris" directed by Phillip DeCoufle based on the evolution of cinema. It gave her a chance to spread her wings as an improviser and physical comedian utilizing her love of physical comedy, dance and movement. Her work with Cirque inspired Mary to develop a physical comedy piece titled "Baby, Oh Baby!" which se performed on stage in Los Angeles numerous times at The Comedy Store, The Electric Lodge & Highways Performance Space.In the fall of 2011, Mary found herself on the Fox Lot in Mexico with actors Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson, and Kevin James playing Martha, a church gossip in the family film "Little Boy" directed by Alejandro Monteverde. The film was released in theaters April 2014. In 2013, Mary created & performed a film, theater, & dance piece called "Two Long Ladies" with lanky redhead dancer Anne Grimaldo at Highways Performance Space & at The Andrew Shire Gallery with glowing reviews.Mary, born in Marquette, Michigan and reared in Milwaukee, Wisconsin partly attributes her desire to pursue a career in acting to her longtime idol and source of inspiration, British actress, Maggie Smith, and to her grandfather. Mary recalls the motivation she gained from her grandfather, an early vaudeville performer as well as her father who as a boy, toured with him; a highly artistic mother, adept at weaving, sculpting, and painting also gave rise to creative direction. No surprise, that Mary wrote and starred in her first play at age five, an event which led to numerous performances thereafter. She then took dance lessons and eventually choreographed and staged dance numbers adding tap, jazz, and modern dance to her repertoire.Stein attended the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City with celebrity alumni Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer, Thomas Gibson, and Bradley Whitford, after already receiving a BA from Marquette University. In regional theater, she has played such diverse roles as 'May' in Fool for Love directed by Mark Masterson. Rave reviews, unique talent, and an enthusiasm to explore different media, led Stein to Hollywood where she broke into television on a series of pilots as well as guest starred on such well known TV shows such as Glee and Brooklyn Nine Nine. Marys' feature film break came with the unforgettable role of 'Angela' in Orion Pictures 1996 sleeper hit Man of the Year. You may also recognize her from hundreds of commercials for everything from Pop Tarts to Toyota to most recently, commercials for Sprint & AAA.Mary meditates & has been a practicing yogi for 30+ years. As an accomplished athlete she enjoys long distance cycling, kayaking, horseback riding and snow skiing. Stein has been a big sister to The Westside Kids and volunteered with LA based charity 'Free Arts for Abused Kids'. She participated with Team in Training and completed their training & triathalon to raise money for Leukemia Research. When Mary is not acting she is a highly sought after coach to actors & teaches workshops in On Camera Acting & Structured Visualization for peak performance.