Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Mary Elizabeth Winsteadis an American actress and recording artist, best known for her scream queen roles in the horror films The Ring Two, Final Destination 3, Black Christmas, Death Proof, The Thing, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and 10 Cloverfield Lane. She appeared as John McClane's daughter Lucy in Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, the fourth and fifth films in the Die Hard franchise, Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Kate...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth28 November 1984
CountryUnited States of America
The more I work the happier I am.
If you let too many cooks in the kitchen it could cloud your vision of what you want to do.
Once I've accepted a role, I'll let my parents and my sisters read it because they find it entertaining.
There's actually a time when I got cast in something and it was announced that someone else was cast. I hadn't been told yet if I had the role and I had a breakdown because I really wanted it and it was announced on this website that this other girl had gotten it. I was so sad and called my agents and said, "You guys didn't tell me this other person got the role!" They were like, "No, they haven't decided yet." Then two hours later I got the call that said I had the role.
Some of those things come out and you don't know where they came from - somebody's leaking totally false information. They follow you for years and you have to be like, "I don't know anything about that."
I was that overachieving, annoying kid who was always trying to win some contest or win the role. I look back on it now and I'm like, "Chill, man." Calm down.
I realized that the people weren't just characters but they were people and they were getting to do something that was so fun and I wanted to be a part of it.
I grew up in a big movie house, we watched movies all the time, so I had an awareness at a very young age that that was a job that you could have.
I was always a performing arts kid in general - but I felt like my ultimate goal was to be an actress and be in films.
I found my way into the indie world a bit late in my career, but it was something that I was really passionate about doing.
My first movie was a movie that had a bunch of people dying in it - the typical popcorn movie. That's where I got my start.
I was kind of embarrassed by some of the films I had done. I was like, "Oh, they're going to think I don't have street cred."
There are obviously people who want to be very niche, but I think for the most part everybody is trying to reach a larger audience.
You're literally sized up with measuring tape as a 13- or 14-year-old girl. I wanted to opt out of that experience.