Maria Bello

Maria Bello is an American actress and producer born on April 18, 1967, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She was raised in a working-class Catholic family, the daughter of Kathy, a school nurse and teacher, and Joe Bello, a contractor of Italian ancestry with roots in Montella, Italy; her mother is of Polish ancestry. Bello attended Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania, before going on to study political science at Villanova University. After graduating, she developed her craft through theater productions in New York.

Bello's early television work included guest appearances on The Commish in 1991, Due South in 1994, Nowhere Man and Misery Loves Company in 1995, and ER beginning in 1997. A casting as Mrs. Smith in the spy series Mr. & Mrs. Smith brought her increased visibility, though the show was cancelled after eight weeks. She subsequently appeared in the final three episodes of ER's third season as pediatrician Dr. Anna Del Amico and continued as a series regular through the fourth season. Her first major film role came in 1998's Permanent Midnight, and she followed it with parts in Payback in 1999 and Coyote Ugly in 2000.

Her film career expanded considerably through the early and mid-2000s. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Cooler in 2003 and a second nomination for Best Actress for A History of Violence in 2005. Additional film credits from that period include Secret Window in 2004, Assault on Precinct 13 — in which she played Dr. Alex Sabian, a character from a remake of John Carpenter's 1976 original — Thank You for Smoking, and World Trade Center, both released in 2005 and 2006 respectively. In 2007 she starred as Jocelyn in The Jane Austen Book Club, and in 2008 she took on the role of Evelyn O'Connell in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, replacing Rachel Weisz in the part. Later film credits include Grown Ups in 2010, Prisoners in 2013, and Lights Out in 2016.

In 2004, Bello appeared on Broadway in The 24 Hour Plays. Her television work continued beyond that milestone, with guest appearances in two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2010 and a starring role in the series Prime Suspect in 2011, which was cancelled after thirteen episodes. She went on to play Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane in the police procedural NCIS from 2017 to 2021. Her performance in the 2023 limited series Beef earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and a Critics' Choice Award win.

Bello began producing short films in 2010 and served as a producer on the 2022 film The Woman King. In December 2008, she began developing a drama for HBO, with plans to star in and executive produce the project. In 2009, The Guardian identified her as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.

Outside of her entertainment career, Bello co-founded WE ADVANCE with Aleda Frishman, Barbara Guillaume, and Alison Thompson in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The organization supports Haitian women in prioritizing healthcare and combating domestic violence within their communities, and as of 2011 operated out of a health clinic and community outreach center in Cité Soleil. Bello also led fundraising efforts in Philadelphia and contributed to relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. She serves as a board member of the Darfur Women Action Group, an NGO focused on activism on behalf of genocide victims of the Darfur conflict.

Bello has a son, Jackson, with her former boyfriend Dan McDermott. In November 2013 she publicly wrote about a same-sex relationship with her best friend, Clare Munn, with whom she had also co-founded the CQ Matrix Company in 2011. Her book Whatever...Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves was published in 2015, the same year she and Munn separated. Bello became engaged to chef Dominique Crenn on December 29, 2019, in Paris, and the two were married in Mexico on May 12, 2024. Bello filed for divorce in May 2025, citing irreconcilable differences.