Mary Elizabeth Winstead the beautiful !
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a well-known American actress perhaps best known for her roles in various horror movies that have branded her a prominent ‘Scream Queen’. These films include Final Destination 3, Black Christmas, The Thing, and more. However she has also branched into other genres in films such as Sky Highand Live Free or Die Hard. She is a trained dancer, talented singer (though she has denied pursuing the latter interest professionally) , and a great actress who always garners positive reviews from critics. She is rumoured to be returning for the upcoming fifth Final Destination film however this has still not been confirmed due to the fact that she is currently filming The Thing (prequel) and filming won’t end until June 28th, 2010. When it comes to the Final Destination series, Winstead played the lead protagonist and visionary of the third film, Wendy Christensen. Winstead has stated in several interviews that Final Destination 3 was the most emotionally grueling movie she’s done due to the stress of riding the rollercoaster more than a dozen times a night and due to the fact that she has to cry in half the scenes. She is good friends with co-star Ryan Merriman. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress. Winstead is known for her scream queen roles in the horror films Final Destination 3, Death Proof, The Thing, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but has also branched out to other genres, including as John McClane’s daughter Lucy in Live Free or Die Hard, Ramona Flowers in the comic-to-film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and as the alcoholic wife who struggles through sobriety in the Sundance-selected film Smashed.
Winstead, the youngest of five children of Betty Lou (née Knight) and James Ronald Winstead, was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Winstead has stated that her maternal grandfather was a cousin of actress Ava Gardner. When Winstead was five years old, her family moved to Sandy, Utah, a Salt Lake City suburb. As a girl, Winstead attended Peruvian Park Elementary, where she excelled academically and attended advanced classes. A talented dancer and singer, Winstead studied dance in a Joffrey Ballet summer program in Chicago, Illinois and was also a member of the International Children’s Choir. In her youth, Winstead initially hoped to pursue a career as a ballerina and appeared in local ballet productions. As she entered her teens Winstead was forced to quit ballet due to her height. She later stated “I realized pretty early on that I was already too tall by the time I was 13… You know, your body has to stay that way for your entire life, and it’s pretty hard on your muscles and your bones”. Realizing that her career as a ballerina was unlikely, Winstead turned to acting instead.After leaving ballet to pursue an acting career, Winstead first appeared on Broadway during Donny Osmond’s successful run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. After her brief stint in Broadway, Winstead began making appearances in various television series and earned guest roles in Touched by an Angel and Promised Land. She gained her first major role when she was cast as Jessica Bennett in the NBC soap opera series Passions. Winstead was a series regular and held the role from 1999 to 2000 before leaving to pursue other interests. Winstead later stated, “I really had one of the smallest roles on Passions, so I didn’t get too involved… I was able to leave pretty easily”. After leaving Passions, Winstead’s next significant television role was in the short-lived CBS drama series Wolf Lake (2001-2002), where she portrayed the daughter of Tim Matheson’s character. The series lasted ten episodes before being cancelled. In 2004 Winstead played a supporting role in MTV’s made-for-television film Monster Island. In 2005 Winstead played a minor role in the indie comedy Checking Out. Winstead gained a much larger role later that year as the main antagonist of the Walt Disney Pictures film Sky High. The film, also starring Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano and Danielle Panabaker, was well-received by critics, holding a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, and fared well at the box office.
After her appearance in Sky High, Winstead began to work with horror producers James Wong and Glen Morgan, previously known for their contributions to The X-Files. Their collaboration began when Winstead starred in Final Destination 3 as lead character Wendy Christensen alongside Ryan Merriman. The film did well at the box office but received mixed reviews from critics and holds a rating of 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. Winstead also co-starred with Chelan Simmons, having first appeared with her in the 2004 MTV film Monster Island. Winstead’s next appearance was in the slasher-film Black Christmas, where she once again collaborated with Morgan and Wong, as well as Crystal Lowe, whom she co-starred with in Final Destination 3. Black Christmas fared poorly with critics, but earned her a nomination for Scream Queen at the 2007 Scream Awards. Winstead inadvertently received a chance to lampoon horror scream queens when Tonight Show host Jay Leno, unaware of who she was, knocked on her front door and included her in a comedy segment spoofing horror films. That same year, she appeared in Emilio Estevez’s Bobby, a biopic depicting the last hours in the life of Robert F. Kennedy. Winstead became interested in Bobby after learning that Anthony Hopkins would also appear in the film. The movie boasted an ensemblé cast, also including other heavyweights such as Shia LaBeouf, Harry Belafonte, Lindsay Lohan, Demi Moore, William H. Macy, Ashton Kutcher, Christian Slater and Sharon Stone. Bobby received mixed reviews with many criticisms directed at the film’s script. She and her co-stars were nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture but won the Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast. In 2007, Winstead appeared in a pair of high-profile event films. Quentin Tarantino cast her as a well-intentioned but vapid and naïve actress in his high-speed segment of Grindhouse called Death Proof, his half of a double-billed feature. Death Proof is the second film to feature Winstead with Kurt Russell (the first being Sky High), although Winstead only filmed scenes with Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms and stuntwoman Zoë Bell. Grindhouse opened to positive reviews but performed poorly at the box office. Following Death Proof, Winstead won the part of John McClane’s estranged daughter Lucy in Live Free or Die Hard, beating out other candidates for the role including Jessica Simpson. The fourth film of the installment saw her co-starring alongside Bruce Willis, Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant, and was financially and critically acclaimed.In 2008, Winstead screen-tested for the role of Wonder Woman in the film adaption of Justice League. She starred in a lead role in Make It Happen, a dance film. The film went straight to DVD in the US, and fared poorly upon release in the UK, which eventually led to its financial failure. Nevertheless, the film proved a delight for Winstead to shoot, as she had always dreamed about becoming a dancer. Critics agreed that the film’s biggest and most universally-agreed asset was Winstead. Reviewer Mike Martin says, “Winstead infuses every moment with an amazing amount of charm”. Matthew Turner of ViewLondon even goes to say that Winstead “compensates for the generally poor direction.”
In 2010, Winstead co-starred opposite Michael Cera in the comic-book adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, under the direction of Edgar Wright. Filming occurred from March to August 2009. For her role, Winstead went through fight training for two months and performed most of her own stunts.The film was released in 2010 to critical acclaim but lackluster box office returns, though it did considerably well once released to DVD. Winstead’s performance was received generally well, and snagged her a Teen Choice Awards nomination for Choice Actress Action.In February 2010, Winstead was cast in the lead role as paleontologist Dr. Kate Loyd in the prequel to The Thing, which was directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. The movie was released October 14, 2011.
Winstead stated that there was no romantic subplot for her character as she felt it would be out of place in the context of the film. Winstead based her performance on her sister, a neurologist. Critics singled out Winstead for praise in her performance as the lead. ” stands out with her portrayal of a paleontologist. She keeps a cool, logical head whilst others around her start to panic. It’s a refreshing change from your traditional horror film where the lead characters do moronic things as if to prolong the story”, Matthew Toomey of The Film Pie wrote. Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly wrote, “Winstead makes for an appealing protagonist, and Kate is portrayed as competent without being thrust into some unlikely action-hero role”.Winstead has expressed interest in returning as Lucy McClane for a fifth installment of the Die Hard film series, although her involvement in the project is yet to be confirmed. She was also mentioned in news regarding the prequel to The Ring (tentatively titled The Ring 3D), though further information is yet unknown.In 2010, Winstead reportedly tested for the female lead in a romantic comedy penned by Elan Mastai named The F-Word opposite Casey Affleck, but on July 17, 2012, it was revealed that the movie will be led instead by Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. In an interview with IndieWire on October 6, 2011, Winstead also voices doubts that she will be appearing in the next Die Hard sequel. “I’m assuming I will not be [in that] because I have not heard anything.” The sequel, titled A Good Day to Die Hard will presumably be focusing on McClane’s son, announced on February 22, 2012 to be played by Jai Courtney. Winstead has also tested to be the female lead in the Spider-Man reboot and the lead opposite Matt Damon in We Bought a Zoo, a film adaptation of Benjamin Mee’s autobiographical novel of the same name, although she was not chosen in either case, losing out to Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson, respectively. On February 17, 2011, it was confirmed that Winstead had been chosen to play the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, alongside Benjamin Walker, in the film adaption of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.The film was directed by Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov and released in summer 2012 to mixed reviews, but critics praised Winstead’s performance. Randy Myers of San Jose Mercury News calls Winstead “a standout”, whereas Chuck Koplinski of Illinois Times says, “Winstead humanizes Mary by giving her a fiery wit and sense of resolve in the face of considerable adversity”. Winstead has also been commended for scenes with opposite Benjamin Walker, with reviewer Martin Conterio of Little White Lies saying they share “a sweet chemistry that gives their handful of scenes an endearing warmth”.Winstead was also a potential candidate for the role of Maria Hill in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers film, losing out to Cobie Smulders.”It’s something I’ve been trying to do for years and years It’s almost like my first movie in a weird way, cause it’s my first movie in this world, which is a world I’ve been trying to break into. to be around filmmakers that are trying new things and not part of the system, so to speak, and they’re doing things on their own terms.”Winstead with Collider.com on her lead role in the indie-film Smashed.On September 21 the same year, it was reported that Winstead will star opposite Aaron Paul in Smashed, an independent film directed by James Ponsoldt. The film “centers on a married couple (Winstead and Paul) who can only find a connection through alcohol. Their marriage takes an unusual turn when the wife decides to get sober”. According to Winstead, the film took a mere 19 days of shooting. The 91-minute film was screened during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Upon release, Mary’s performance earned her rave reviews by critics, with Chris Bumbray of JoBlo.com calling it ” the type of performance that could be Award-worthy if given the right kind of build-up by whichever studio picks it up”. The film itself took home the 2012 Sundance Film Festival award for U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing. On February 5, 2012, The Wrap reports that Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the film’s rights. On August 8, it is revealed that the film is set for release on October 12, 2012.On October 28, 2011, it was reported that Winstead was cast in Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. The film, due for release in February 2013, will see her reuniting with Jason Schwartzman and Aubrey Plaza after their collaboration on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. She will also be co-starring alongside Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Katheryn Winnick and Maxine Bahns. According to Coppola’s interview with Entertainment Weekly in late August, he revealed that Winstead will be playing “the best friend of [Charlie Sheen’s] girlfriend who just broke up with him. She is not so supportive of their relationship.”On March 1, 2012, Deadline.com reported that Winstead has joined the Stuart Zicherman comedy A.C.O.D.. Her co-stars include Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Jane Lynch, Jessica Alba and Catherine O’Hara. She will be playing the role of Lauren Stinger, “long-time girlfriend of Carter (Scott) and the rock in his increasingly chaotic life.”On July 25, 2012, it was reported that Winstead and Topher Grace are cast in The Beauty Inside, a project dubbed an “interactive social film”. The film is broken up into six filmed episodes interspersed with interactive storytelling that all takes place on the main character’s Facebook timeline. The main character, Alex, wakes up every day with a different appearance; Winstead plays the role of Leah, a woman whom Alex falls in love with. The web series acts as a campaign by Intel and Toshiba; The first episode airs online on August 16 and the project wrapped up on September 20, with Drake Doremus acting as director.On August 2, 2012, Variety.com announced that Winstead will be continuing the indie-film route with Ponsoldt’s latest film, The Spectacular Now. The film will see Winstead co-starring alongside Brie Larson (whom she also co-starred with in Scott Pilgrim), Miles Teller, Kyle Chandler, Bob Odenkirk and Shailene Woodley. Set for release in 2013, the film is based on the novel of the same name by Tim Tharp, and “follows a high school senior (Teller) and the mercurial introvert he attempts to “save” from life as a social outcast (Woodley).”Winstead reprises her role in A Good Day to Die Hard but she explains it is only a cameo appearance, and she shot her scenes only in one day. Winstead stated in an interview with Yahoo! that she was not expecting another sequel but “[had fun reprising] the father-daughter rapport.” On October 12, it was revealed that Winstead is Marvel’s top choice for the role of Sharon Carter in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, there is no further confirmation on whether Winstead has secured the role as she has recently stated that she has no interest to appear in blockbuster films.
