The best Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s drama movies
Mary Elizabeth Winstead was born on November 28, 1984, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to Betty Lou (née Knight) and James Ronald Winstead, and is the youngest of five children. Her grandfather was a cousin of actress Ava Gardner. When she was five years old, her family moved to Sandy, Utah. She attended Peruvian Park Elementary, where she took advanced classes. She studied dance in a Joffrey Ballet summer program in Chicago, and sang in the International Children's Choir. During her youth, Winstead initially hoped to pursue a career as a ballerina and appeared in local ballet productions. As she entered her teens, she 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 a dance career was unlikely, Winstead turned to acting. As she was still a teenager at the time, this required her to be homeschooled through most of high school.
Further success came with her roles as John McClane's daughter Lucy Gennero-McClane in Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Her critically acclaimed-performance as an alcoholic struggling with sobriety in the Sundance drama Smashed (2012) was followed by a series of roles in other well-received independent films, including The Beauty Inside (2012), The Spectacular Now (2013), Faults (2014), Alex of Venice (2014) and Swiss Army Man (2016). Winstead continued her Scream Queen roles in the body horror film The Thing (2011), as Mary Todd Lincoln in the fantasy horror film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) and in the psychological horror thriller film 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).
She reprised her role as Lucy Gennero-McClane in A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) and returned to television with roles in the supernatural drama series The Returned (2015), the political satire/science fiction comedy series BrainDead (2016), the period medical drama series Mercy Street (2016–17) and the black comedy/crime drama anthology series Fargo (2017). Her recent roles include the comedy drama All About Nina (2018), the action thriller Gemini Man (2019) and as the Huntress in Birds of Prey (2020).
Since 2013, Winstead has performed as half of the music duo Got a Girl, with Dan the Automator.
10 Cloverfield Lane
7.2/10
After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter with two men, who claim the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack.
The Ring Two
5.4/10
Rachel Keller must prevent evil Samara from taking possession of her son's soul.
Swiss Army Man
6.9/10
Alone on a tiny deserted island, Hank has given up all hope of ever making it home again. But one day everything changes when a dead body washes ashore, and he soon realizes it may be his last opportunity to escape certain death. Armed with his new “friend” and an unusual bag of tricks, the duo go on an epic adventure to bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.
The Spectacular Now
7/10
Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.
Smashed
6.7/10
Kate and Charlie like to have a good time. Their marriage thrives on a shared fondness for music, laughter… and getting smashed. When Kate’s partying spirals into hard-core asocial behavior, compromising her job as an elementary schoolteacher, something’s got to give. But change isn’t exactly a cakewalk. Sobriety means she will have to confront the lies she’s been spinning at work, her troubling relationship with her mother, and the nature of her bond with Charlie.
Factory Girl
6.4/10
In the mid-1960s, wealthy debutant Edie Sedgwick meets artist Andy Warhol. She joins Warhol's famous Factory and becomes his muse. Although she seems to have it all, Edie cannot have the love she craves from Andy, and she has an affair with a charismatic musician, who pushes her to seek independence from the artist and the milieu.
The Hollars
6.6/10
Aspiring New York City artist, John Hollar returns to his Middle America hometown on the eve of his mother’s brain surgery. Joined by his girlfriend, eight months pregnant with their first child, John is forced to navigate the crazy world he left behind.
Bobby
7/10
In 1968 the lives of a retired doorman, hotel manager, lounge singer, busboy, beautician and others intersect in the wake of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Make It Happen
5.4/10
Embarking on a journey to fulfill her dreams as a dancer, a young girl discovers a new style of dance that will prove to be the source of both conflict and self-discovery.
Kill the Messenger
6.9/10
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
Faults
6.7/10
Claire is under the grip of a mysterious new cult called Faults. Desperate to be reunited with their daughter, Claire's parents recruit one of the world's foremost experts on mind control, Ansel Roth.
All About Nina
6.2/10
Nina Geld's passion and talent have made her a rising star in the comedy scene, but she's an emotional mess offstage. When a new professional opportunity coincides with a romantic one, she is forced to confront her own deeply troubled past.
The Parts You Lose
5.8/10
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Alex of Venice
5.8/10
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Checking Out
5.9/10
A famed stage actor reunites his family for a party, and plans to commit suicide after-wards, unless they are able to convince him not to.
The Long Road Home
6/10
After his mother died, twelve-year-old Seth George goes to live with his grandparents on their farm. Grouchy old Murdock is not very happy with the presence of his grandson and is rather hard on him. He was strongly opposed to the mixed marriage of his daughter and doesn't want to hear anything about Seth's Indian father who died when Seth was still a baby. His grandmother on the other hand was very fond of Seth but after a while she passes away. Seth also meets the charming yet sporting Annie Jacobs. Seth struggles at the farm with his grumpy grandfather and strives to win Annie's heart at the same time.
