The Biography

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her first significant role came as Jessica Bennett on the NBC soap opera Passions (1999–2000) and she went on to appear in series such as Tru Calling (2004) and films including the superhero film Sky High (2005). She came to wider attention as a scream queen for her roles in the horror series Wolf Lake (2001–2002), the giant monster film Monster Island (2004), the supernatural horror film Final Destination 3 (2006), the slasher film Black Christmas (2006), and the exploitation horror film Death Proof (2007). 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 sci-fi 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). Other roles include the comedy drama All About Nina (2018), the action thriller Gemini Man (2019), and as the Huntress in Birds of Prey (2020).