As a child, actress Kate Mara knew American football like the back of her hand, but after developing an infatuation with acting, opted to pursue a career away from her distinguished sports pedigree. A petite redhead – equal parts football and theater maven – she began her career in minor TV and film roles, but came to prominent recognition with a mix of intense action-heavy work, most notably on Fox’s “24” (2001- ), and in sensitive film dramas such as “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) and “We Are Marshall” (2006).
Mara was born on Feb. 27, 1983 in the Westchester County, NY town of Bedford. There, she was raised along with three siblings – older brother Daniel, younger sister Patricia and younger brother Conor – by the parents of an NFL dynasty. Mara’s father, Chris Mara, was a VP of player evaluation for the New York Giants. Her grandfather, Wellington, owned the team, which her great-grandfather Tim originally founded. On her mother’s side, Mara’s great-grandfather, Art Rooney, was equally established in the sport, having founded the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With a childhood that was anything but ordinary, Mara’s Sundays were often spent in a family routine of church followed by football games at Giants Stadium – before many of which, the teenager was often called upon to sing the national anthem. At the age of nine, Mara informed her mother she wanted to act after becoming enthralled with a performance of “Les Miserables.” Her interest in musicals, which her mother aided through trips to Broadway, only grew. She had acted in a school play, but in 1997, at age 14, her mother – after persistent prodding – agreed to help her land an agent. This led to Mara’s first professional job that year on NBC’s “Law & Order” (1990- ).
Mara continued to act while remaining a student at Fox Lane High School and, in 1999, had parts in both an independent and a studio film. As Jessica Chandler, the congresswoman’s daughter of “Random Hearts” (1999), she found her introduction to mainstream movie audiences while logging screen time in the smaller Sundance favorite “Joe the King” (1999). Continuing to appear in guest spots on television, by the time she was ready to graduate high school one year early, she had been accepted into New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, but ended up deferring for several years, as she was already working professionally.
Having racked up a slew of small screen guest appearances, Mara found her first lengthy recurring arcs in 2003. The roles provided a dramatic challenge – first, as she played a girl impregnated by her piano teacher on The WB’s “Everwood” (2002-06), then as Vanessa, a lesbian teen engaged in a bisexual love triangle on FX’s plastic surgery drama “Nip/Tuck” (2003- ). That year, she also fulfilled her dream of hitting the professional stage, making her debut at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in John Guare’s “Landscape of the Body.” Despite her preference for the East Coast, Mara soon decided to head west to Los Angeles, looking to further pursue her onscreen prospects.
By 2005, Mara’s onscreen appearances had reached loftier heights. Though her role was small, she made an important late entry in the film “Brokeback Mountain” as Alma Del Mar Jr., the grown daughter of cowboy Ennis Del Mar, a character instrumental in helping tie the film’s emotional threads together. Playing her father, actor Heath Ledger was by then an elderly figure onscreen, but offscreen, Mara was barely four years younger than her co-star. The following year, she originated the role of Shari Rothenberg, a shifty CTU computer analyst/chemicals expert on Fox’s “24” (2001- ). Mara had the series audience appropriately hissing – the result of unenviably replacing fan favorite character Edgar Stiles. Though Sheri was pegged as somewhat villainous, Mara’s transition into the big screen summer film “Zoom” (2006) allowed her to play a heroine as the telekinetic teenager named Wonder.
Just after her grandfather, Wellington, passed away in late 2005, Mara read the screenplay for “We Are Marshall” (2006), the true story of a small West Virginia town decimated by the loss of its cherished college football team in a plane crash. She knew she wanted to be a part of the production, as she had been moved by the story’s message about the importance of adversity and of the sport itself to small town American life. Mara channeled her own grief into the role of Annie Cantrell, a cheerleading waitress whose fiancé was one of the fallen players.
It was her ability to tap into lost love that also came in handy when she was approached for Paramount Pictures’ “Shooter” (2007), which brought about her biggest leading role to date. It was a tough shoot, with Mara’s Sarah Fenn, a Marine spotter’s widow, coaxed into aiding his best friend in solving the truth behind a presidential assassination. The movie provided her with some physical challenges to go with the character drama – among them, a week filming exteriors perched high on a Canadian glacier. For the actress on the ascent, it was a fitting place to be.