Mae Whitman

Young Justice

The Owl House

**Mae Margaret Whitman** (born June 9, 1988) is an American actress and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Whitman began acting in commercials as a child, making her film debut at the age of six in the romantic drama *When a Man Loves a Woman* (1994). She achieved recognition as a child actress for her supporting roles in *One Fine Day* (1996), *Independence Day* (1996), *Hope Floats* (1998), and her television role on *JAG* (1998–2001).

Whitman gained mainstream attention for her recurring role as Ann Veal on the Fox sitcom *Arrested Development* (2004–2013) and Amber Holt on the NBC drama *Parenthood* (2010–2015), receiving a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the latter. She established herself as a prominent voice actor in children's film and television for her voice performances as Shanti in *The Jungle Book 2* (2003), Rose/Huntsgirl on *American Dragon: Jake Long* (2005–2007), Katara in *Avatar: The Last Airbender* (2005–2008), Tinker Bell in the *Disney Fairies* film franchise (2008–2014), Wonder Girl / Cassie Sandsmark in *Young Justice* (2012-present) and Amity Blight in *The Owl House* (2020-present). She ventured into mature film roles with *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World* (2010) and *The Perks of Being a Wallflower* (2012), and made her leading role film debut in *The DUFF* (2015), for which she received critical praise and a Teen Choice Award nomination. Since 2018, she has starred as Annie Marks on the NBC drama *Good Girls*.

## Early life

Whitman was born in Los Angeles, the only child of voice artist Pat Musick and personal manager and set construction coordinator Jeffrey Whitman.[2] She attended Ribet Academy.

## Career

### 1991–2003: Early acting work

She started her career with a voice-over for a Tyson Chicken commercial at the age of two.[5] Acting coach Andrew Magarian helped her memorize lines as she could not read.[6] In 1994, at the age of six, Whitman made her film debut acting alongside Meg Ryan in *When a Man Loves a Woman* (1994), playing Ryan's youngest daughter, Casey Green.[7] She beat 700 other girls who were interested in the part.[3] In 1996, Whitman appeared in two films: *Independence Day*, playing Bill Pullman's daughter Patricia Whitmore,[8] and *One Fine Day*, playing George Clooney's daughter Maggie Taylor.[9] The same year, Whitman guest starred in the season three episode of *Friends,* "The One Where Rachel Quits."[10] In 1998, she played Sandra Bullock's daughter, Bernice Pruitt, in *Hope Floats.*[11] During several guest appearances from 1998 until 2001, Whitman played the role of Chloe Madison on *JAG* before starring in the Fox Family series *State of Grace* in which she portrayed Grace, a girl from a Catholic background who befriends Hannah (Alia Shawkat), a Jewish girl.[12][13] She was also in 17 episodes of *Chicago Hope*.

### 2004–2008: *Arrested Development* and other television roles

Whitman at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con
From 2004 to 2006, Whitman had a recurring role on *Arrested Development*, reuniting with Shawkat. She also voiced Katara on *Avatar: The Last Airbender* from 2005-2008. Whitman appeared in the 2006 series *Thief* for FX Networks, playing the stepdaughter of Nick Atwater (Andre Braugher).[14] Whitman made several high-profile guest appearances in 2006 and 2007. She also appeared on *Desperate Housewives* in the episode "Nice She Ain't" as Sarah, an unscrupulous friend of Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen). Whitman also had a recurring role on *Chicago Hope* (1994–2000), playing the daughter of "Dr. Kate Austin" (played by Christine Lahti), in the series' later years. Whitman was initially cast in the 2007 series remake of *The Bionic Woman*, playing the deaf younger sister of the title character. On June 27, 2007, *TV Guide* reported that Whitman was being replaced in the role of Jaime's sister and Lucy Hale was cast as Whitman's replacement the following July.[15] An NBC spokesperson confirmed this, stating "The decision was purely creatively driven. It is very common to change storylines, characters, actors after the initial pilot is shot." The sister character's hearing was restored after this recasting at the request of an NBC executive.[15] The series' unaired pilot episode has been released on DVD on April 7, 2008.[16] She also appeared in the 2008 episode "Streetwise" of *Law and Order: Special Victims Unit* as an on-the-street-mother who adopts street children and testifies against her husband after her adopted daughter is found murdered. Furthermore, she voiced the role as Rose in *American Dragon: Jake Long*. She appeared in the HBO series *In Treatment* as Rosie, and played Cynder in *The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night*. Whitman voiced the character Tinker Bell in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Disney *Tinker Bell* films.[17] As part of a deal to promote the production of the first *Tinker Bell* film, the UK's speaking clock started to use her voice at 0100GMT on October 26, 2008.[18]

### 2009–present: *Parenthood*, continued film roles and *Good Girls*

In 2009, Whitman landed a regular role in NBC's version of the Ron Howard classic *Parenthood*,[19] which premiered in 2010. She played Amber Holt, "a rebellious and willful teen whose only interest at present is her wannabe rock star boyfriend."[20] Whitman played evil ex Roxy Richter in Edgar Wright's *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World*, a film adaptation of the Bryan Lee O'Malley indie comic series *Scott Pilgrim*, which also starred her former *Arrested Development* co-star, Michael Cera, in the title role.[21][22] Whitman appeared on *Family Guy* in 2010. She had a large role in the 2012 film *The Perks of Being a Wallflower* opposite Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.[23] In 2013, she reprised her role as Ann Veal in *Arrested Development*'s season four, six years after the series was canceled.[24] She appeared alongside Darren Criss in three episodes of season three of Lisa Kudrow's *Web Therapy*, playing his girlfriend.[25] In 2015, Whitman played the lead role in the comedy *The DUFF*. She also started filming *Operator* alongside Martin Starr in June. [26] She voiced Batgirl in DC's *Super Hero Girls* series debuting on September 10, 2016. According to co-writer and director Roland Emmerich, Whitman did not reprise her role as the President's daughter in *Independence Day: Resurgence*, the sequel to the 1996 blockbuster hit *Independence Day*, because she did not want to read for the part.[27] Whitman has expressed her feelings on being typecast as an outsider in various roles in television and movies. She has talked about being a child actor and her relatable experiences such as being bullied in high school for being "weird."[28] In an interview with *Bello Mag*, Whitman explains that the entertainment industry constantly tells actors what they are "not" and felt her choosing of these roles was her "trying to communicate to everyone" who may go through similar situations, that it's okay to be who they are.[29] One of Whitman's more notable quotes is, "People should recognize who you are and how you can act rather than how famous you are."[30][31]

In 2018, Whitman was cast alongside Christina Hendricks and Retta on the NBC dramedy *Good Girls*.[32] The show was renewed for a fourth season on May 15, 2020.[33]

## Music

Whitman has recorded "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" and "You Make Christmas Feel So Good" for *School's Out! Christmas*,[34] and has sung guest vocals on a number of tracks from indie-punk band Fake Problems' 2010 album *Real Ghosts Caught on Tape*.[35] Whitman has also been featured on her show *Parenthood* in the song "Gardenia" on the season two episode "The Booth Job" along with Landon Pigg.[36][37] Whitman appears in the music videos for "I Was a Fool" and "Boyfriend" by Tegan and Sara.[38] She performed a small speaking part in the rapper DVS' track "Charlie Chaplin" where she plays the part of what DVS sees as the stereotypical hipster expressing distaste with music and television to appear special.[39]