Biography, Facts, and Life Story of Mae Whitman

Mae Whitman (Mae Margaret Whitman born June 9, 1988) is an American voice actress. She’s recognized for her work as Ann Veal in the TV series Arrested Development, Roxy Richter in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

She’s also cast as Tink in the Disney Junior series, and by 2019 she’ll be making her big-screen debut in the Peter Pan live-action adaptation. She played Rose/Huntsgirl in American Dragon: Jake Long and Tinker Bell in the Tinker Bell movies. She rose to popularity in her youth as a child actress for her minor parts in One Fine Day (1996), Independence Day (1996), Hope Floats (1998), and her television part on JAG (1998–2001).

Early Life of Mae Whitman

Mae was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Pat Musick (née Dalton), an acting coach and former actress with two Broadway productions, and Jeffrey Whitman, who has worked as an executive recruiter and a ghostwriter for over 15 years. In addition to her parents’ occupations, Mae’s grandmothers were opera singers, and her grandfather was a screenwriter.

Whitman’s mother is a director and producer, and her father is retired law enforcement. Her elder sister is actress Martha Plimpton, who is currently starring in Fox’s Raising Hope with Lucille Ball Award-winner Cloris Leachman. Whitman attended Ribet Academy in Los Angeles, California, from 2005 to 2008.

She majored in film at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television, where she won the Gene Reynolds Scholarship for Directing for two years consecutively. Whitman is friends with actress Kaitlin Cullum.

Since then, Whitman has continued to breakthrough as an actress with a supporting role on Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt in 2016 and a recurring part on Fox’s Arrested Development (2004–2006, 2013), earning a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination for the latter.

Career life of Mae Whitman

She began her career when she was two years old, providing voice-overs for a Tyson Chicken ad. Andrew Magarian, an acting coach, assisted her in memorizing lines since she couldn’t read. Since then, she has been featured in commercials, television programs, and films. In addition to acting, Whitman is a singer and plays the guitar with several bands as well as in Theatre. Mae Whitman could sing as well as act.

Mae’s film debut came at seven in Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed Oscar-winning film, “A Perfect World” (1993). She was a regular on JAG from 1998 to 2001 as Lt. Stephanie Cobb and had a minor role in the Emmy Award-winning 24-episode season 4 finale of the FOX hit “Arrested Development” as GOB’s teenaged secretary/assistant, Kitty Sanchez. In 2004, she landed the role of Ann Veal on the Fox sitcom Arrested Development.

Whitman has had recurring roles in NBC’s Parenthood (2010) and HBO’s Girls (2012), as well as parts on The CW’s Gossip Girl, ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager, CBS’ independent film Living Out Loud opposite Holly Hunter, NBC pilot The Munsters, Fox’s short-lived What About Brian and ABC’s Ugly Betty.

Later Career

In 2010, Whitman was cast in a leading role in the NBC comedy series Up All Night created by Emily Spivey, which premiered on November 14, 2011, with two back-to-back episodes starting at 8:30 pm. She portrayed Reagan Brinkley, a hard-working young woman trying to advance in her career and navigate her relationships with the people around her.

On February 25, 2012, NBC announced that they would be removing Whitman from their cast after the thirteenth episode of the second season.

Whitman was also featured in an ABC series, “The Deep End”, which premiered on January 21, 2010. In 2011 she appeared as a young mother in the Hallmark movie Expecting a Miracle with Jason Priestley and Cheech Marin.

Furthermore

In 2013, Whitman played Shasta O’Neil in a TV movie about the O.J. Simpson case called The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe alongside Susan Sarandon and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It tells how Marilyn Monroe came together with her then-husband, Arthur Miller, to give testimony in defense of their friend, confidante, and legendary attorney, Gloria Allred (Sarandon), during the trial. Whitman played Daphne Stillington in Fox’s comedy pilot “Bless This Mess”.

Whitman’s recent films are The DUFF, Mean Moms, Sleeping with Other People with Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie, After Everything, and What About Love with Heather Graham and Paul Adelstein. She is currently filming Higher Power with Mike Colter for Sony Pictures.

Mae Whitman has been cast in an ABC pilot called Unit Zero, starring Jessica Alba and produced by The Whispers writer Soo Hugh.

Whitman is currently co-starring in the NBC pilot Sea Change (2017) and appears in the Netflix original series Lady Dynamite (2016). Whitman has appeared on various TV shows, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, House M.D., Gray’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Parenthood since 2000. She is also well known for her voice-over work, such as her role as Katara in the Nickelodeon series Avatar:

The Last Airbender (2005–2008), young Gwen Stacy in The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), and Tinker Bell in the Disney Fairies film series (2010–present). Whitman is also well known for providing the voice of April O’Neil in Nickelodeon’s 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its IDW comics spinoff.
In 2018, Whitman was cast in the NBC comedy Good Girls with Christina Hendricks and Retta. On May 15, 2020, the show was renewed for a fourth season. The series was canceled in June 2021 after four seasons.

Personal Life

On August 16, 2021, Whitman announced her pansexuality on Twitter, admitting that she knows she can “fall in love with people of all genders.”