Mary Stuart Masterson
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Biography
A fresh-faced blonde ingenue, Mary Stuart Masterson made her screen debut at age eight playing the daughter of her real-life father, Peter Masterson, in "The Stepford Wives" (1975). Following her less than auspicious debut (her biggest line was "Daddy, I just saw a man carrying a naked lady"), she effectively stopped working to concentrate on her education, squeezing in only an occasional TV appearance (a 1986 Robert Zemeckis-directed segment of "Amazing Stories" and in the 1980 ABC movie "City of Fear"). By age 18, Masterson had decided to follow in her parents' stead and resumed her career, playing a cancer sufferer who beats the disease only to develop a drug habit and give birth to a drug-addicted baby in the soap opera-ish "Love Lives On" (ABC, 1985).
Masterson returned to features with the Catholic school comedy "Heaven Help Us" (1985), portraying the first of several roles in which she essayed tomboys. With her hair cropped short and her lean, gangly look, she excelled at the roles, although she came close to being typecast. A rare exception was her turn as Sean Penn's love interest in the dark, fact-based thriller, "At Close Range" (1986), Francis Ford Coppola also offered the performer a change of pace, casting her as the college sweetheart of a Vietnam-era soldier in 1987's "Gardens of Stone." (Coppola even hired Peter Masterson and his wife Carlin Glynn to play their real-life daughter's on screen parents.)
Moving to adult roles, Masterson earned plaudits for her turn as a pregnant woman who gives her baby to a wealthy couple in "Immediate Family" (1989) and found a signature part as the latent lesbian Idgie Threadgoode in the sleeper "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991). She later appeared as the mentally disturbed painter Joon in the off-beat romance "Benny & Joon" (1993), co-starring Johnny Depp. But few of Masterson's films have been as successful as these ("really bad movies" and "bombs," she herself laughingly admitted), although she continued to prove to be a more than capable performer. She was one of a quartet of prostitutes roaming the untamed West in the revisionist "Bad Girls" (1994) and starred as a workaholic romanced by Christian Slater in the treacly romantic comedy "Bed of Roses" (1996).
Masterson was directed by her father in the well-received Showtime adaptation of Horton Foote's play "Lily Dale" in 1996. As the pampered, headstrong titular character who comes into conflict with her stepfather -- a role she had essayed on stage -- the actress delivered a strong turn that earned her critical kudos. The following year, she was seen as a single mother of a two in Timothy Hutton's feature directorial debut "Digging to China." Masterson herself has been anxious to step behind the camera, writing and directing the short "The Other Side" (lensed in 1999) and developing other projects as her anticipated big-screen debut. In the interim, with good roles for women hard to come by in motion pictures, she has turned to television, offering a fine performance as the abused wife of a police detective who tries to flee from her spouse in the thriller "Black and Blue" (CBS, 1999) and headlining her own series, "Kate Brasher" (CBS, 2001), portraying a single mother who finds a renewed sense of self as a caseworker for a legal advocacy center.
Filmography
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Cast (Feature Film)
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Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
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Life Events
1975
First film appearance, "The Stepford Wives"; played father Peter Masterson's on-screen daughter
1980
Made TV-movie debut in "City of Fear" (ABC), father contributed story and was executive producer
1981
Was understudy to Kate Burton for title role in the Broadway production of "Alice in Wonderland"
1985
Starred in the ABC TV-movie, "Love Lives On," as a cancer victim who develops a drug habit
1985
Played the daughter of a candy store owner who catches the eye of a Catholic school student in "Heaven Help Us"
1986
Cast as Sean Penn's love interest in "At Close Range"
1987
Portrayed the college sweetheart of a Vietnam-era soldier in "Gardens of Stone"; her real-life parents played her on-screen parents
1987
Starred as the tomboyish drumming Watts in the John Hughes film, "Some Kind of Wonderful"
1987
Appeared in the Off-Broadway play, "The Lucky Spot"
1989
Delivered a strong performance as a pregnant young woman who agrees to allow an older couple to adopt her baby in "Immediate Family"
1991
Offered fine turn as the mannish Idgie Threadgoode in "Fried Green Tomatoes"
1993
Portrayed a mentally disturbed young woman who finds love with an eccentric in "Benny & Joon"
1994
Cast as one of a quartet of working girls who travel the Old West in the revisionist "Bad Girls"
1996
Starred as a career woman, opposite Christian Slater, in the romance "Bed of Roses"
1996
Had title role of "Lily Dale" in the Showtime movie adapatation of Horton Foote's play; directed by father
1997
Portrayed the mother of a precocious young girl in Timothy Hutton's directorial debut, "Digging to China"
1999
Starred in the CBS TV-movie, "Black & Blue"
2001
Starred in the short-lived CBS drama series, "Kate Brasher"; also served as a producer
2001
Made directorial debut with the short film, "The Other Side"; aired as part of a trilogy on Showtime's "Directed By" series; also scripted
2001
Portrayed a former poet reduced to working as a prostitute in the drama, "The Book of Stars"
2003
Starred in the Broadway revival of "Nine"; nominated for a Tony Award as Featured Actress in a Musical
2004
Had a recurring role as the in-house shrink on NBC's "Law & Order SVU"
2004
Cast opposite Alan Rickman and Mos Def in the HBO original movie, "Something the Lord Made"
2005
Co-starred with Maria Bello and Erika Christensen in "The Sisters," inspired by Anton Chekhov's play "Three Sisters"
2007
Made feature directorial debut with "The Cake Eaters"
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