Betsy Brandt

Betsy Ann Brandt (14 November 1973) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Marie Schrader in Breaking Bad. She currently co-stars in the CBS sitcom Life in Pieces.

Early life

Brandt, who is of German descent, was born November 14, 1973 in Bay City, Michigan,^[1] the daughter of teacher Janet and electrician Gary.^[2] She graduated from Bay City Western High School in Auburn, Michigan in 1991.^[3]

Betsy Brandt took an interest in theater from an early age, but unlike many of her peers, she was more interested in directing stage musicals than starring in them. But after winning the lead in a high school production of Exit the Body, she shifted her focus to acting, which she studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as the Moscow Theater School at Harvard and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. After graduation, Brandt moved to Seattle, WA, where she worked in theater while appearing in several short films, beginning with Confidence in 1998. She eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she soon landed guest roles on ER (NBC, 1994–2009) and "NCIS (CBS, 2003– ), among other series. In 2005, she was top-billed in the indie comedy Shelf Life, as a rebellious young woman who takes a job at a small town library after a stint in rehab.

She received her BFA in acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1996.^[4][5] She studied theater at Harvard University's Institute for Advanced Theater Training and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow.^[1]

Career

In theater, Brandt has acted in performances of Much Ado About Nothing with the Arizona Theatre Company, Control+Alt+Delete with the San Jose Repertory Theatre, Beth Henley's Ridiculous Fraud, Julia Cho's The Language Archive with South Coast Repertory, and Next Fall with Geffen Playhouse. She has had guest roles on the television shows Without a Trace, Judging Amy, ER, Boston Legal, The Practice, and NCIS.

From 2008 to 2013, Brandt portrayed Marie Schrader in the AMC drama series Breaking Bad. She auditioned for three different roles before being offered the part of Marie.^[6] In 2012, she was cast as Sandy in Parenthood. Brandt was cast as Annie Henry on The Michael J. Fox Show, which premiered in September 2013.^[4] Her performance was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.^[7]

In 2014, Brandt was cast as one of the lead characters in the ABC series Members Only created by Susannah Grant, but the series did not go forward.^[8][9][10]

Personal life

Brandt is married to fellow UIUC graduate Grady Olsen; they have two children.^[3][4][11] She gave birth to her second child in 2008 while the second season of Breaking Bad was in production. Brandt and her family reside in Los Angeles, California.^[1]

On June 6, 2010, Brandt was honored as the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus at the Bay City Western High School commencement, and was a featured speaker.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Betsy Brandt.

• Betsy Brandt at the Internet Movie Database