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Kate Mara – Zoe Barnes – House of Cards Cast
Kate Rooney Mara was born on February 27, 1983. She is an American actress, fashion model, and film producer. She is known for playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama House of Cards (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenberg in the Fox thriller series 24 (2006), and Ben Harmon’s vengeful mistress Hayden McClaine in the FX miniseries American Horror Story: Murder House (2011). In 2018 she starred in the first season of the FX series, Pose.
Kate Rooney Mara was born in Bedford, New York. Her parents are Timothy Christopher Mara, an NFL scout and vice president of the New York Giants for player evaluation, and Kathleen McNulty Mara.
She is a great-granddaughter of both New York Giants founder Tim Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney, Sr. Her mother’s side of the family has held ownership in the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers football team since its formation in 1933, and her father’s side of the family has held ownership in the NFL’s New York Giants since its formation in 1925.
Her paternal grandparents were Wellington Mara and Ann Mara. Wellington co-owned the Giants football team from 1959 until his death in 2005, and was succeeded by his son (Kate Mara’s uncle), John Mara, who is currently President, CEO, and co-owner of the team. Kate Mara’s maternal grandfather, Timothy James “Tim” Rooney, has operated Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York since 1972. Her granduncle, Dan Rooney, chairman of the Steelers, was a former United States Ambassador to Ireland and the co-founder of the charitable organization The Ireland Funds. Her first cousin, once removed, Art Rooney II, is the current President and co-owner of the Steelers.
Mara began acting at the age of nine in a school musical. She attended several youth theater-arts schools and appeared in community theater and in school plays. In an Esquire magazine interview, she says she was “painfully shy” growing up, adding she only had one friend.
Her first audition was for the NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street. She did not get the role, but knew from then on she wanted to act. Mara graduated from Fox Lane High School a year early, and was accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University to study musical theater, but deferred her slot to work as an actress.
Mara’s first television role was in the NBC legal drama Law & Order in 1997. She went on to guest star on numerous television series, including Madigan Men, Ed and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Mara was cast as the lead in the 2004 The WB pilot Prodigy, about a teenage child prodigy. She had a recurring role on the WB’s Jack & Bobby in 2005 and a five-episode arc on the Fox TV series 24 in 2006, playing computer analyst Shari Rothenberg. Mara joined the cast of the HBO comedy-drama Entourage for the series’ sixth season in 2009. Mara filmed four episodes for the series in 2009. In 2011, she guest starred on the FX horror series American Horror Story, as Hayden McClaine, a student who becomes Dr. Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott)’s dead mistress, a spirit trapped in the Harmon house. Mara was offered the role by Ryan Murphy, her former producer on Nip/Tuck.
In 2012, Mara joined the cast of House of Cards, playing the part of Zoe Barnes, an intrepid reporter from Washington, D.C. who becomes a major ally to Frank Underwood by leaking stories that undermine his rivals. She filmed a second season of the series, which was released on February 14, 2014. On July 10, 2014, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Mara made her film debut in Random Hearts, with Harrison Ford in 1999, directed by Sydney Pollack. She played Jessica Chandler, the daughter of a congresswoman (Kristin Scott Thomas). She next appeared in the Sundance Film Festival award-winning films Joe the King (1999) and Tadpole (2002), alongside Sigourney Weaver. Mara co-starred in Peoples (2004), a drama and coming of age story filmed in Louisville, Kentucky. She starred in the direct-to-video horror film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary and appeared with Noah Wyle and Illeana Douglas in the 2005 film The Californians. Her supporting role as the daughter of Heath Ledger’s character in the Academy Award-winning film Brokeback Mountain that year brought her more widespread critical notice.
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