Personal Life
McDonnell was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and raised in Ithaca, New York. After graduating from the State University of New York at Fredonia, she attended drama school and joined the East Coast's prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company, with which she worked for over 20 years. McDonnell is married to Randle Mell, who is also an actor. McDonnell and Mell currently reside in Pacific Palisades, California. They have two children, Olivia and Michael. In a question and answer session for Syfy regarding her role as Laura Roslin, she was asked if any of her character's political views caused her any discomfort because of her own views. She stated that several of the things her character did in Season Three of Battlestar Galactica " deeply against being a liberal progressive" and that portraying those views sometimes caused her "a bit of angst in having to commit to them."
Read more about this topic: Mary McDonnell
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