Sarah Wayne CalliesMaria
Sarah Wayne Callies has made an indelible impression on audiences worldwide by bringing complex and powerful female characters to life on screen. Callies starred on USA's critically acclaimed drama series "Colony" and made her directorial debut on the show, having taken the reins behind the camera for episode nine. In addition to "Colony," Callies landed a starring role in the upcoming eight-part miniseries, "Unspeakable," for SundanceTV (US) and CBC in Canada. Based on the non-fiction books Bad Blood by Vic Parsons and The Gift of Death by Andre Picard, the series chronicles the emergence of HIV and Hepatitis C in Canada in the early 1980s, caused by one of the largest medical disasters in Canadian history. In addition to playing a leading role, Callies was also scheduled to direct an episode.
Additional credits for Callies include: starring in National Geographic's compelling miniseries, "The Long Road Home," opposite Michael Kelly, Kate Bosworth, and Jason Ritter, and starring in the season five reboot of FOX's critically acclaimed series "Prison Break." FOX brought the series back to life in spring 2017, after its four-season run from 2005-09. "Prison Break" was an international sensation, launching Callies' name into the global market. Fans were thrilled to see her return to television as prison physician Dr. Sara Tancredi. Another notable role Callies held from 2010-13 was starring as Lori Grimes, Rick Grimes's (Andrew Lincoln) wife on the record breaking series "The Walking Dead." As one of the original cast members and hand-picked by Frank Darabont, the show helped establish her as a social media maverick with a fan following (Instagram, Facebook) of nearly 1.6 million people and growing.
On the film front, Callies recently appeared in "This Is Your Death," alongside Josh Duhamel and Giancarlo Esposito, which premiered at the SXSW film festival in March 2017. She also starred as Allison Stone in Warner Brothers' action-packed "Into the Storm," directed by Steven Quale. Other feature credits include: "The Other Side of the Door," written and directed by Johannes Roberts for FOX and Voltage Films' "Pay the Ghost," opposite Nicolas Cage and directed by Uli Edel. In "Black November," Callies starred alongside Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Anne Heche, Akon, and Wyclef Jean. The film was directed by Jeta Amata, shot on location in Nigeria, and is the only film ever to be screened for the United Nations General Assembly. In Universal's "Whisper", Callies worked opposite Joel Edgerton, and in Benoit Phillipon's "Lullaby for Pi", she composed and performed an original song in addition to acting opposite Rupert Friend. Callies also has a love for theatre and returned to her roots on stage starring opposite Finn Whitrock in the Kennedy Center's production of "The Guardsman," in a new translation by Richard Nelson and directed by Gregory Mosher (2013).
While working in front of the camera keeps Callies busy, one of her greatest passions has been working alongside the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for the last decade, helping to aid refugees worldwide. She has worked in their camps in Iraq, Jordan, Serbia, Macedonia, and Thailand, and her blogs can be found on Huffpost. In 2010, Callies was named the first "voice" for the organization. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Callies attended Dartmouth College and obtained a Master of Fine Arts from Denver's National Theater Conservatory. She lives with her family in British Columbia, Canada.
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