Triple threat, Mary Chieffo currently stars on the award-winning CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery as the Klingon Chancellor L'Rell - a strong, smart female warrior struggling to reunify the Klingon Empire, a particularly patriarchal alien society. A self-proclaimed and unabashed Feminist of 26-years-old, Chieffo is already out to change the world, using her newfound platform to bring about greater intersectional gender equality in the entertainment industry and beyond. To that end, Mary is currently producing, writing, and starring in a feminist, gender, and color conscious Shakespeare adaptation alongside Viola Davis and Julius Tennon's JuVee Productions. She is thrilled to reveal more details about the project soon. Chieffo is also starring in the interactive web-series Digital Detox-a futuristic rendering of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper-opposite her fellow Juilliard classmate Justin Barnes, directed by Amber Benson ("Buffy The Vampire Slayer"). The statuesque 6 foot tall beauty was born into this business as the daughter of successful character actors Beth Grant ("The Mindy Project") and Michael Chieffo ("Battle of the Sexes"). She made her acting debut at three years old in the Sandra Bullock directed short film "Making Sandwiches" which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In high school, Mary gave up her career as an All-Star Soccer Goalie to focus on acting and modern dance, having studied Martha Graham technique since the age of 3. If that is not impressive enough, she was Valedictorian of her graduating class, receiving the Performing Arts Dance Award and the Headmaster's Award - given to a senior whose loyalty, spirit, and vitality have added to and will continue to benefit the school in years to come. In her Junior year, she was inducted into the Cum Laude Society and presented with the Princeton Book Award (intellectual promise and academic excellence; exemplary service or extracurricular activities; outstanding personal character). Chieffo took this ambition and moxie to Juilliard, flourishing in her passion for Classic text and reveling in the opportunity to take on strong female and male roles in the Shakespeare canon. After playing Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, Queen Dionyza in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV, Part 2, Lear in King Lear, and Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, Mary culminated her Shakespearean achievements at school as the title character in Princess Grace/Lucille Lortel Award-winning director Erica Schmidt's all-female Macbeth. For her exceptional work in the four year program, Juilliard presented Mary with the prestigious Elizabeth Smith Voice and Speech Prize and the Saint-Denis Prize for "Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Drama." Mary was also a four year merit-scholar and recipient of the SAG Foundation John L. Dales Scholarship. After graduation, she reprised her role in Schmidt's all-female Macbeth for Seattle Repertory Theatre's The Other Season and played the role of Iago in the Harlem Shakespeare Festival's all-female Othello. She also participated in workshops of Lover, Beloved: An Evening With Carson McCullers-a one-woman show written by Grammy Award-winning Suzanne Vega and Tony- and Grammy Award-winning Duncan Sheik. She performed the piece at the Sherry Theatre in Los Angeles and at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX. In film, Chieffo appeared opposite Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer and Frances Fisher in "The Perfect Fit" directed by her mom Beth Grant and winner of the Audience Award at the SoHo International Film Festival and Best Ensemble Award at Women's Independent Film Festival. Mary is also a classically trained singer with a five octave range, training under the guidance of famed vocal coach Deborah Lapidus at Juilliard. She dreams of doing a female interpretation of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and playing Elphaba in the musical that converted her into a full-fledged theatre geek when she was in middle school -- Wicked. She lives in Los Angeles. - IMDb Mini Biography By: PRStudio USA
