Childhood & Early Life
Maggie Grace was born to Valinn Everett and Fred Denig on September 21, 1983, in Ohio. Her father ran a family jewelry business. They used to live in a 200-yeard old house, which was the first saltbox house in central Ohio
She has two younger siblings, Marissa Palatas and Ian Denig. Her parents divorced when she was 16 years old.
She had her early education from Worthington Christian Schools. As a child, she was an avid reader and called herself ‘Shakespeare nerd’.She started acting in community theater and school plays as she attended Thomas Worthington High School.
She dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles with her mother. They struggled a lot financially. Within a week of relocating, she contacted an agent and got enrolled in acting classes.
One of her earliest acting ventures was for ‘The Crucible’, a 2000 Gallery Players production. She performed for it at a local Jewish Community Center.
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Career
Maggie Grace started her career with ‘Rachel’s Room’, a web-based video series, in 2001.
In 2002, she appeared in the television series, ‘Septuplets’ but the show was cancelled before the first episode was aired. However, the same year she got a breakout role in the television movie, ‘Murder in Greenwich’. The movie is based on the true story of the murder of the 15-year-old Martha Moxley. She also appeared on the big screen with movie, ‘Shop Club’.
In 2003, she appeared in several television series like ‘Miracles’, ‘CSI: Miami’, ‘Twelve Mile Road’, ‘The Lyon’s Den’, and ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ and films like ‘Creature Unknown’ and ‘Twelve Mile Road’.
She played the role of a spoiled rich girl, Shannon Rutherford in the television series, ‘Lost’. It became a huge hit after it debuted in 2004 and ran till 2006.
She starred opposite Tom Welling in the film ‘Fog’ in 2005. The movie was the remake of the horror film ‘Fog’ that was released in 1980.
For the next few years, Maggie Grace concentrated completely on films. In 2007, she starred in the movie, ‘Suburban Girl’ with Alec Baldwin and Michelle Gellar. In the same year, she appeared in the movie, ‘The Jane Austen Book Club’, an adaption of Karen Joy Fowler’s novel.
She always wanted to work with the male actor Liam Neeson. She got the opportunity in 2008 with the thriller movie, ‘Taken’. She also appeared in ‘Taken 2’ and ‘Taken 3’.
She bagged the lead role for the movie, ‘Malice in Wonderland’ in 2009. It was an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.
In 2010, she appeared in a couple of TV series like ‘Flying Lessons’, ‘Knight and Day’, ‘Faster’, and ‘The Experiment’.
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In 2011, she appeared as Irina in ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1’. In 2012, she was the lead actress in the second part of ‘The Twilight Saga’. She also acted in many other movies like ‘Lockout’, ‘Taken 2’, and ‘Decoding Annie Parker’. She also made her Broadway debut with ‘Picnic’, the Pulitzer Prize winning play running at the American Airlines Theater.
In 2013, she took one-year break from movies and concentrated on TV series. While she appeared as Susanna in the eponymous TV series, she also starred in ‘Californication’, ‘The Following’, and ‘When Calls the Heart’.
In 2014, she returned to the silver screen with ‘We’ll Never Have Paris’ and ‘About Alex’. The following year she appeared in the documentary, ‘Unity’ and the movie ‘Taken 3’. She also starred in an episode of the TV series ‘Masters of Sex’.
Her most recent works have been in the movies ‘The Choice’ (2016), ‘The Scent of Rain and Lightning’ (2017), and ‘Aftermath’ (2017).
Awards & Achievements
In 2003, Maggie Grace was nominated for the prestigious Young Artist Award for her breakthrough performance in ‘Murder in Greenwich’. However, she lost to Clara Byrant for ‘Tru Confessions.’
In 2005, she was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for her role in ‘Lost’. She also secured 27th rank on Maxim's Hot 100 list of 2005.
She shared the 12th Screen Actors Guild Awards with the cast members of ‘Lost’ Season 2 in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
