Why Annie Marks From Good Girls Looks So Familiar
NBC's hit comedy Good Girls is led by three seriously talented performers, one of whom has had a lengthy career on both the big and small screen.
In the witty, dark crime comedy, Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Retta (Parks and Recreation) appear alongside Mae Whitman, whose resume is seriously stacked for someone her age. As the youngest and least responsible member of the group, Whitman's Annie Marks is a young, struggling single mother works a dead end job to make ends meet, and alongside Beth Boland (Hendricks) and Ruby Hill (Retta), the moms realize they have to do something drastic to fix their serious money problems.
However, after the three rob a supermarket, they realize that their new life of crime may be more intense than they anticipated, sending them into a desperate spiral to hide their criminal activity. If you're a fan of Good Girls, you've probably seen Mae Whitman in some of her other projects; here's why Annie Marks looks so familiar.
Mae Whitman was a child star
Whitman, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, became an actor at a very early age, booking a commercial before she could even read. From there, Whitman appeared in several hit movies, always as the daughter of an incredibly famous actor. In 1994, Whitman made her big screen debut as Meg Ryan's daughter in When a Man Loves a Woman, and you may remember her 1996 movies Independence Day and One Fine Day, where she played daughters to Bill Pullman and George Clooney, respectively.
After appearing in several big movies, Whitman broke onto the small screen with appearances in shows like JAG and Friends before booking her first starring role. Incredibly, her leading role in FOX's 2001 series State of Grace, which tells the story of a close friendship between the devoutly Catholic Grace (Whitman) and her Jewish friend Hannah paired Whitman with one of her future co-stars — Alia Shawkat, who portrayed Hannah. Just a few years later, the two would go on to appear on one of the most popular cult comedies of all time... as very different characters.
Mae Whitman has appeared in several TV shows about families
Comedy fans definitely remember Whitman from her recurring supporting turn on FOX's Arrested Development, which originally ran from 2004 to 2006 for three seasons before it was rebooted several times many years later. Whitman wasn't a main part of the central family, the spoiled Bluths, whose fall from wealth and power is as swift as it is hilarious, but she did play the pivotal role of Ann Veal, the nondescript girlfriend of young George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera). As Ann, Whitman's entire shtick was to fly distinctly under the radar, with the running gag that George Michael's father Michael (Jason Bateman) constantly forgot her name or who she was.
Arrested Development wasn't the only family-centric show that made Whitman a star. In 2010, Whitman became a series regular on Parenthood — created by Friday Night Lights' Jason Katims as a remake of Ron Howard's series — as Amber Holt, a troublesome teenager obsessed with her rocker boyfriend who constantly finds herself in trouble. Whether Whitman was appearing in a comedy or drama, she always found an opportunity to play an important role in a series all about the importance of family.
From comedy to action to drama, Mae Whitman's big screen career is varied and diverse
As far as Mae Whitman's big screen career goes, the actress has appeared in everything from intense teenage dramas to high school comedies to comic book adaptations. After her start as a child star, Whitman broke out into more mature fare in the 2010 action comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World — led by her Arrested Development co-star Michael Cera — as one seven evil exes that Scott must defeat to win over the girl of his dreams.
Beyond that, Whitman has appeared in supporting roles in movies like the 2012 drama Perks of Being a Wallflower as the lovelorn Mary Elizabeth, alongside stars like Logan Lehrman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, and more. From there, Whitman took on her first leading cinematic role with 2015's The DUFF with Bella Thorne as her beautiful high-school rival. Recently, Whitman popped up in CHiPS alongside Dax Shepard and Michael Peña and the 2020 remake of Valley Girl.
You can catch Whitman in Good Girls, the first three seasons of which are streaming on Netflix now.