Mara was born and raised in Bedford, New York, the daughter of Chris Mara, a scout for the New York Giants, and Kathleen Rooney. Her family is Irish. She has one older brother, Daniel, and two younger siblings, Patricia and Conor. Mara wanted to be an actress since seeing Les Misérables at a young age; she said she "fell in love with Broadway and musicals", and grew up watching movie musicals Read more...

Mara's first television role was in the drama Law & Order in 1997. She went on to guest star on numerous television series including, Madigan Men, Ed, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Recurring parts followed in 2003 on the series Everwood, as Kate, an 18-year-old who is impregnated by her piano teacher and then gets an abortion, and Nip/Tuck, as Vanessa, a lesbian involved in a love Read more...

Mara's film debut was in Random Hearts with Harrison Ford in 1999, directed by Sydney Pollack. She played Jessica Chandler, the daughter of a congresswoman. She next appeared in the Sundance Film Festival award-winning films Joe the King (1999) and Tadpole (2002), alongside Sigourney Weaver. Mara co-starred in Peoples in 2004, a drama and coming of age story filmed in Louisville, Kentucky. She starred Read more...