Biography

Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She earned Academy Award nominations for her performances as Stands With A Fist in Dances With Wolves and May-Alice Culhane in Passion Fish. McDonnell is best known for her roles as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, First Lady Marilyn Whitmore in Independence Day, and Rose in Donnie Darko. She portrayed Captain Sharon Raydor in seasons 5–7 of TNT’s The Closer and later starred as Commander Raydor in its spin-off Major Crimes. In 2023, she appeared as Madeleine Usher in the Netflix miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher.