Mary Elizabeth Chieffo (born November 7, 1992) is an American actress known for portraying the

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids c ...

'' L'Rell'' on the television series '' Star Trek: Discovery''.

Biography

Chieffo was born and grew up in the neighborhood of

Valley Village, Los Angeles Valley Village is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, located within the San Fernando Valley. History Founding According to Elke Garman, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowners Association in 1991, the history of Valley Village wen ...

in California, only daughter of actors Michael Chieffo and

Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy ''The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her role as Gracie L ...

. Her acting debut was at the age of three when she played a sleeping girl in

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...

's short film ''

Making Sandwiches ''Making Sandwiches'' is a short film written and directed by American actress and producer Sandra Bullock. Cast * Sandra Bullock as Melba Club * Matthew McConaughey as Bud Hoagie * Eric Roberts as Julia * Beth Grant as Mrs. Hellman Production T ...

'', in which her mother also had a role, and later acted in various TV shows and short and feature films. As a child, she attended Shakespeare theater camp at the

Theatricum Botanicum The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, named for the English botanist John Parkinson's herbal, ''Theatrum Botanicum'' (1640), is an open-air theater founded in Topanga Canyon, near The Getty Villa by Will Geer in 1973. In the 1950s, Geer was black ...

, where she performed in a variety of shows including Antony and Cleopatra. She attended the Drama division of

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York City, earning a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree in 2015. One of her classmates was future '' Star Trek: Discovery'' castmate Mary Wiseman. Her first high profile acting position was on ''Star Trek: Discovery'', where she played the recurring character of L'Rell, a

warrior and spy who becomes leader of the

Klingon Empire The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids ch ...

at the end of

Season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguat ...

. Her writing and producing debut was ''Operation Othello'', a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

adaptation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

, where she also plays Lt.

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates ...

in a gender twist from the original play. In 2022 she reprised her role as Iago in "Iago: The Green Eyed Monster", a 6-minute futuristic musical AR prequel to Othello, nominated for "Best Immersive Experience" in the 2022

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was fo ...

Personal life

Chieffo came out publicly as a lesbian on the red carpet prior to the Star Trek Day event held September 8, 2021, at the

Skirball Cultural Center The Skirball Cultural Center, founded in 1996, is a Jewish educational institution in Los Angeles, California. The center, named after philanthropist-couple Jack H. Skirball and Audrey Skirball-Kenis, features a museum with regularly changing exh ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. A few days later, she confirmed via her

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed that she was dating writer and actor Madi Goff.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chieffo, Mary 1992 births Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American lesbian actresses American television actresses Juilliard School alumni People from the San Fernando Valley