Maria Bello made her screen debut in the 1992 film ‘Maintenance’ directed by Jesse Feigelman. Following her debut, she went on to star in films like ‘Morphosis’ (1994), ‘Permanent Midnight’ (1998), and ‘Payback’ (1999). In 2000, she portrayed ‘Lil Lovell’ in the American musical comedy-drama film ‘Coyote Ugly’ directed by David McNally. Even though the film was largely panned by critics, it managed to emerge as a box office success and grossed over $113.9 million on a budget of $45 million. Bello also bagged the ‘Blockbuster Entertainment Award’ for her performance in the film. She was next seen in films like ‘China: The Panda Adventure’ (2001), ‘Sam the Man’ (2001), ‘Auto Focus’ (2002), ‘100 Mile Rule’ (2002), ‘The Cooler’ (2003), ‘Silver City’ (2004), ‘Secret Window’ (2004), and ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ (2005). In 2005, she played the role of ‘Edie Stall’ in the David Cronenberg-directed action thriller film ‘A History of Violence.’ The film saw wide critical acclaim upon release and grossed over $61.4 million on a budget of $32 million. Bello also received several Critics Awards for her performance in the film. The following year, she appeared in the American satirical black comedy film ‘Thank You for Smoking’ directed by Jason Reitman. The film garnered praise from critics and received an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
She continued to star in films like ‘The Sisters’ (2006), ‘World Trade Center’ (2006), ‘The Jane Austen Book Club’ (2007), ‘Towelhead’ (2007), ‘The Yellow Handkerchief’ (2008), ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ (2008), ‘The Private Lives of Pippa Lee’ (2009), ‘Grown Ups’ (2010), ‘Beautiful Boy’ (2011), ‘Grown Ups 2’ (2013), ‘Third Person’ (2013), ‘McFarland, USA’ (2015), ‘Bravetown’ (2015), ‘The 5th Wave’ (2016), ‘Max Steel’ (2016), ‘In Search of Fellini’ (2017), and ‘Giant Little Ones’ (2018). She was last seen in the 2020 American drama film ‘The Water Man’ directed by David Oyelowo. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and earned a 78% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes.