Entirely charming, enthusiastic, and modest, Mae Whitman is one of the busiest nine year olds
in the movie business. With a pocket stuffed proudly with a brand new beanie baby snake, she can
talk at length about books, her dog, favorite foods,(anything starchy), her new movie and her beanie
collection at home.

Her latest film is Hope Floats, starring Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr. and Gena Rowlands. Mae's
portrayal of Bullock's sensitive, disapproving daughter provides the emotional center for the film
when her father confesses, on national television, he is having an affair with another woman. After
playing daughter to Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan (When A Man Loves A Women), Matthew Modine (Bye Bye Love),
Bill Pullman (Independance Day) and George Clooney(One Fine Day). Mae has mastered the art of adorable.
With her empathetic and natural performance in Hope Floats, she proves she is capable doing much more.

On the set, an acting coach helps Mae rehearse, but she likes to prepare alone right before the scene."I
start to act like the character, then I become the character, and when I become the character, then I am
the character," she says matter of factly. "If I am not alone, and I start to get upset, people say, "Oh it's O.K.
and it's not supposed to be o.k. for the character, so I cant let be OK."

Mae's parent's help her choose her projects. "My parents gave me Hope Floats and said "Read it and see if you like it
If you dont want it, you dont have to do it, and if you want to do it, we'll talk about the good and bad about it. "They
help me out a lot" Ideally, Mae wants to do "an adventure movie, a run away from home movie-like Oliver Twist, only with a girl.

It was Mae's mother who inadvertantly lauched her only child's career, when she went on an audition and brought three year old Mae along. Mae came home with the job with herself. "They wanted to see how I would react if my Dad walked away. So they sat me down and told him to walk away from me. When he did, I burst into tears and started screaming and crying, but I did'nt get up. Finally he couldnt stand it and had to come back."

Besides her film roles, Mae has been in several television appearences and has a recurring role on "Chicago Hope" as Christine Lahti's daughter. When Mae couldnt get to the set because she was filming "One Fine Day", Lahti convinced the producers to shoot a double from a distance so Mae could remain on the show.

George Clooney shares Lahti's respect for his One Fine Day co-star. "She taught me everything I know," he says. Although Mae insist she doesn't think Clooney is "cute", she likes his pig, loves his pranks on the set, and would jump at the chance to work with him again. I can't do them (pranks) at school, I would get in trouble." she says. In fact, she recently won "The Mighty Marble Award" for best behaviour of the month at her private school
in Los Angeles.

Because, even the light of her burgeoning career, acting is not Mae's sole aspiration. "I want to be a lawyer, a teacher, or an actress," she says "I'm sure choose one later, or maybe two, Two's ok, I think"