Kate Mara Movies and TV Spotlight

Before Fantastic Four hits theaters, check out 10 of Kate Mara’s most pivotal roles!

On August 7, Kate Mara will star in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot as Susan Storm, AKA The Invisible Woman. This is part of Fox’s attempt to reboot the Fantastic Four and turn it into a franchise that can rival their own X-Men franchise or anything from Marvel Studios.

Fantastic Four will be one of the biggest movies that Mara has ever appeared in, but she does have another superhero film buried deep in her library of roles. For 16 years, Mara has navigated parts in movies and television series, largely in a supporting capacity. Mara is currently headlining major release films as a lead or co-lead, which means that she’s peaking in her career right now.

It’s too early to say whether Fantastic Four will continue Mara’s push towards greater stardom or if it will hinder her, but it will be far from the last word on her Hollywood journey.

Ahead of Fantastic Four’s release, ComingSoon.net looks back at the ten major roles that put her on her current path while charting the way for her future.

Kate Mara Television Series: Nip/Tuck (2003)

Prior to Nip/Tuck, Mara had guest spots in “Law & Order,” “Madigan Men,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and a two-episode stint on “Everwood.” The producers of “Nip/Tuck” cast Mara as Vanessa Bartholomew, a bisexual cheerleader who was involved in a love triangle with her boyfriend Matt McNamara (John Hensley) and her fellow cheerleader, Ridley Lange (Sophia Bush).

Kate Mara Movies: Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)

Mara’s first headlining role in a movie was the direct-to-video horror film, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary. Urban Legends wasn’t so much a franchise as it was a blatant attempt to recapture the vibe of the Scream series. By the time that Urban Legends: Bloody Mary came around, DTV was the only option for it.

In the film, Mara played Samantha Owens, a young college student who discovers the legend of a modern day Bloody Mary which has closer ties to her than she originally realizes.

Kate Mara Movies: Zoom (2006)

Fantastic Four is not Kate Mara’s first brush with superheroes! Instead, that “honor” falls on Zoom, a superhero comedy action film based upon Amazing Adventures from Zoom’s Academy by Jason Lethcoe. Mara played Summer Jones a.ka. Wonder, a young superheroine under the tutelage of Captain Zoom (Tim Allen). Zoom was a box office bomb and it managed to get an exceptionally low 3% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sorry Kate Mara, if you’re gonna go on to star in a big budget superhero film, then fans will eventually discover Zoom. But if Fantastic Four is a huge success, then people might forget about Zoom. And if Fantastic Four isn’t a success, then they will definitely forget about Zoom!

Kate Mara Television Series: 24 (2006)

Because “24” clearly didn’t have enough hackers, Kate Mara was introduced in the fifth season as Shari Rothenberg, a rival of sorts to Chloe O’Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub). During Mara’s five episode arc, “24” seemed to go out of its way to make Shari look a little crazy and vindictive for filing a sexual harassment charge against Miles Papazian (Stephen Spinella), especially when she freaked out over a slight touch from Bull Buchanan (James Morrison)!

As a final indignity, Shari was arrested for helping Chloe escape CTU when she didn’t really “help” her at all. It was more like Shari was afraid that Chloe would make good on her threat to recommend that she get a psychiatric evaluation.

Kate Mara Movies: Shooter (2007)

If you do a google search for Kate Mara and Shooter, one of the first photos to pop up will always be this picture of Mara in her underwear holding a gun. Gotta love the internet!

In Shooter, Mara played Sarah Fenn, the love interest of former Marine Corps sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg), who helps him when he is framed for an assassination that he didn’t commit.

Kate Mara Movies: Stone of Destiny (2008)

Do you remember the time that Daredevil and the Invisible Woman had a romance and teamed up with Pippin Took and Rumplestiltskin to steal the Stone of Scone? It happened!

Stone of Destiny was based on a real incident from 1950 in which Scottish nationalists stole the Stone of Scone from England after it had been stolen several centuries before. Mara played Kay Matheson, while future Daredevil, Charlie Cox, portrayed Ian Hamilton, with Billy Boyd as Bill Craig and Robert Carlyle as John MacCormick.

This film is significant to Mara’s timeline because it was one of her earliest films as a co-lead. Stone of Destiny wasn’t a huge film by any measure, but it was a step in the right direction for Mara.

Kate Mara Television Series: American Horror Story (2011)

Mara really got to bring the crazy in the first season of American Horror Story as Hayden McClaine, the jealous and jilted ex-mistress of Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott). And Hayden only got crazier after she died!

The Harmon family lived in what has come to be called “the Murder House.” And anyone who died there was cursed to remain as a spirit. Hayden was a very vindictive ghost who tormented the family at every opportunity. But even though she was dead, Hayden still received her comeuppance before the end of the storyline.

Kate Mara Television Series: House of Cards (2013)

Mara’s biggest TV role to date wasn’t actually on traditional TV at all. House of Cards was Netflix’s first serious attempt to create a prestige drama series. Mara played reporter Zoe Barnes, a young woman who found herself aligned with the ruthless politician, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey).

Zoe and Frank actually became lovers on the series. But the second that Zoe became even a partial threat to Frank’s rise to power meant that he had to deal with her… permanently.

Kate Mara Movies: Captive (2015)

Mara’s first film after Fantastic Four will be Captive, the adaptation of “An Unlikely Angel” by Ashley Smith, which is the account of Smith’s brief captivity by an escaped convict. Mara will play Smith, and the convict, Brian Nichols, is played by Selma star David Oyelowo.

This film will be one of Mara’s first real tests as a box office draw, as she and Oyelowo are co-leads in this thriller. If Mara proves that she can carry a film and audiences respond to it, then it means that she’ll have more opportunities in the near future.

Kate Mara Movies: Man Down (2015)

The next post-Fantastic Four film for Mara will be Man Down, a post-apocalyptic drama in which she plays Natalie, the wife of Gabriel Drummer (Shia LaBeouf). Gary Oldman, Jai Courtney, and Clifton Collins Jr. co-star in Man Down, but it’s not clear if this movie will get a wide release when it comes out in October 2015.

However, it will be interesting to see if Fantastic Four affects the box office for this movie one way or another.