Biography

Mary Chieffo (she/her) is a queer actor/producer known internationally as the Klingon Commander turned Chancellor L'Rell on the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Discovery, returning as her iconic character for the highly popular Star Trek Online.

After playing numerous Shakespeare roles including the titular characters in King Lear and Macbeth, Chieffo received her BFA from Juilliard in 2015, along with the prestigious Elizabeth Smith Voice and Speech Prize and the Saint-Denis Prize for "Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Drama."

Mary is a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA. Recent acting credits include guest star roles on NCIS, Girls5eva, and leading roles in Bespoke Plays' staged readings of Heretics by Ellie Pyle in New York, Analogue by Christine Boylan, Lady Face and Systems by Madi Goff in Los Angeles.

Mary is a member of The Road Theatre Company, Impro Theatre LAB Ensemble (narrative improvisation), as well as a frequent guest collaborator with all-female/genderqueer Ripley Improv.

When she wasn't covered in prosthetics and speaking Klingon, Mary produced, wrote, and starred as Iago in Operation Othello - a feminist, gender, and color-conscious VR adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello alongside Viola Davis and Julius Tennon's JuVee Productions in the spring of 2018 (Official Cannes XR and Raindance XR Selection). She has since developed her female interpretation of the notorious villain for Iago: The Green-Eyed Monster, a Musical AR Experience co-created with Josh Nelson Youssef in collaboration with JuVee and Verizon, premiering at Tribeca Film Festival in June 2022 (Webby Award WINNER Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 2023, Tribeca X Finalist).

Mary also stars in the short film Every Morning, a queer sci-fi love story, written by and co-starring her partner Madi Goff (Women In Media Parity In Action Badge, River Bend Film Fest WINNER Spirit of the Fest Award, Indie Short Fest WINNER Best Acting Duo, Best Original Score, Outstanding Achievement LGBTQ+ Short, LA Independent Women Film Awards WINNER Best Composer). Chieffo served as executive and creative producer on the film in partnership with Dr. Erin Macdonald's LGBTQ+ owned Spacetime Productions.
- IMDb mini biography by: Mary Chieffo

Towering height

A 2015 BFA graduate in Group 44 of The Juilliard School's Drama Division, Chieffo is the first legacy in the Division's nearly 50 year history. Her father was in Group 6.

Daughter of Beth Grant and Michael Chieffo.