Marie Broderick is an American actress born in Saigon, Vietnam to a Vietnamese mother and an American father of French-Irish descent. When she was 3 years old her family emigrated to the United States and settled in Seattle, Washington. Broderick attended the University of Washington, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Drama with a minor in Dance. For 3 years Broderick performed as a member of the modern dance company The Three Yells headed by choreographer Veronica Lee.

Broderick started acting at the age of 24 when, on a whim, she walked into Freehold, an acclaimed acting studio in Seattle. Within the first year of her studies, she was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to study for 2 years and then awarded an additional year. In 2017 Broderick was accepted as a lifetime member of The Actors Studio. She was among the last to be admitted to The Studio by Martin Landau before his death that same year. Mr. Landau compared Broderick's talent to that of Studio legend Geraldine Page.