The Unnecessary Salvation of Mary McDaniel

Born and trained in New York City, Julie Carmen began her acting career off-off-Broadway, danced on Broadway in "Zoot Suit" but John Cassavetes launched Julie's film career, casting her as the Puerto Rican mom in Gloria opposite Gena Rowlands. Julie studied extensively with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, with Uta Hagen at HB Studio but more recently with Patsy Rodenburg and Sara Mornell. Julie joined the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the class of 2016. She was inducted into the New Mexico Film and Television Hall of Fame in 2018 for her iconic Southwestern roles in Robert Redford's Milagro Beanfield War and Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid opposite Val Kilmer. Julie sat on the Board of Directors of IFP/West, now Film Independent, for six years during which time she created the The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award in order to magnify Cassavetes' experiential shooting style. Julie sat on the Board of Women in Film for four years.

She is extremely grateful to have co-starred in films for John Cassavetes, Michael Mann (I), Robert Redford (I), John Carpenter (I), Nicolas Roeg, William A. Graham, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Franc Reyes, Tommy Lee Wallace, Carl Schultz, Dan Petrie, Jr., Michael Olmos, Tom Dolby, Tom Williams and on television for Karen Arthur (I), Betty Thomas (I), David Milch, Paris Barclay, Debbie Allen, Deborah Kampmeier and Quentin Tarantino.

Julie is known for her ageless chameleon qualities, effortlessly shape shifting into extremely diverse roles. She played Angelina Jolie's elegant plantation owner mother, fighting to free their slaves; she's often remembered as Nina the sexually insatiable environmental revolutionary in the HBO series Dream On; John Leguizamo's lesbian freedom fighting mother; the existential book editor opposite Sam Neill in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness but Julie's favorite incarnation was Regine Dandridge in the horror cult classic Fright Night Part Two. Julie plays La Doña in the new anthology Tales of the Walking Dead airing September 18th and she plays Sara Martinez on Grey's Anatomy airing October 6th, 2022.