Betsy Brandt

Brandt was born in Bay City, Michigan.^[3] She is of German descent. She graduated from Bay City Western High School in Auburn, Michigan, in 1991.^[4] Brandt took an interest in theater from an early age, but unlike many of her peers, she was more interested in directing stage musicals than starring in them. After winning the lead in a high school production of Exit the Body, she shifted her focus to acting.^{[citation needed]}

Brandt received her BFA in acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1996.^[5][6] She studied for her MFA at Harvard University's Institute for Advanced Theater Training and studied abroad at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow.^[7] After graduation, Brandt moved to Seattle, Washington, where she worked in theater while appearing in several short films, beginning with Confidence in 1998. She eventually moved to Los Angeles.

In theater, Brandt has acted in performances of Much Ado About Nothing with the Arizona Theatre Company, with the San Jose Repertory Theatre, Beth Henley's Ridiculous Fraud, Julia Cho's The Language Archive with South Coast Repertory, and Next Fall with Geffen Playhouse. She has had guest roles on the television shows Without a Trace, Judging Amy, ER, Boston Legal, The Practice, and NCIS.

From 2008 to 2013, Brandt portrayed Marie Schrader in the AMC drama series Breaking Bad. She auditioned for three different roles before being offered the part of Marie.^[8] She described her character as "an unpleasant bitch", but also stated that there was more to her than that. "I think we're seeing more of it now that she would be there for her family. But it's all about her."^[9] In 2012, she was cast as Sandy in Parenthood. Brandt was cast as Annie Henry on The Michael J. Fox Show, which premiered in September 2013.^[5] Her performance was met with positive reviews.^[10] She reprised her role as Marie Schrader for the Better Call Saul series finale.

In 2014, Brandt was cast as one of the lead characters in the ABC series Members Only created by Susannah Grant, but the series did not go forward.^[11][12][13]

From 2015 to 2019, she starred as Heather Short Hughes in the CBS comedy series Life in Pieces. The series was cancelled after four seasons. In 2020, Brandt was announced to be playing the role of Cleo in the pilot episode of the NBC sitcom Jefferies, which was created by Jim Jefferies and Suzanne Martin.^[14] To date, the pilot remains unaired.

Brandt married fellow UIUC graduate Grady Olsen in 1998; they have two children.^[4][5][15] She gave birth to her second child in 2008 while the second season of Breaking Bad was in production. Brandt and her family reside in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} Brandt and her husband separated in 2023.

On June 6, 2010, Brandt was honored as the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus at the Bay City Western High School commencement, and was a featured speaker.^{[citation needed]}