Mary grew up in Zimbabwe and came to London to train. She has been acting in film, television and theatre since 1980, and teaching alongside her acting work for 10 years. Recent acting with the acclaimed film directors Mike Leigh and Joanna Hogg led to Mary teaching improvisation for film at several drama schools in London.

Film work includes – Testament of Youth (James Kent), The Riot Club (Lone Scherfig), Paddington (Paul King), Woman in Black Angel of Death (Tom Harper) Exhibition (Joanna Hogg), Les Miserables (Tom Hooper), Suspension of Disbelief (Mike Figgis), Chatroom (Hideo Nakata), Unrelated (Joanna Hogg – Guardian & Evening Standard award for best first film, Independent Film Critic’s Award for best film), Topsy Turvy (Mike Leigh).