Betsy Brandt

Betsy Ann Brandt is an American actress. She portrayed Marie Schrader in Breaking Bad (2008–2013) and played Heather Hughes in the CBS sitcom Life in Pieces (2015–2019).

Brandt was born in Bay City, Michigan.[1] She is of German descent. She graduated from Bay City Western High School in Auburn, Michigan, in 1991.[2] 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.

Brandt received her BFA in acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1996.[3][4] 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.[1] 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.