Angela Bettis was born January 9, 1973 in Austin, Texas, to Mary Lynn and Richard Joseph Bettis. She graduated from Westlake High School before making her debut film appearance in Franco Zeffirelli's Storia di una capinera (1993), after the film, she enrolled at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and later went on to support Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted (1999), and Kim Basinger in Bless the Child (2000). A few years later, Angela went on to star as the title role in Lucky McKee's May (2002).