Maggie Contreras has come a long way from her birthplace of Tucson, Arizona. Born and raised by her mother, Linda, a teacher and director of religious education, and her father, Rene, a former silversmith, Ms. Contreras has always had her sights set high.The youngest of eight children, she spent much of her adolescence studying music and participating in athletics. Before her junior year of high school, Ms. Contreras moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, and attended E.C. Glass High, which is well known for its performing arts program. In order to pay for her extracurricular activities, including playing on a top club volleyball team, Ms. Contreras spent her summers showing and training horses on breeding farms. She describes her years as a student as ones characterized by determination as well as talent, support from fabulous mentors and a lot of time in the car with Mom. Being driven mostly by a love of the stage, she focused her efforts on performance, and attended the George Washington University, majoring in theatre and communications. She excelled and gained employment as a professional working actress while still a student.She was a fixture on the Washington theatre scene as an actress and a technical manager. She gained additional work shooting commercials and film (appearing in a number of short films that received national attention), as well as commercial spots (Sony, Senate Termite Control). Her voice can be heard on radios across the nation in advertisements for the Internal Revenue Service.In her last year at college, England attracted the young actress; she studied and performed at the London Dramatic Academy, under the tutelage of Richard Digby Day, one of the foremost stage directors in London's West End and regional theatres. Her scholarly and professional pursuits caught the attention of literary celebrity Joan Wyndham, one of London's most esteemed authoresses. Ms. Contreras was invited to visit with Wyndham to discuss her captivating diaries of life in and around WWII. This led to a series of meetings, all of which were compiled by Ms. Contreras, and along with three books on her subject, would later serve as the basis for her one-woman show adapting Wyndham's memoirs for the stage. Her play, titled "To War with Love," received its world premiere in May of 2005, and opened to critical and popular acclaim, which enabled Ms. Contreras to take it on the road and perform it for American audiences. Its US premiere took place in Washington, DC, at the Capital Fringe Festival, on July 21, 2006.Ms. Contreras moved her career to L.A. in August 2006 and trained in the Boston University graduate acting program. She began her L.A. career in January of 2007 and is now a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Show less «