Dina Spybey-Waters

A petite, stage-trained blonde adept at portraying naive or off-center characters, Dina Spybey Waters first came to prominence in and won a Daytime Emmy Award for the leading role of an underage teenager in the fact-based HBO special, _Lifestories: Families in Crisis: Public Law 106: The Becky Bell Story (1992)_ (qv).In 2000, she married director 'Mark Waters' (qv) and eventually changed her professional name to reflect their union. The two collaborated on several projects, including _Freaky Friday (2003)_ (qv) and _HBO First Look: Just Like Heaven (2005)_ (qv). In the latter film, she delivered one of her best performances as 'Reese Witherspoon' (qv)'s protective, married-with-kids sister, veering adroitly between her trademark high-pitched comedic energy and convincing emotional moments.Waters earned a B.F.A. in Acting from Ohio State University and an M.F.A. from Rutgers University, before beginning her career on stage. She had appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway plays, including 'Alan Ball' (qv)'s "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress", for which she earned a Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent, "Blue Light" and "The Shawl", both directed by 'Sidney Lumet' (qv), and "The Iceman Cometh", opposite 'Kevin Spacey' (qv).::Dina Waters