Editing Mae Whitman (section)

===Early roles===
Whitman started her career at age two in a [[voice-over]] for a [[Tyson Foods|Tyson Chicken]] commercial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/person/mae-whitman/biography.html|title=Mae Whitman's biography|work=Yahoo! Movies|access-date=March 31, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101162145/http://movies.yahoo.com/person/mae-whitman/biography.html|archive-date=January 1, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Because she could not read, acting coach Andrew Magarian helped her memorize lines.<ref>{{cite news|last=Painter Young|first=Jamie|title=Mae Whitman Bares Her Old Soul|url=http://www.backstage.com/interview/mae-whitman-bares-her-old-soul/|work=Backstage|access-date=June 15, 2013|date=June 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814022312/http://www.backstage.com/interview/mae-whitman-bares-her-old-soul/|archive-date=August 14, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> At age five, Whitman made her film debut alongside [[Meg Ryan]] in ''[[When a Man Loves a Woman (film)|When a Man Loves a Woman]]'' ([[1994 in film|1994]]), playing Ryan's youngest daughter, Casey Green. She was chosen for the role over 700 other girls who auditioned.<ref name="people"/> In [[1996 in film|1996]], Whitman appeared in two films: ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]'', playing [[Bill Pullman]]'s daughter Patricia Whitmore, and ''[[One Fine Day (1996 film)|One Fine Day]]'', as [[George Clooney]]'s daughter Maggie Taylor. The same year, Whitman guest starred in the season three episode of ''[[Friends]]'', "[[The One Where Rachel Quits]]". Between 1996 and 1998, she starred in 17 episodes of the [[David E. Kelley]] medical drama [[Chicago Hope]]. Later, she played [[Sandra Bullock]]'s daughter, Bernice Pruitt, in ''[[Hope Floats]]''. Whitman played the role of Chloe Madison on ''[[JAG (TV series)|JAG]]'' In several guest appearances from 1998 to 2001 before starring in the [[Freeform (TV channel)|Fox Family]] series ''[[State of Grace (TV series)|State of Grace]]''. In that series, she portrayed Grace, a girl from a Catholic background who befriends Hannah ([[Alia Shawkat]]), a Jewish girl.<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Alan|title=Excellent 'State of Grace' creates varied place for itself|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/06/25/excellent-state-of-grace-creates-varied-place-for-itself/|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=June 15, 2013|date=June 25, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213020426/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-06-25/features/0106250133_1_hannah-rayburn-mae-whitman-fox-family-channel|archive-date=February 13, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=DiNardo|first=Kelly|title=A heartfelt summer hit|work=[[USA Today]]|date=19 August 2001|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/2001-08-20-state-of-grace.htm|access-date=June 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213013743/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/2001-08-20-state-of-grace.htm|archive-date=13 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>