Mae Akins Roth: Inside Her Life as Laurie Metcalf’s Daughter

Mae Akins Roth was born in 2005, the same year her parents, Laurie Metcalf and Matt Roth, married after a long relationship that began during their years on Roseanne.

She is the youngest daughter in a four-child family connected to television, film, and Chicago theater. Her half-sister, Zoe Perry, is known for playing Mary Cooper on Young Sheldon.

Mae has now begun creating credits of her own. She studies musical theater at Marymount Manhattan College and has appeared in the 2023 short film Butterface.

Her public work also includes singing, student theater, and a scheduled 2026 performance at New York’s 54 Below. Here is what documented sources reveal about her family and developing career.

Mae Akins Roth’s Quick Facts

Who Is Mae Akins Roth?

Mae Akins Roth is the daughter of Laurie Metcalf, the Emmy-winning actor behind Jackie Harris on Roseanne and The Conners, and actor Matt Roth.

Although articles about Mae often describe her simply as a celebrity daughter, she uses Mae Roth professionally and identifies herself as an actor and singer.

Her emerging résumé is centered on musical theater. She enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College in New York after graduating from high school in 2023.

Mae’s college path reflects a specific professional interest rather than a casual connection to show business. Her listed course of study is a BFA in Musical Theatre.

Her family background places her near several acting traditions, including network comedy, Broadway drama, independent film, and the ensemble-based work of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

How Old Is Mae?

Mae was born in 2005, placing her in her early twenties in 2026. Reliable profiles of the Metcalf family consistently identify 2005 as her birth year.

She arrived more than a decade after her brother Will Theron Roth, who was born in 1993 to Metcalf and Matt Roth.

Her parents married in 2005 after working together during the original run of Roseanne. Their divorce was completed in May 2014.

Mae completed high school in 2023. Her school celebrated her college plans that spring, announcing that she would study musical theater at Marymount Manhattan.

The timing puts her college years alongside her first screen and stage credits, including Butterface in 2023 and a 54 Below appearance scheduled for March 2026.

Her Early Life and Family

Mae grew up as one of Laurie Metcalf’s four children. The family includes Zoe Perry, Will Theron Roth, Donovan Roth, and Mae.

Metcalf shares Zoe with her first husband, Jeff Perry, a co-founder of Steppenwolf and an actor known for Nash Bridges and Scandal.

Will, Mae, and Donovan are Metcalf’s children with Matt Roth. Donovan entered the family through foster care in 2006 and was later adopted.

Matt met Metcalf through Roseanne, where he played Fisher, Jackie Harris’s boyfriend. The character appeared during the ABC comedy’s fifth and sixth seasons.

Mae’s upbringing also coincided with her mother’s work in television and theater, from Getting On on HBO to Broadway productions such as Misery and Three Tall Women.

Meet Their Acting Family

Laurie Metcalf joined Steppenwolf Theatre Company during its earliest period after graduating from Illinois State University in 1976 with a theater degree.

Her performance as Darlene in the 1984 New York production of Balm in Gilead brought her an Obie Award and a Theatre World Award.

Television audiences came to know Metcalf as Jackie Harris when Roseanne premiered on ABC in 1988. She won three consecutive supporting-actress Emmys from 1992 through 1994.

Matt Roth joined Roseanne as Fisher, whose relationship with Jackie became part of a serious domestic-abuse storyline. He later worked with Metcalf in Blink and Desperate Housewives.

Mae’s half-sister Zoe Perry built her own career through stage and screen work, eventually portraying Mary Cooper on CBS’s Young Sheldon from 2017 to 2024.

Mae Akins Roth’s Education

Mae announced in 2023 that she would attend Marymount Manhattan College, a private institution whose main campus is located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Her selected degree track was musical theater. She also planned to study communications and arts management alongside her performance training.

The decision had personal history behind it. In her college announcement, Mae said she had loved Marymount Manhattan since the seventh grade.

Marymount’s training combines acting, singing, dancing, and production experience. That course load matches the range Mae has begun presenting in her professional profiles.

Her student performances have included musical-theater material such as “Gimme Gimme,” the solo sung by Millie in Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan’s Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Her First Screen Credit

Mae appeared in Butterface, a short film released in 2023. The project is her earliest publicly documented screen acting credit.

The film follows Charlie, a teenager dealing with a viral social-media insult after her classmates post an image that mocks her appearance.

Mae was credited as a TikToker, connecting her role to the online reaction surrounding the central character’s experience.

The short was written and directed by Erik C. Bloomquist, whose other directing credits include Founders Day and She Came from the Woods.

Unlike her mother’s network-television beginning, Mae’s first listed project emerged through a contemporary short-film production focused on social media and adolescent self-image.

Her Work as a Singer

Mae describes herself as a singer as well as an actor. Her musical training gives voice work a central place in her developing career.

She has released a song titled “Here” on digital music platforms, expanding her work beyond college showcases and filmed acting.

Her public performance material leans toward musical theater, including songs that require character acting within the vocal delivery.

A 2026 cast introduction for 54 Below identified her as a musical-theater performer, singer, and Marymount Manhattan College student.

Those credits suggest three connected areas of work: • BFA performance training • live cabaret appearances • recorded music released under her professional name.

Mae’s 54 Below Appearance

Mae was announced for Goin’ Back to Black Box: A StarKid Tribute, scheduled at 54 Below in New York City on March 4, 2026.

The cabaret celebrates Team StarKid, the theater company that developed a large online following through musical parodies and original horror-comedy productions.

The announced program draws from shows including A Very Potter Musical, Firebringer, and The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.

Mae joined fellow Marymount Manhattan performers Joli Flynn, Aydan Eatchel, Hanna Hobson-Rohrer, Isabella Paragas, and others in the listed cast.

The venue sits below Studio 54 and regularly presents Broadway performers, composers, and rising theater artists in an intimate cabaret setting.

Her Bond With Laurie

Mae has accompanied Laurie Metcalf to entertainment events, including the Tony Awards, where Metcalf has accumulated multiple nominations and two competitive wins.

She also visited the set of Supergirl when her mother guest-starred in the CW series during its third season in 2018.

Metcalf played Mary McGowan, the estranged mother of Winn Schott, portrayed by Jeremy Jordan. Mae attended because she and her mother watched the series together.

The set visit gave Mae the chance to meet series star Melissa Benoist, who played Kara Danvers and the title character.

That experience came years before Mae entered college for musical theater, but it connected her interest in performance with a working television production.

Laurie Metcalf’s Career Impact

Metcalf’s career offers Mae a close view of sustained work across three different formats: television comedy, dramatic film, and professional theater.

As Jackie Harris, Metcalf appeared throughout the original nine-season run of Roseanne from 1988 to 1997 and returned for its 2018 revival.

She continued the character in The Conners, which premiered on ABC in October 2018 and completed its run in 2025.

Greta Gerwig cast Metcalf as Marion McPherson in Lady Bird, released in 2017. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

On Broadway, Metcalf won Tonys for A Doll’s House, Part 2 in 2017 and Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women in 2018.

Her Sister Zoe Perry

Zoe Perry was born in 1983 to Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Perry, making her more than two decades older than Mae.

As a child, Zoe briefly played a younger Jackie Harris in two episodes of Roseanne. She pursued acting more fully after attending college.

Her later television credits include The Family, Scandal, and Young Sheldon. On Scandal, she worked within the same series led by her father, Jeff Perry.

Zoe’s best-known part, Mary Cooper, created an unusual family connection. Metcalf had played the older Mary on The Big Bang Theory before Zoe joined its prequel.

Mae has appeared publicly with Zoe and Metcalf, including in family photographs connected to theater events and Metcalf’s awards-season appearances.

What Does Her Father Do?

Matt Roth is an American actor whose television career includes appearances in Roseanne, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Numb3rs.

His role as Fisher on Roseanne placed him opposite Metcalf in one of the program’s most serious story arcs.

Roth later appeared with Metcalf in the 1994 thriller Blink, directed by Michael Apted and starring Madeleine Stowe and Aidan Quinn.

They also shared an episode of Desperate Housewives. Metcalf played Carolyn Bigsby, while Roth portrayed her husband, Art Bigsby.

Metcalf and Roth separated in 2008. Roth filed for divorce in 2011, and the proceedings ended with a finalized divorce in 2014.

Is Mae on Social Media?

Mae has used Instagram to share educational milestones, performance announcements, family photographs, and material connected to her theater work.

Her 2023 college announcement confirmed both Marymount Manhattan and her intended musical-theater major rather than relying on secondhand speculation.

Public posts have also shown her support for Metcalf’s stage career and her relationships with members of her extended acting family.

Cast announcements use the name Mae Roth, matching the shortened professional name found in her acting and performance profiles.

Her social presence functions mainly as a record of training and creative projects, rather than the large-scale commercial influencer activity often attributed to celebrity children.

Does Mae Have a Net Worth?

No credible financial publication has issued a documented estimate for Mae. Her current credits are primarily college, short-film, music, and cabaret projects.

Claims that assign her a precise fortune tend to confuse family wealth with personal earnings and provide no production contracts or financial records.

Her 2023 Butterface credit establishes professional screen experience, but one short-film appearance cannot support a responsible calculation of accumulated wealth.

Likewise, college performances and an independent music release do not reveal salary, royalties, ownership percentages, or other figures needed for an estimate.

The more accurate description is that Mae is an early-career performer whose public résumé is still forming while she completes professional training.

Her Life Today

Mae’s present direction is clearer than the generic “celebrity child” label attached to many profiles about her.

She is pursuing a BFA, performing musical-theater repertoire, releasing music, and adding live New York engagements to her first screen credit.

Her path also differs from Zoe Perry’s progression through television drama. Mae’s public work currently places stronger emphasis on singing and stage performance.

The 54 Below booking gives her a recognizable New York venue credit while she remains connected to Marymount Manhattan’s student theater community.

Mae Akins Roth is still at the beginning of her career, but her documented choices point toward musical theater rather than fame based solely on Laurie Metcalf’s name.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is Mae Akins Roth?

Mae Akins Roth is the daughter of actors Laurie Metcalf and Matt Roth. She uses Mae Roth professionally and studies musical theater at Marymount Manhattan College.

2. When was Mae born?

Mae was born in 2005. She is the youngest daughter among Laurie Metcalf’s four children.

3. Who are Mae’s siblings?

Her siblings are Zoe Perry, Will Theron Roth, and Donovan Roth. Zoe is her maternal half-sister and played Mary Cooper on Young Sheldon.

4. What does Mae study?

Mae is pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre at Marymount Manhattan College. Her announced plans also included studies in communications and arts management.

5. Has Mae acted in films?

Yes. She received a screen credit as a TikToker in the 2023 short film Butterface, written and directed by Erik C. Bloomquist.

6. Is Mae Akins Roth a singer?

Yes. Mae identifies professionally as an actor and singer, and she released a song titled “Here” on digital platforms.

7. Where has Mae performed?

Her performance work includes Marymount Manhattan musical-theater presentations. She was also announced for a March 2026 StarKid tribute at New York’s 54 Below.

8. Is Mae related to Zoe Perry?

Yes. Zoe Perry is Mae’s older maternal half-sister. Their mother is Laurie Metcalf, while Zoe’s father is Steppenwolf co-founder Jeff Perry.

Read Next: Who Is Alicia Knievel? Evel Knievel’s Daughter Explained Clearly