American actress Deirdre Quinn was in her late 20s when she played Mary Jo Wright AKA “Miss Texas” — the southern belle representing her home state at the Miss United States beauty pageant — in the 2000 comedy/action film “Miss Congeniality.”
Deirdre shared the big screen with Sandra Bullock as the scraggly FBI agent turned beauty queen, Gracie Lou Freebush, Benjamin Bratt as the handsome swaggy FBI agent who has goo-goo eyes for Gracie, Eric, and Heather Burns as the naive baton twirler and “Miss Rhode Island,” Cheryl.