Mariye Receives DGA Nomination for ‘Just Add Magic’

Lily Mariye directing an episode of “Chicago P.D.”

Actress and director Lily Mariye has received her first Directors Guild of America award nomination.

In the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs category, she was nominated for “Just Add Meddling,” an episode of Amazon’s “Just Add Magic.” The family series, based on the book of the same name by Cindy Callaghan, is about amateur preteen chefs Kelly (Olivia Sanabia), Darbie (Abby Donnelly), and Hanna (Aubrey Miller), who discover an ancient cookbook full of magical recipes.

“I’m thrilled, overwhelmed and grateful,” Mariye said in a Facebook post.

Also nominated are Niki Caro for an episode of Netflix’s “Anne with an E,” Benjamin Lehmann for HBO’s “The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special,” Alison McDonald for Amazon’s “An American Girl Story: Summer Camp, Friends for Life,” and Matthew O’Neill and Thalia Sodi for HBO’s “15: A Quinceañera Story: Zoey.”

Nominees in other categories include Aziz Ansari for “The Thief,” an episode of Netflix’s “Master of None,” which he co-created and stars in. There are also categories for feature films and commercials.

Best known for her role as Lily Jarvik on NBC’s “ER” for its entire 15-season run, Mariye has been branching out into directing, starting with three short films, “The Shangri-la Café,” “Err,” and “Thumbing It,” and a feature, “Model Minority.”

“When I was growing up, I didn’t see Asian American female actors or directors to emulate, so I had to invent myself, by myself,” she said in a Facebook post.

An alumna of the Disney/ABC/DGA Directing Program and the CBS Directing Initiative, she has directed three episodes of “Nashville” (originally on ABC and now on CMT), and one episode each of “Chicago P.D.” on NBC, “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “Criminal Minds” on CBS, and “The Fosters” on Freeform.

As an actress, her TV credits in the ’80s and ’90s include “Lou Grant,” “Fame,” “Knots Landing,” “Family Ties,” “Remington Steele,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Murphy Brown,” “St. Elsewhere,” “China Beach,” “Jake and the Fatman,” “Who’s the Boss?,” “Melrose Place,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Chicago Hope.”

Her more recent credits include “Ally McBeal,” “Judging Amy,” “Shameless,” “Teen Wolf,” “Murder in the First” and “One Mississippi.”

Mariye has also appeared in such films as “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Switch,” “The Doctor,” “The Shadow,” “The New Age,” “Mighty Joe Young” and “Extraordinary Measures.”

The 70th annual DGA Awards dinner will be held on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. To see the full list of nominees, go to: www.dga.org/Awards/Annual.aspx