Mae was born in Los Angeles, California to Pat Musick, a voice artist, and Jeffrey Whitman, a personal manager and set construction coordinator. She began her career with a voice-over for a Tyson Chicken commercial. Whitman attended Ribét Academy, a private preparatory school in Los Angeles. Whitman made her first silver screen debut playing Meg Ryan is youngest daughter, Casey Green, in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994). Among her notable childhood roles were that of Patricia Whitmore, daughter of the President in Independence Day (1996); George Clooney is daughter, Maggie Taylor, in One Fine Day (1996); and the charming daughter, Bernice Pruitt, of Sandra Bullock, in Hope Floats (1998).