Marie Schrader is a complicated woman, she is the wife of DEA agent Hank Schrader and the sister of Skyler White, the wife of the main character Walter White. Marie is portrayed as a stylish, obsessive, and sometimes manipulative woman who struggles with kleptomania. She is not shy about giving advice to others, but often does not put into practice what she preaches. She is 35 years old Marie works as a radiologist technologist at the Kleinman Center, a medical center for Scanning and Radiograp

She appears self-centered, shallow, sharp, and opinionated, but is very devoted to her husband and cares deeply for her sister's family. She disliked a pair of her shoes, calling them "ugly white squeaking around after old ladies shoes" that she says give her support. In this instance, she very deftly swiped some new ones from a shopping mall, leaving her ugly white squeakers behind. While she has never been shown to be at her job during the show, she is often seen with her white lab coat for her X-ray technician work. She is "thinking about a move up to management". The sisters briefly fell out when Marie gave Skyler a stolen tiara for her unborn daughter, but Marie, who was receiving treatment for her kleptomania, eventually apologized and she and Skyler reconciled. However, their relationship seems to be permanently destroyed when Marie learns the truth about Walt's criminal activities, disgusted at Skyler both for her refusal to aid them in taking Walt down, as well as her continued loyalty in Walt. Their relationship continues to dissolve even more as Hank continues to hunt Walt, such as when Marie watches Walt's false confession. After Hank finally arrests Walt, Marie (unaware of Hank's death) attempts to give Skyler a chance to redeem herself by handing over Walt's "obscenity" (the false confession video) and revealing the truth to Walter Jr, however, the final blow to estrange the sisters comes when she learns that Hank is dead and that Walt remains free. Nevertheless, by the time Walt returns to Albuquerque, Marie shows to still care enough for Skyler calling and warning her after learning he's back.

After learning that Walt is a meth kingpin, Marie begins to demonstrate a darker side. She tells Hank that he must apprehend Walt at all costs and even says straight to Walt's face that he should just kill himself in order to free the family from the burden of his criminal activities. She even seems to have fantasies of killing Walt herself as implied during a conversation with her therapist in which she discusses her fantasy of poisoning Walt (under the guise of a "family friend") and claims that while she will hurt nobody, it feels good to think about it. It is evident that Marie deeply despises Walt for the atrocities he has committed and what he has done to the family and clearly wants him dead or captured at all costs. Even after Walt's death, Marie's feelings did not change, as she later described him as a 'two-faced poisonous bastard' when confronting Jimmy McGill.

Marie seems to strictly watch her weight and is big on eating healthy, low fat food. It is implied that she is a Whole Foods store fan. She appears to harbor an obsession with the color purple; she is almost always portrayed wearing purple and many elements of her home decor, including her kitchen appliances and bed linens, are matching shades of purple. However, some fans imply that it is not Marie, but Hank who is a fan of purple, as Hank wears purple clothing at several points in the show, and Marie doesn't wear any purple at all after Hank's death. Marie appears very sullen in the aftermath of this drama.