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Drea de Matteo Profile |
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Birth Date: January 19, 1972
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Birth Place: Queens, New York, New York, USA
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Birth Name: Andrea Donna de Matteo
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Height: 5'6"
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Biography |
Andrea Donna de Matteo (born January 19, 1972) is an
Emmy-winning American actress, perhaps best known for her
roles as Adriana La Cerva on the HBO TV series The Sopranos
and as Joey Tribbiani's sister Gina on the NBC sitcom Joey.
De Matteo, an Italian American, was born in Queens, New
York, the daughter of Donna, a playwright and playwriting
teacher, and Albert De Matteo, a furniture manufacturer. She
grew up in a Catholic family. After graduating from the
prestigious Loyola School, she studied at New York
University's Tisch School of the Arts, originally hoping to
become a director, not an actress.
De Matteo's role in The Sopranos was one of her earliest,
helping to launch her career. She has also appeared in
several films including Swordfish, Deuces Wild, The Perfect
You and the 2005 remake of John Carpenter's 1976 action film
Assault on Precinct 13. She also portrayed Joey Tribbiani's
sister Gina in the Friends spin-off Joey.
In 2004, de Matteo won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress
(Drama) for her role as Adriana on The Sopranos. She was
also nominated for a Golden Globe that same year for the
same role. She was ranked #42 and #56 on the Maxim Hot 100
Women of 2001 and 2002, respectively.
She lives in New York City, where she also formerly owned
the now-closed Filth Mart, an East Village clothing store,
with best friend and ex-boyfriend Michael Sportes. In a
February, 2005 edition of the British newspaper The Daily
Sport, de Matteo stated that she is bisexual, but she would
not admit to ever having been with a woman. She is currently
dating Shooter Jennings, son of country music legend Waylon
Jennings. The couple had their first child together, a girl
named Alabama Gypsy Rose, on November 28, 2007. |
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Other
Information |
Graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts
Speaks fluent Italian and Spanish.
Her character on "The Sopranos" (1999) was orignally written
for only one episode.
Has her mother's, father's and grandmother's names tattooed
onto her body.
Has closed her clothing store Filth Mart in Manhattan and is
opening one in Los Angeles
Drea's father was a furniture manufacturer and her mother
was a playwright. She was raised in Queens primarily by her
grandmother and a Nicaraguan nanny. She now takes care of
her nanny, who had a heart transplant.
At NYU, she originally intended to study to be a director,
but got attention for her acting.
Ranked #33 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the
World" (2002)
Is of Italian descent
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) opened on her 33rd birthday.
Expecting first child together with Shooter Jennings in late
2007.
Paulo Costanzo, who plays her son on "Joey" (2004), is only
five years younger than her.
Drea and Shooter Jennings became the parents of a girl,
Alabama Gypsyrose Jennings, on November 28, 2007. |
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since January 16, 2008