Andrea Donna de Matteo is an American actress. She is best known for her role as

Adriana La Cerva Adriana La Cerva is a fictional character on the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos'', portrayed by Drea de Matteo. She is the long-time girlfriend and, later, fiancée of Tony Soprano's protégé, Christopher Moltisanti. For her performance, de Mat ...

on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television drama ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'' (1999–2006), for which she received the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

in 2004. Other notable roles include Gina Tribbiani on ''

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

'' (2004–2006),

Wendy Case The following is a list of characters from ''Sons of Anarchy'', and its spin-off '' Mayans M.C.'' Both are American crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter. ''Sons of Anarchy'' aired from 2008 to 2014, ''Mayans M.C.'' since 2018. Cas ...

on ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

'' (2008–2014),

Angie Bolen Angela Bolen (''née'' de Luca) is a fictional character played by Drea de Matteo on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry and appeared throughout the s ...

on ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' (2009–2010), and Detective Tess Nazario on ''

Shades of Blue Varieties of the color blue may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation, intensity, or colorfulness), or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and sha ...

'' (2016–2018).

Early life

De Matteo was born in

Whitestone, Queens Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College Point and Whitestone Expressway to the west; Flushing and ...

, New York City. Her mother, Donna, is a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and playwriting teacher who has been on faculty at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency progra ...

, and her father, Albert, was a furniture manufacturer who was owner and CEO of Avery Boardman and Carlyle. She is of Italian descent, and grew up in a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family. After graduating from the Loyola School, de Matteo earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film production from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

, intending to become a film director. She additionally studied acting at the

Career

De Matteo's role in ''The Sopranos'' was one of her earliest, helping to launch her career. She has appeared in several films including '' Swordfish'', ''

Deuces Wild ''Deuces Wild'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Scott Kalvert and written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, who also created the story. The film stars Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, James Franco, Matt Dillon, and Fairuza Ba ...

'', ''

The Perfect You ''Crazy Little Thing'' (also known as ''The Perfect You'') is a 2002 romantic comedy film written and directed by Matthew Miller. The film stars Chris Eigeman and Jenny McCarthy. After the September 11th attacks, the shots of the World Trade Cen ...

'',''

Prey for Rock & Roll ''Prey For Rock & Roll'' is a 2003 American drama film written by Cheri Lovedog and Robin Whitehouse. The film, which stars Gina Gershon, Drea de Matteo, Lori Petty, Shelly Cole, and Marc Blucas, follows the story of Jacki and her all-girl pun ...

'' and the 2005 remake of

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

's 1976 action film '' Assault on Precinct 13''. She had the starring role in

Abel Ferrara Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best kn ...

's ''

R Xmas ''R Xmas'' is a 2001 American crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Its release was delayed by StudioCanal but it was eventually released on DVD. Plot A New York ...

'' for which she received some very positive reviews. In 2004, de Matteo won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress (Drama) for her role as Adriana on ''

'' (season 5) and was nominated for a Golden Globe the same year, for the same role. From 2004 to 2006, de Matteo portrayed

Joey Tribbiani Joseph Francis "Joey" Tribbiani Jr. is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off ''Joey (TV series), Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series. ...

's sister Gina in the ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'' spin-off ''

''. The show was cancelled after two seasons. De Matteo played the role of

in the FX original series ''

''. The pilot episode aired September 3, 2008, and De Matteo continued making regular appearances into the series' sixth season. She was promoted to a series regular for the seventh and final season. Drea de Matteo 2

De Matteo played

, the mother of the Bolen family, on season 6 of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

show ''

''. She left ''Desperate Housewives'' at the season 6 finale in 2010, due to personal reasons. In 2012, she guest starred in Showtime's ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word) ''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...

''. De Matteo played the stepmother of Steve Wilde, the main character of the FOX comedy ''

Running Wilde ''Running Wilde'' is an American sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz for the Fox Network. It stars Will Arnett as Steve Wilde, a self-centered, idle bachelor and heir to an oil fortune. The series follows Wilde's awkward attempts to regain the a ...

'', appearing in season 1, episode 9. De Matteo co-starred as Krissi Cates in the film adaptation of '' Dark Places'' (2015), with Charlize Theron,

Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards. She began actin ...

, and

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...

. In 2015, she was cast as Det. Tess Nazario in the NBC drama series ''

'', starring alongside

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

and

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primet ...

. De Matteo and Chris Kushner began hosting a rewatch podcast of ''The Sopranos'' on March 13, 2020, called ''Made Women''; in July, the podcast was retooled and renamed ''Gangster Goddess Broad-Cast''.

Personal life

In 1997, de Matteo opened Filth Mart, an East Village clothing store with her then-boyfriend Michael Sportes. They closed the store in 2004. De Matteo started dating musician

Shooter Jennings Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings (born May 19, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He is the only son of country singers Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. In a career spanning over two decades, Shooter Jenn ...

in 2001. They became engaged on June 11, 2009, when Jennings proposed onstage at the Stanley Theater during a show in

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

. They have two children together, daughter Alabama Gypsyrose Jennings and son Waylon Albert "Blackjack" Jennings. Jennings and de Matteo eventually ended their relationship without marrying. In July 2015, de Matteo became engaged to

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

bass guitarist Michael Devin. De Matteo lost her apartment home of 22 years, as did dozens of other residents, when a gas explosion and raging fire destroyed three

East Village, Manhattan The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street on the north and Houston Street on the south. The East Villag ...

buildings on March 26, 2015.Sedarholm, Jillian (March 28, 2015
'Sopranos' Star Drea De Matteo Loses Home in NYC Explosion
''

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Matteo, Drea 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American people of Italian descent American television actresses Living people Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Tisch School of the Arts alumni People from Whitestone, Queens People from the East Village, Manhattan Year of birth missing (living people)