Alexis Gabrielle Dziena (born July 8, 1984) is an American actress.

Early life

Dziena was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

descent. She attended the private Saint Ann's School alongside her ''

Bringing Rain ''Bringing Rain'' is a 2003 independent film written and directed by Noah Buschel. It premiered at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and was released on DVD on September 20, 2005. It won first prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival f ...

'' (2003) costar,

Paz de la Huerta María de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta y Bruce (; born September 3, 1984), known professionally as Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress and model. She had roles in the films ''The Cider House Rules'' (1999) and ''A Walk to Re ...

. She spent many of her summers growing up in the small

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

shore town of

Sea Isle City Sea Isle City is a city in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's year-round population was 2,104, a decrease of 10 (−0.5 ...

. Also, during high school, she attended classes at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

and appeared in plays there as well.

Career

Television

Dziena made her acting debut in

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

's ''

Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers B ...

'' (2002). Guest roles followed in other series, such as ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and ''

Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American fantasy family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays on CBS for ...

''. One of her first major roles was in the Lifetime channel original film ''

She's Too Young ''She's Too Young'' is an American made-for-TV movie released in 2004, starring Marcia Gay Harden as the mother of a 14-year-old daughter who is involved in sexual acts hidden from her parents. The film deals with the issues of drugs and alcohol, p ...

'' (2004), in which she portrayed a sexually active teenager. In 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 ...

television series ''

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

'', she played the sheriff's daughter, Kira Underlay. Dziena also appeared frequently on the sixth season of 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 ...

series ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'' (2009).

Feature films

Dziena had a small role in the movie '' Broken Flowers'' (2005), starring

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

, where she played Lolita, the daughter of a character played by

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

. She played Heather, a sexually-frustrated young woman who takes part in a couple-swap to save her relationship as part of an experimental therapy in the film '' Sex and Breakfast'' (2007). She also co-starred in the films ''

Fool's Gold The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

'' (2008) and ''

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist ''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Peter Sollett and starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Written by Lorene Scafaria and based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Cohn and Da ...

'' (2008). In 2022, ''Without Ward'' was released; however, Dziena shot her scenes for the film in 2012.

Personal life

Dziena was in an on-and-off relationship with

Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. Pitt is known in film for his roles in ''Murder by Numbers'' (2002), Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Dreamers'' (2003), Gus Van Sant's '' Last Days'' (2005), and M ...

from 2000 to 2004. They appeared together in

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. His image, voice, and his tenure with the R ...

's music video for

What a Wonderful World "What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. It topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poor ...

in 2002. In September 2011, Dziena attempted to get a restraining order against her parents, claiming that she was living in fear of them resorting to "murder or violence" to access her money. Her request was declined by a judge later that month as she had insufficient evidence to support her allegations. In June 2014, Dziena's ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Francis Ausley was granted a restraining order against Dziena after she showed up at his house with a bag of clothes and announced that she was moving in. Ausley also alleged that she threatened to harm both of them if he ended their relationship.

Filmography

Music video

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dziena, Alexis 1984 births Living people American film actresses American television actresses American people of Irish descent American people of Polish descent American people of Italian descent People from Sea Isle City, New Jersey 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New Jersey Actresses from New York City Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) alumni