Drea de Matteo Biography

Date of Birth: January 19, 1973

A native of Queen's, New York, Drea (pronounced Dray) de Matteo is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her father was a furniture manufacturer and her mother was a playwright, but Drea was primarily raised by her grandmother and a nanny. Although her original intention was to be a director, while at NYU Drea found herself drawn to acting.

She began her screen career in a small budget film called 'M' World (1996) and with a guest appearance on the short-lived series Swift Justice. Not long after, her role on the hit HBO TV series The Sopranos shot her to fame. Originally only scheduled to appear in one episode, Drea ended up spending four seasons playing the role of Adriana, winning a 2004 Emmy award for Supporting Actress and receiving a 2005 Golden Globe nomination. During her time off from the show, she kept up her film work, gradually making her way up the ladder with larger roles in big budget films such as Swordfish (2001) starring John Travolta and Hugh Jackman, Deuces Wild (2002) with Brad Renfro and Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) with Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne.

For the 2004/5 TV season, she left The Sopranos and moved to the Friends spin-off Joey, starring alongside Matt LeBlanc.

Much tattooed, Drea owns a clothing store in Manhattan called Filth Mart. She currently divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Filmography:

Dirty Love (2005)
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Beacon Hill (2003)
Prey for Rock & Roll (2003)
Love Rome (2002)
Deuces Wild (2002)
The Perfect You (2002)
Made (2001) (uncredited)
Swordfish (2001)
'R Xmas (2001)
Sleepwalk (2000)
Meet Prince Charming (1999)
'M' Word (1996)