Drea de Matteo
- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Andrea Donna de Matteo, called Drea (pronounced "dray"), was born on
January 19, 1972 in Queens, New York, into an affluent family, the
youngest of three children and the only girl. She is the daughter of Donna, a playwright and playwriting teacher at HB Studio in New York, and Albert A. De Matteo, a furniture manufacturer. She is of Italian descent. De Matteo spent her early
childhood in Queens, and the family then moved to the Upper East Side
in Manhattan, into Aretha Franklin's former townhouse.
De Matteo decided to pursue a directing career at NYU's Tisch School of
the Arts, perhaps because of the brief moment when, as a girl, she was
brought onstage out of the audience and dazzled by the stage lights
when she was seeing the play "Cats," perhaps because of her mother's
involvement in the entertainment business. Once she was in school,
however, it was the acting classes which attracted her greatest
interest, and she decided on an acting career. After a screen debut in
an obscure independent and a small part in a small movie,
Meet Prince Charming (1999),
de Matteo auditioned for a one-episode part in the HBO series
The Sopranos (1999). She
impressed the producers enough that they expanded the role, as Adriana
La Cerva, girlfriend to up-and-coming Soprano family soldier
Christopher Moltisanti
(Michael Imperioli), and she
eventually became a regular on the show. De Matteo had the right sultry
beauty to portray Adriana, but her acting skills greatly fleshed out
the character, making her as rich and complex a character as a slightly
ditzy gangster's girlfriend can be in the first place - humorous, even
charming in a way and, ultimately, tragic. She won an Emmy award for
her portrayal of Adriana in 2004.
Although De Matteo's role on the HBO series ended in 2004, in that same
year she got a leading role in
Joey (2004), a spin-off of the
long-running NBC sitcom
Friends (1994). She has also appeared
in several movies since starting on "The Sopranos" - regardless of the
caliber of the production, de Matteo has consistently shown her strong
acting skills, such as her award-winning lead in
Abel Ferrara's
'R Xmas (2001) and her supporting role in
Prey for Rock & Roll (2003).
Although De Matteo describes herself as shy, she also says she was and
remains a wild, multi-tattooed party-girl who peppers her conversation
with strong language and prefers jeans to dressing up. She owned a rock
and roll vintage clothing store in the East Village called "Filth Mart"
for several years but has closed it and is considering re-opening it in
the Los Angeles area. She has said that she considers actor
Vince Vaughn to be like a brother to her.
January 19, 1972 in Queens, New York, into an affluent family, the
youngest of three children and the only girl. She is the daughter of Donna, a playwright and playwriting teacher at HB Studio in New York, and Albert A. De Matteo, a furniture manufacturer. She is of Italian descent. De Matteo spent her early
childhood in Queens, and the family then moved to the Upper East Side
in Manhattan, into Aretha Franklin's former townhouse.
De Matteo decided to pursue a directing career at NYU's Tisch School of
the Arts, perhaps because of the brief moment when, as a girl, she was
brought onstage out of the audience and dazzled by the stage lights
when she was seeing the play "Cats," perhaps because of her mother's
involvement in the entertainment business. Once she was in school,
however, it was the acting classes which attracted her greatest
interest, and she decided on an acting career. After a screen debut in
an obscure independent and a small part in a small movie,
Meet Prince Charming (1999),
de Matteo auditioned for a one-episode part in the HBO series
The Sopranos (1999). She
impressed the producers enough that they expanded the role, as Adriana
La Cerva, girlfriend to up-and-coming Soprano family soldier
Christopher Moltisanti
(Michael Imperioli), and she
eventually became a regular on the show. De Matteo had the right sultry
beauty to portray Adriana, but her acting skills greatly fleshed out
the character, making her as rich and complex a character as a slightly
ditzy gangster's girlfriend can be in the first place - humorous, even
charming in a way and, ultimately, tragic. She won an Emmy award for
her portrayal of Adriana in 2004.
Although De Matteo's role on the HBO series ended in 2004, in that same
year she got a leading role in
Joey (2004), a spin-off of the
long-running NBC sitcom
Friends (1994). She has also appeared
in several movies since starting on "The Sopranos" - regardless of the
caliber of the production, de Matteo has consistently shown her strong
acting skills, such as her award-winning lead in
Abel Ferrara's
'R Xmas (2001) and her supporting role in
Prey for Rock & Roll (2003).
Although De Matteo describes herself as shy, she also says she was and
remains a wild, multi-tattooed party-girl who peppers her conversation
with strong language and prefers jeans to dressing up. She owned a rock
and roll vintage clothing store in the East Village called "Filth Mart"
for several years but has closed it and is considering re-opening it in
the Los Angeles area. She has said that she considers actor
Vince Vaughn to be like a brother to her.