Drea de Matteo

Matteo opened a clothing store called ‘Filth Mart’ with her then boyfriend Michael Sportes in 1997 which closed down in 2004. She is considering re-opening it in the Los Angeles area.

She started dating musician Shooter Jennings in 2001 and got engaged to him in June 2009. They have a son and daughter together but they ended their relationship without getting officially married. Eventually she went on to get engaged to ‘Whitesnake’ bass guitarist, Michael Devin.

She speaks Italian and Spanish fluently and is known to use strong words and expressions in her conversations.

She was born Andrea Donna de Matteo on January 19, 1972 in Whitestone Queens, New York, to Donna and Albert Matteo and is of Italian decent. Her mother was a playwright and teacher at HB Studio and her father was a furniture manufacturer and the owner and CEO of Avery Boardman and Carlyle.

Drea spent her early childhood in Queens, New York and later moved to the Upper East Side in Manhattan with her family. She grew up in the care of her grandmother and Nicaraguan nanny. She now takes care of her nanny after the latter’s heart transplant.

She is from an affluent Roman Catholic family where she was the youngest of three children and the only girl. After graduating from the Loyola School, she went on to study at New York University’s ‘Tisch School of Arts’ and earned a degree in film production. She originally wanted to become a director and not an actress. However, her early role in ‘The Sopranos’ helped her launch her career as an actor.

With hardly any experience, she was cast in the pilot for ‘The Sopranos’ in what was reportedly meant to be a bit of a part as a restaurant hostess but later turned out to be a crucial supporting role. She was very convincing with her role as the tough yet loving girlfriend of one of the Soprano crime family’s youngest members, who struggled to balance her relationship with her career.

After her initial success, she appeared in several films on the big screen including the action thriller ‘Swordfish’ with Hugh Jackman and John Travolta in 2001, the drama about two rival New York gangs ‘Deuces Wild’ in 2002, ‘The Perfect You’ and ‘Prey for Rock & Roll’.

She also starred in the 2005 remake of John Carpenter’s 1976 action film, ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ and Abel Ferrara’s ‘R Xmas’, for which she received favourable reviews.

She was ranked 42nd and 56th respectively on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2001 and 2002. The magazine, ‘Stuff’, ranked her 33rd in their list of ‘102 Sexiest Women in the World’ in 2002.

In 2004, she was awarded an Emmy for the Best Supporting Actress (Drama) for the part she played as Adriana on ‘The Sopranos’ (Season 5). She was also nominated for a Golden Globe award for the same role.

Matteo has worked in a number of films and TV shows. Her early movies are ‘Meet Prince Charming’, ‘Sleepwalk’ and ‘Swordfish’. In 2001 she played the role of the wife in ‘R Xmas’ for which she was recognised with the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival Award for Best Actress. Lately she appeared in ‘Free Ride’ and ‘Dark Places’.

She played the role of Adriana La Cerva in the TV show, ‘The Sopranos’ which was a major hit in her early career. She was the host on the ‘VH1 Big in 2002 Awards’ show and appeared in the popular serial ‘Desperate Housewives’. Her latest shows on TV include ‘Making of the Mob: New York’ and ‘Shades of Blue’.