Marisa Tomei
Birthday:
4 December 1964, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Height:
164 cm
Marisa Tomei was born on December 4, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York to mother Patricia "Addie" Tomei, an English teacher and father Gary Tomei, a lawyer. Marisa also has a brother, actor Adam Tomei. As a child, Marisa's mother frequently corrected her speech as to eliminate her heavy Brooklyn accent. As a teen, Marisa attended Edward R....
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Marisa Tomei was born on December 4, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York to mother Patricia "Addie" Tomei, an English teacher and father Gary Tomei, a lawyer. Marisa also has a brother, actor Adam Tomei. As a child, Marisa's mother frequently corrected her speech as to eliminate her heavy Brooklyn accent. As a teen, Marisa attended Edward R. Murrow High School and graduated in the class of 1982. She was one year into her college education at Boston University when she dropped out for a co-starring role on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns (1956). Her role on that show paved the way for her entrance into film: in 1984, she made her film debut with a bit part in The Flamingo Kid (1984). Three years later, Marisa became known for her role as Maggie Lawton, Lisa Bonet's college roommate, on the sitcom A Different World (1987).Her real breakthrough came in 1992, when she co-starred as Joe Pesci's hilariously foul-mouthed, scene-stealing girlfriend in My Cousin Vinny (1992), a performance that won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Later that year, she turned up briefly as a snippy Mabel Normand in director Richard Attenborough's biopic Chaplin (1992), and was soon given her first starring role in Untamed Heart (1993). A subsequent starring role -- and attempted makeover into Audrey Hepburn -- in the romantic comedy Only You (1994) proved only moderately successful.Marisa's other 1994 role as Michael Keaton's hugely pregnant wife in The Paper (1994) was well-received, although the film as a whole was not. Fortunately for Tomei, she was able to rebound the following year with a solid performance as a troubled single mother in Nick Cassavetes' Unhook the Stars (1996) which earned her a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She turned in a similarly strong work in Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), and in 1998 did some of her best work in years as the sexually liberated, unhinged cousin of Natasha Lyonne's Vivian Abramowitz in Tamara Jenkins' Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). Marisa co-starred with Mel Gibson in the hugely successful romantic comedy What Women Want (2000) and during the 2002 movie award season, she proved her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar win was no fluke when she received her second nomination in the same category for the critically acclaimed dark drama, In the Bedroom (2001). She also made a guest appearance on the animated TV phenomenon The Simpsons (1989) as Sara Sloane, a movie star who falls in love with Ned Flanders. In 2006, she went on to do 4 episodes for Rescue Me (2004). She played Angie, the ex-wife of Tommy Calvin (Denis Leary)'s brother Johnny (Dean Winters). At age 42, Marisa took on a provocative role in legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet's melodramatic picture Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), in which she appeared nude in love scenes with costars Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Marisa then took on another provocative role as a stripper in the highly acclaimed film The Wrestler (2008) opposite Mickey Rourke. Her great performance earned her many awards from numerous film societies for Best Supporting Actress, a third Academy Award nomination, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Many critics heralded this performance as a standout in her career. Show less «
I don't prefer much of film over stage... The only thing I prefer is the paycheck.
I don't prefer much of film over stage... The only thing I prefer is the paycheck.
Singing really oxygenates your blood. You stretch your lungs and take in much more air into them than before. It's really good for your heal...Show more »
Singing really oxygenates your blood. You stretch your lungs and take in much more air into them than before. It's really good for your health. Show less «
I feel like theatre gives me the grounding, and keeps me alive, basically. Film gives me the thrill, and it's like a one night stand. But I ...Show more »
I feel like theatre gives me the grounding, and keeps me alive, basically. Film gives me the thrill, and it's like a one night stand. But I do enjoy being around people who love it so much. Show less «
[on marriage and starting her own family] I'm not that big a fan of marriage as an institution and I don't know why women need to have child...Show more »
[on marriage and starting her own family] I'm not that big a fan of marriage as an institution and I don't know why women need to have children to be seen as complete human beings. Show less «
[on her role in The Wrestler (2008)] What didn't appeal to me was, frankly, New Jersey, naked, winter!
[on her role in The Wrestler (2008)] What didn't appeal to me was, frankly, New Jersey, naked, winter!
[on Gena Rowlands] As a young actress I saw her in Opening Night (1977). She was so larger-than-life, yet her performances are so detailed- ...Show more »
[on Gena Rowlands] As a young actress I saw her in Opening Night (1977). She was so larger-than-life, yet her performances are so detailed- no color is left out. She's ferocious, beautiful, elegant, compassionate, funny, sexy. A broad in the best sense of the word - that's what I aspire to be. Show less «
[on pole dancing] It's really physically hard! That pole work is crazy hard; to be really good on that pole and you have to be really strong...Show more »
[on pole dancing] It's really physically hard! That pole work is crazy hard; to be really good on that pole and you have to be really strong. Show less «
[on being nude in films] I definitely feel like I didn't want to do that kind of thing when I was younger because I didn't think that it was...Show more »
[on being nude in films] I definitely feel like I didn't want to do that kind of thing when I was younger because I didn't think that it was something a serious actress would do, in a way there is validity to that. It's harder to be taken seriously when you're younger, doing that but I've also come to a point of being able to handle the reaction to it - that probably would have been more difficult when I was younger. Show less «
You can't really be old in L.A., it's kind of like a crime.
You can't really be old in L.A., it's kind of like a crime.
(1996) I think the fantasy of being a movie star is more powerful than the reality. So, for me, even if it's not a great film or a great pla...Show more »
(1996) I think the fantasy of being a movie star is more powerful than the reality. So, for me, even if it's not a great film or a great play I'm doing, to know that you went for it. You had an experience that made you grow artistically and personally. What's really satisfying is knowing that you did a good job. Show less «
(1996) When I was first starting, I went to an agent who told me, 'Listen, you'll be lucky if you do summer stock. Pack it up.' Once in a wh...Show more »
(1996) When I was first starting, I went to an agent who told me, 'Listen, you'll be lucky if you do summer stock. Pack it up.' Once in a while I think about him, but I'm happy with myself. So, what does he matter? Show less «
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