De Matteo first aspired to be a director rather than an actress, studying at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. However, she was soon enough drawn into the world of acting, first appearing in the 1996 flick "M" Word. Three years later she appeared alongside Tia Carrere, David Charvet, Nia Vardalos, Vincent Angell, and Ian Gomez in the romance Meet Prince Charming, and also landed her breakthrough role as Adriana on The Sopranos, a role she held successfully until her character was killed off in 2006.
De Matteo appeared and starred in a number of films during her Sopranos stint, including the independent Sleepwalk in 2001; the crime/thriller Swordfish also in 2001, alongside John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Don Cheadle; 2002’s Deuces Wild, with Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, Fairuza Balk, Norman Reedus, and Max Perlich; and Assault on Precinct 13 in 2005, starring Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Maria Bello, and Gabriel Byrne.
However, de Matteo’s Sopranos role as Adriana is what truly made her a star. In fact, she won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Drama) for that role in 2004, the same year in which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for the same role.
Before her time on The Sopranos—which is about to embark on its final season—was complete, de Matteo joined the cast of Joey, the Friends spin-off starring Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, in 2004. The sitcom lasted just two seasons before it was cancelled; de Matteo co-starred as Gina, Joey’s sister. Other cast members included Paulo Costanzo, who played Joey’s nephew and Gina’s son; Andrea Anders, who played Joey’s neighbor and later love interest; and Jennifer Coolidge as Joey’s agent Bobbie.
De Matteo also appears in a few 2007 films, such as The Good Life and Broken English.
Aside from her acting career and life, de Matteo is known for making the Maxim magazine’s Hot 100 Women lists of 2001 (#42) and 2002 (#56), for speaking fluent Spanish and Italian, and for stirring speculations about her sexuality. While claiming to Howard Stern she is heterosexual, she made comments to a U.K. newspaper journalist in 2005 that alluded to her bisexuality.
De Matteo is dating Shooter Jennings, the noted son of famous country crooner Waylon Jennings.
YUDDY
