Marisa Tomei

Born Dec. 4, 1964, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Marisa Tomei studied acting and dance in high school, spending her summers doing plays in upstate New York. In 1983, after one year at Boston University, she dropped out to accept a role on the soap opera "As the World Turns," where she remained for two years.

Tomei's first film role was a one-line part in The Flamingo Kid (1984). She later took another television role as Lisa Bonet's roommate on "A Different World" (1987-88). Her big break came with her turn in My Cousin Vinny (1992), for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

She followed that with high-profile parts in Chaplin (1992), Untamed Heart (1993) and The Perez Family (1995). After her moving performance in What Women Want (2000), she earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for In the Bedroom (2001) and The Wrestler (2008), with lighter roles in Anger Management and Alfie mixed in between.

Filmography