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Drea de Matteo is an Italian-American actress born on January 19, 1973 in Queens, New York. She grew up in a Catholic family along with two brothers, Joe and Darren. She has always been known to family and friends as Drea (pronounced "Dray"), and the only time she is called by her full name was when she misbehaved. She practically grew up in theatrical sets, for her mother was a playwright. When Drea de Matteo was in the second grade, her family moved to a two-story house near the Guggenheim Museum, which used to be Aretha Franklin’s former home. She was a big fan of the Grateful Dead, and eventually with the phenomenal Latin boy group, Menudo.

This sexy actress was already a party girl during her teens, yet she managed to work her way to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she hoped to be a film director. It was also there where she took up acting classes, which would be her ticket to the world of entertainment.

Drea de Matteo first appeared on the independent film 'M' Word in 1996, and after some theater work, she landed a small part in a HBO series called The Sopranos. Her appearance was somewhat ‘WASPish’ and didn't fit the role she was going for; she was then given the one-time role of a hostess. The producers were impressed by her acting and called her back, offering her the role of Christopher's girlfriend and writing the part in permanently.

While on the hit show The Sopranos, Drea de Matteo continued working on indie movies such as Meet Prince Charming, Sleepwalk, The Gentleman from Boston, and 'R Xmas, wherein she portrayed a Puerto Rican housewife mixed up in New York City's drug business. In the fifth season of The Sopranos, Drea de Matteo managed to have her salary raised from approximately $20,000 to $60,000 per episode. In 2004, she made her exit from the show with the murder of her character, Adriana La Cerva.

After The Sopranos, Drea de Matteo moved on to co-star with Matt LeBlanc in the Friends spin-off, Joey. She also grabbed an Emmy Award in September 2004 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role on The Sopranos.

Drea de Matteo now lives in New York City and is dating Shooter Jennings, son of country singer Waylon Jennings. Together they have one child, Alabama Gypsy Rose, born on November 2007.