A good deal of the actors are remembered as people who played characters that were immediate, sharp, emotional, and memorable at the same time. The career of actress Drea de Matteo gives us one example of this phenomenon since she gained popularity due to the roles of criminals, victims of criminals, girlfriends of criminals, and some other women with different fates. Although Drea de Matteo mostly performed on television, some films deserve our attention since they add something to the portrait of the actress's personality. The choice of different genres in the filmography helps Drea de Matteo to appear in different roles and make them memorable.

Early life in Queens

Drea de Matteo was born on January 19, 1972. She grew up in Queens, one of the New York boroughs, in New York City. Being a native New Yorker and living in such conditions had an influence on Drea de Matteo's future acting: this was her hometown, where she spent part of her childhood, and, probably, she absorbed everything characteristic of New York people from childhood and carried it with her in her later career. Being from New York, a place that has produced many actors, she was destined to be on the stage and then on the screen.

Like almost every actor who is remembered mainly thanks to one or more roles, Drea de Matteo had been developing for some time before becoming a famous star of the screen: at first there were some minor parts for her where she could prove that she could perform not only tough characters, but also vulnerable, emotional ones, and this helped her to develop as an actress.

Drama breakthrough

The role that changed Drea de Matteo's acting career dramatically belongs to the TV series The Sopranos, where Drea played the role of Adriana La Cerva. It should be noted that it is one of the most successful television shows of that time, and this was the role that made the actress more recognizable among her fans. Drea's character, Adriana La Cerva, was very beautiful but rather confused, emotional, and, moreover, her further fate was quite sad because of the environment. The Sopranos role brought Drea de Matteo much attention in the industry and won her a Primetime Emmy Award in 2004.

The Sopranos performance by Drea de Matteo also established a pattern of her future acting career: although being rather secondary in the series ensembles where she was playing, de Matteo created memorable characters for her viewers. They always remembered this actress not only by name but also after the end of the show: the actress performed so well that the main impression left after watching these shows is associated with her name. Drea became known for performing rather secondary characters with great emotional depth, which became recognizable among viewers.

The list of some of her best-recognized characters includes:

  • Playing Adriana La Cerva in The Sopranos
  • Playing Gina Tribbiani in Joey
  • Playing Wendy Case in Sons of Anarchy
  • Playing Angie Bolen in Desperate Housewives

Other TV shows and further work of the actress

After appearing in the famous drama The Sopranos, Drea de Matteo performed in the TV series Joey, a spin-off of the popular Friends, as Gina Tribbiani. It is important to underline here that the role was not in the drama but in the comedy show: it means that Drea's acting talents are not connected only with the emotional and tough atmosphere. She can perform in rather amusing and light roles as well, and here the actress shows the same natural acting that helped her become so popular on TV. In this case, it was Joey's sister, and the actress played this role with perfect naturalness.

It is worth noting that one of the roles that brought her popularity among other viewers is also her participation in Sons of Anarchy, where Drea plays Wendy Case, a character with rather complicated destiny, a lot of addiction, guilt, family problems, and relationships with main characters, and so on. This is again a role with much emotional color, and Drea plays it successfully, showing the complexity of the character's emotions.

Another show where we find this famous actress is Desperate Housewives, another series filled with intrigue where this actress fits perfectly. In such an ensemble, where the personalities of the characters and the ability to express their emotions very suddenly and strongly matter, Drea de Matteo can fit perfectly as well.

In terms of this actress's filmography it is also important to note her appearances in such films as Swordfish, Prey for Rock & Roll, and Assault on Precinct 13. The roles in these films were once more a demonstration of traits typical of Drea de Matteo's character – her strong screen presence, ability to play difficult characters, and some others.

What is the special thing about Drea de Matteo's filmography? The answer to this question is hidden in the fact that this actress always performs in a recognizable manner that cannot leave viewers indifferent because of some unique characteristics. Drea does not change dramatically from film to film because of the changes that happen with characters and does not disappear in the characters either, although her acting is rather expressive. Her acting manner seems to be always recognizable because of some elements in it: New Yorker attitude, some sharpness of behavior on the screen, some sadness in her characters. Her style of playing is rather recognizable because it combines some traits of different personalities: Drea de Matteo creates the image of a tough and vulnerable woman at the same time. The fact that she belongs to the acting community of one of the greatest metropolises of the world plays a big part as well. It can be concluded that if the fan looks at the biographies and work of Drea de Matteo, he or she can see how the famous actress made her name from secondary roles.