Annabella Sciorra Biography

Annabella Sciorra: Biography

Annabella Sciorra is an Italian-American actress born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA on March 29, 1960.

Early in her career she appeared in some big-budget films, notably Spike Lee's interracial romance Jungle Fever, Reversal of Fortune, Cop Land and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Mid-career she seemed to alternate between indy dramas like Romeo is Bleeding, The Funeral, The Addiction and sweet romantic comedies like The Night We Never Met, Mr. Wonderful, Little City. In the new millennium, she's been doing more television guest spots in The Sopranos and also in the premiere episode of Law & Order: Trial By Jury and making TV movies like her funny turn as a N'awlins madam in The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel.

Annabella: Your mind can't always tell the difference between pretend and reality if you pretend too long; or if you go too deep and really believe in what you're doing. If you're going to be that kind of actor and go way out there, it's really important to take care of yourself and have a safe place, whatever that is.(edit)
Annabella: I feel that I've worked with a lot of interesting people, and I have no regrets. I'm just curious about what I might have done if I'd had people in my life then who did explain what the publicity game was.(edit)
Annabella: There was definitely a moment, a time after The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, when I did get offered a lot of women in jeopardy-type roles. But I couldn't do it, physically, I just couldn't. But now I know what I know, I wonder if I should have played the whole fame game a little more. The thing is, I wasn't surrounded by lots of people who were helping me build a career.(edit)
Annabella: Unlike a movie, you kind of learn things about yourself every week, ... When you get a new script, you find out, oh, I was with the FBI, or oh, my father was this, or oh, this is where I grew up. They can make it up as they go along.(edit)
Annabella: Press junkets are incredibly annoying. You sit in a chair for three to six hours and have different journalists shuttle in for three minutes at a time, asking cheesy movie questions to get a quick sound bite -- and that's their only objective. You can't really move or eat. You're just stuck there. It's pressure, constant pressure.(edit)
Annabella: There's no character, there's just you and a bunch of words on a page. And sometimes you say them with a funny accent, or wear funny shoes, or dye your hair. But basically it's just you. I think it's very simple, I hate it when acting teachers talk as if it's some strange, mysterious thing that maybe, some day if you're lucky, you might achieve for about two moments. It's very Zen to me. You just breathe and open your mouth.(edit)
Annabella: I know if I want to I can still go out to L. A. and be a more career-orientated and ambitious person. I think my problem is that I'm lazy. I don't know where some actors get the energy to do that business stuff. I'm torn between going to a meeting and having a nap.(edit)
Annabella: I think there is a difference between letting your career have its own path and trying to manipulate that path.(edit)
Annabella: I grew up in a pretty progressive household. My mother was a feminist and extremely encouraging in terms of me choosing what I wanted to do, without pushing me into anything. She made me feel I could be anything. I was very fortunate.(edit)
Annabella: I think space exploration is very important. I think there is very intelligent life on Mars. I believe that Martians are spying on us from the bottom of the ocean.(edit)
Annabella: You can never judge your characters. You have to love them, really care about them. You're never just playing a villain or the crazy lady. (edit)
Annabella: I'm always really surprised by people who are comfortable revealing all of their secrets on TV or in a magazine. It's actually quite shocking to me. (edit)

Annabella graduated from South Shore High School. She attended college but dropped out to pursue a career in acting.(edit)
She and her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was 11 years old.(edit)
Annabella lent her voice for the audiobook reading of Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi and Bobby Cannavale.(edit)
Aside from appearing opposite Christopher Walken in The Funeral, Annabella was also associate producer of the period piece.(edit)
Annabella's other film credits include Highball, Asteroid, Destination Anywhere, and Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story.(edit)
Annabella attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York. She also studied acting at the HB Studio in New York, New York.(edit)
In 1998, Annabella appeared in a print ad for Gap.(edit)
Annabella was nominated for Independent Spirit Award for the movie True Love as Best Female Lead.(edit)
Annabella was listed as one of twelve Promising New Actors of 1990 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 42.(edit)
Annabella has appeared in various off-Broadway productions, such as Roar, Those The River Keeps, The Vagina Monologues, Stay With Me, Love and Junk, Trip Back Down, Shyster. She also appeared in Orpheus Descending, Bus Stop, Three Sisters, Snow Angel, and Cries and Shouts.(edit)
Annabella has dated actor Bobby Cannavale since 2004.(edit)
When she was 20 years old she formed The Brass Ring Theatre Company.(edit)
Annabella's father is of Cuban and Italian descent. Her mother is of French descent. Her father is a veterinarian while her mother is a fashion stylist.(edit)
Annabella is 5'2" (1.57 m). (edit)
Annabella studied dance as a child. She began to take acting lessons as a teenager.(edit)
Annabella was married to actor Joe Petruzzi. Their marriage lasted from 1989 to 1993.(edit)
She was nominated for an Emmy in 2001 for her role as Tony's mistress Gloria on The Sopranos.(edit)