Drea de Matteo

De Matteo was born in Queens, New York.^[1] Her mother, Donna, is a playwright and playwriting teacher who has been on faculty at HB Studio,^[3] and her father, Albert, was a furniture manufacturer who was owner and CEO of Avery Boardman and Carlyle.^[4] She is of Italian descent,^[5][1] and grew up in a Catholic family.^[1][6]

After graduating from the Loyola School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, De Matteo earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film production from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University in Greenwich Village, intending to become a film director. She additionally studied acting at the HB Studio.^[7][8]

De Matteo's role in The Sopranos helped launch her career. She has appeared in several films, including Swordfish, Deuces Wild, The Perfect You, Prey for Rock & Roll and the 2005 remake of John Carpenter's 1976 action film Assault on Precinct 13. She had the starring role in Abel Ferrara's R Xmas, for which she received positive reviews.^[9]

In 2004, De Matteo won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress (Drama) for her role as Adriana on The Sopranos (season 5) and was nominated for a Golden Globe the same year for the same role.^[10]

From 2004 to 2006, De Matteo portrayed Joey Tribbiani's sister Gina on Joey.^[11]

De Matteo played the role of Wendy Case in the series Sons of Anarchy. The pilot episode aired September 3, 2008, and De Matteo continued making regular appearances into the series' sixth season.^[12] She was promoted to a series regular for the seventh and final season.^[13]

De Matteo played Angie Bolen, the mother of the Bolen family, on season 6 of the show Desperate Housewives.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} She left Desperate Housewives at the season 6 finale in 2010, for personal reasons.^[19]

In 2012, she guest-starred in Californication.

De Matteo played the stepmother of Steve Wilde, the main character of the FOX comedy Running Wilde, appearing in season 1, episode 9. De Matteo co-starred as Krissi Cates in the film adaptation of Dark Places (2015).^[20] In 2015, she was cast as Det. Tess Nazario in the NBC drama series Shades of Blue.

De Matteo and Chris Kushner began hosting a rewatch podcast of The Sopranos on March 13, 2020, called Made Women;^[21] in July, the podcast was retooled and renamed Gangster Goddess Broad-Cast.^[22]

In September 2022, De Matteo announced she would open an account on OnlyFans. It went live in August 2023.^[23] She claimed her refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine put her out of work and led her to join the website.^[24]

In 1997, De Matteo opened Filth Mart, a clothing store with her boyfriend Michael Sportes.^[25] They closed the store in 2004.^[26]

De Matteo started dating musician Shooter Jennings in 2001.^[27] They became engaged on June 11, 2009, when Jennings proposed onstage at the Stanley Theater during a show in Utica, New York.^[28] They have two children together.^[27][29] Jennings and De Matteo eventually ended their relationship without marrying.^[30]

De Matteo lost her apartment home of 22 years when a gas explosion and fire destroyed three buildings in Manhattan on March 26, 2015.^[31]

In July 2024, De Matteo revealed on a podcast that her 13-year-old son edits her content posted on the platform OnlyFans.^[32]

De Matteo co-endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.^[33][34]