When the producers of the ABC sitcom “Spin City” were casting the spunky Brooklyn-born, Italian-American mayoral secretary, they found their actress in Brooklyn-born, Italian-American actress Jennifer Esposito. The sultry beauty, who isn’t afraid to project what one of the show’s executive producers called “New York attitude”, trained at the Actors Studio and put in the requisite stint as a waitress before finding success. She landed her first TV role on the ABC soap opera “The City” in 1995 and after that brief stint marked time on stage and in occasional guest appearances before landing supporting roles in several independent films, including “Kiss Me, Guido” (1997) and “No Looking Back” (1998). When she was hired to play Stacey Paterno, the mayor’s feisty right hand, Esposito was filming a recurring role as a gangster’s daughter on Fox’s “New York Undercover”. The actress had decidedly pointed opinions about her sitcom character should dress and behave and gradually the writers and producers allowed her to make some modifications in her character. Still, Esposito felt unchallenged and after little more than a season and a half, opted to quit the show in favor of concentrating on a big screen career. By that time, she had played a bartender in the summer sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” (1998) and had twice worked with Spike Lee, most notably in her breakthrough role as Ruby, an aspiring punk singer whose boyfriend (Adrien Brody) is suspected of being the notorious Son of Sam killer in “Summer of Sam” (1999). Additionally, she had a prominent part in “Side Streets” and made a cameo appearance in the Chris O’Donnell vehicle “The Bachelor” (both 1999).
After playing several small dramatic roles in major pictures and starring in the low-budget independent thriller “The Proposal,” Esposito landed a starring comedic role opposite Dana Carvey in “Master of Disguise” and played alongside William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell and George Clooney in the Russo Brothers’ caper comedy “Welcome to Collinwood,” both released in 2002. In late 2004 Espoito returned to series television with a recurring role on the CBS courtroom drama “Judging Amy” playing Crystal Turner, a social worker who runs an outreach program for homeless children. She followed up on the big screen as a member of the top-flight acting ensemble assembled for the racially charged, multi-plot drama “Crash” (2005), playing the partner and lover of a police detective (Don Cheadle) embroiled in a racially sensitive homicide case.
- Born:
on 04/19/72 in Brooklyn, New York
- Job Titles:
Actor, Waitress
Family
- Father: Robert Esposito.
- Mother: Phyllis Esposito.
- Sister: older
Significant Others
- Companion: Benjamin Bratt. met when she made guest appearance on “Law & Order” in 1996; had eight-month relationship
- Companion: Cameron Mathison. appeared on “All My Children”; dated from summer 1998 to c. January 2000
- Companion: Chris Schupp.
- Companion: Jonny Lee Miller. reportedly became involved in summer 2000 during filming of “Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000″; no longer together
Education
- Actors Studio, New York, New York
Milestones
- 1995 Had supporting role in CBS TV remake of “The Sunshine Boys”, starring Woody Allen and Peter Falk; aired in 1997
- 1995 TV debut in role of Connie Soleito on the ABC soap opera “The City”
- 1997 Feature film debut, “Kiss Me, Guido”
- 1998 First appearance in a Spike Lee movie, “He Got Game”; most of her part was cut from final print
- 1998 In January, joined cast of ABC sitcom “Spin City” as the mayor’s secretary Stacey Paterno
- 1998 Played recurring role as a mobster’s daughter on the Fox drama “New York Undercover”
- 1999 Announced departure from “Spin City” to pursue feature roles; left at the end of the 1998-1999 season
- 1999 Had breakthrough screen role as the rock singer love interest of a punk musician (Adrien Brody) in Spike Lee’s “Summer of Sam”
- 2000 Co-starred in “Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000″
- 2001 Played a detective in the Michael Douglas thriller “Don’t Say a Word”
- 2002 Appeared in the Dana Carvey comedy “Master of Disguise”
- 2002 Played Carmela in the Russo Brothers’ “Welcome to Collinwood”
- 2005 Starred in Paul Haggis’ directorial debut “Crash,” a multicharacter study of L.A. race relations
- Starred alongside Gina Gershon, Joan Jett and Drea De Matteo in “Prey for Rock and Roll” (lensed 2002) as part of an all girl band riding the LA rock scene roller coaster.
