Annabella Sciorra

Annabella Sciorra
Sciorra at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Annabella Gloria Philomena Sciorra (1960-03-29) March 29, 1960 (age 61) New York City, U.S.[1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Spouse(s)	Joe Petruzzi ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1993)​

Annabella Gloria Philomena Sciorra (/ˈʃoʊrə/ SHOH-rə, Italian: [ˈʃɔrra]; born March 29, 1960) is an American actress. Her film roles include True Love (1989), Cadillac Man (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), The Addiction (1995), Cop Land (1997), and What Dreams May Come (1998). She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for playing Gloria Trillo in The Sopranos (2001–04).

Early life[]

Sciorra was born on March 29, 1960, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City to Italian immigrants.^[1] Her mother was a fashion stylist from Formia, Lazio, and her father a veterinarian from Abruzzo.^[2][3] Sciorra studied dance as a child, and later took drama lessons at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.^[4]

Career[]

Sciorra made her feature film debut with a starring role in the 1989 comedy True Love. She was praised by critics, with Janet Maslin of The New York Times commenting: "Ms. Sciorra, with her gentle beauty and her hard-as-nails negotiating style, perfectly captures the mood of the film, and makes Donna fully and touchingly drawn".^[5] The performance earned her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.^[6]

Various film roles came next, including the Richard Gere thriller Internal Affairs, the Robin Williams comedy Cadillac Man, and the acclaimed drama Reversal of Fortune (all 1990). The latter received three Academy Award nominations.^[7]

She earned widespread attention in 1991 for her co-lead role in Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever, opposite Wesley Snipes.^[8] In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote that Sciorra was "possessed of considerable presence, assurance and vulnerability".^[9] She then starred alongside Rebecca De Mornay in Curtis Hanson's 1992 thriller, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, which held the #1 position at the North American box office for four consecutive weeks.^[10]

Sciorra continued to work steadily throughout the 1990s. Film parts included The Night We Never Met, with Matthew Broderick; Romeo Is Bleeding, with Gary Oldman; Mr. Wonderful, with Matt Dillon (all 1993); Abel Ferrara's The Addiction (1995) and The Funeral (1996), with Christopher Walken; Cop Land, with Sylvester Stallone (1997); and What Dreams May Come (1998), in which she co-starred for a second time with Robin Williams.

In 2001, she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Gloria Trillo on the HBO series The Sopranos.^[11] Entertainment Weekly called it "a career changing performance".^[12]

In 2006, Sciorra co-starred with Vin Diesel in Find Me Guilty, directed by Sidney Lumet. The film, based on the true story of the longest Mafia trial in American history, was described as "gripping" by Stephen Holden of The New York Times, who also called Sciorra's performance "excellent".^[13]

Subsequent credits include the CBS series Queens Supreme (2003); a recurring role as Det. Carolyn Barek in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2005–06); the FOX series Mental (2009); and guest appearances in The L Word, ER, The Good Wife, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In 2018, she starred as Rosalie Carbone in the second season of Luke Cage. Of Sciorra's casting, executive producer Cheo Hodari Coker said: "I've been a huge fan of hers since Jungle Fever, and [she's] no joke as Rosalie Carbone. You haven't seen her this gangster since [...] The Sopranos. I'm thrilled her introduction to the Marvel Universe will be on Marvel's Luke Cage".^[14][15] Later that year, she reprised the role of Carbone in the third season of Daredevil.^[16]

Personal life[]

Sciorra was married to actor Joe Petruzzi from 1989 to 1993. In 2004, she began a relationship with Bobby Cannavale which lasted for three years; the pair split up in 2007.^[17][18]

In October 2017, Sciorra leveled allegations of rape against the film producer Harvey Weinstein.^[19][20] In an article published by The New Yorker,^[21] Sciorra alleged that Weinstein raped her after he forced his way into her apartment in 1993, then over a number of years repeatedly sexually harassed her.^{[8][19][22][23]} Sciorra was the key witness addressing the predatory sexual assault charges alleging that Weinstein engaged in a pattern of violent and abusive behavior over many years. The jury struggled with Sciorra's testimony, spending days deliberating on it as indicated by questions the jurors asked to the judge. In the end, the jury unanimously decided that they could not convict Weinstein on the basis of her testimony beyond a reasonable doubt, and Weinstein was found not guilty on the predatory sexual assault charges.^[24]

Awards and nominations[]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Stage[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Annabella Sciorra.

• Annabella Sciorra at IMDb
• Annabella Sciorra at the Internet Broadway Database
• Annabella Sciorra at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Annabella Sciorra on Twitter