Profile
Famous as :
ActressBirth Date :
December 04, 1964Birth Place :
Brooklyn, New York, USAClaim to fame :
As Mona Lisa Vito in "My Cousin Vinny" (1992)
Joined audition for the role of Dorothy Boyd in "Jerry Maguire" (1996), but got beaten out by Renee Zellweger.
Used to play Dinosaurs with Jake Lloyd on the set of "Unhook the Stars" (1996).
Her unexpected winning at the 1993 Academy Awards rose awful speculations that presenter Jack Palance had misread the envelope and mistakenly bestowed the Oscar to her which later was debunked by snopes.com.
Revealed to "Entertainment Tonight" before the 1993 Oscar ceremony that she feared she would trip on the steps on her way to the stage at the event. It later turned out that her fear became a reality.
Was included in the Promising New Actors of 1991 list of John Willis' Screen World.
Teamed up with Indian and Pakistani actresses to perform The Vagina Monologues on a stage in Bombay in their commemoration of Monday's International Women's Day.
Once worked as a waitress at Tony Romas for six weeks before her acting career took off.
Her theater credits include "Wait Until Dark", "Salome", "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!", "Waiting for Lefty", "What the Butler Saw", and "Daughters."
Is a member of both Fisher Stevens' Naked Angels Theater Company and Blue Light Theater Company in New York City.
Shares birthdays with Chelsea Noble, Tyra Banks, Jeff Bridges, and Lindsay Felton.
Sometimes travels using an Italian passport as admitted on "The Daily Show" since she actually has dual citizenship of American and Italian.
Has a tattoo on her right foot depicting the Egyptian Eye of Ra which is a symbol of protection, good luck, and abundance.
