Appearing in over several films in the past fifteen years, her most commercially successful films to date are What Women Want (2000), Anger Management (2003), and Wild Hogs (2007). She received critical acclaim for her performances in Unhook the Stars (1996), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) and received subsequent Academy Award nominations for her performances in In the Bedroom (2001) and The Wrestler (2008).
Contents
* 1 Life and career
o 1.1 1964-1983: Early life and career beginnings
o 1.2 1984-2002: Breakthrough and critical success
o 1.3 2003-present
o 1.4 Theatre
o 1.5 Personal life
* 2 Filmography
* 3 References
* 4 External links
Life and career
1964-1983: Early life and career beginnings
Tomei, an Italian American, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Patricia "Addie," an English teacher, and Gary A. Tomei, a trial lawyer. She has a younger brother, actor Adam Tomei, and was partly raised by her paternal grandparents, Rita and Romeo Tomei. Tomei grew up in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. While there, she became captivated by the Broadway shows that her theater-loving parents took her to and became drawn to acting as a career. At Andries Hudde Junior High School, she played the part of Hedy LaRue in a school production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School and she attended Boston University for a year, transferring to New York University in 1983 after landing a role in the soap opera As The World Turns. Soon afterward, she dropped out of college as her career in acting started to take off.
1984-2002: Breakthrough and critical success
Tomei followed up As the World Turns, in 1986, with a role on the sitcom A Different World as Maggie Lauten during the first season. Her film debut was in the 1984 comedy film, The Flamingo Kid with Matt Dillon, following several small films, her breakthrough comedic performance came in My Cousin Vinny (1992), for which she was named Best Supporting Actress at the 1993 Academy Awards, prevailing over Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Judy Davis. American film critic Rex Reed created controversy (and a minor Hollywood myth) when he suggested that Jack Palance had announced the wrong name after opening the envelope. While this has been repeatedly disproved – even the Academy has officially denied it – Tomei has called the story "extremely hurtful".
After her Oscar win, she appeared as silent film star, Mabel Normand in the film Chaplin with her then boyfriend, Robert Downey Jr. as the title character. The following year she starred in the romantic drama, Untamed Heart with Christian Slater and appeared alongside Downey Jr. again in the romantic comedy, Only You the following year. She received her first Screen Actor's Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Female Supporting Actor for Nick Cassavetes's Unhook the Stars alonside Gena Rowlands. On Tomei's performance, The New York Times wrote, "Ms. Tomei is equally fine as Mildred's younger, hot-tempered neighbor, whose raw working-class feistiness and bluntly profane vocabulary initially repel the genteel older woman." She appeared in several films throughout the following years and received an American Comedy Award nomination for Funniest Supporting Actress for Tamara Jenkins's Slums of Beverly Hills. However, she spent several years away from high-profile roles and major motion pictures in the later 90's before rising again to prominence.[19] Tomei later appeared in the 2000 film, What Women Want with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt which was a commercial success and had a supporting role in the romantic comedy, Someone Like You. In 2001, Tomei appeared in the critically acclaimed film, In the Bedroom with Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek, earning Tomei a second Academy Award nomination and her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Tomei received the ShoWest Award for Supporting Actress of the Year in 2002.
Throughout the later part of the decade Tomei made several television appearences, in 1996 she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Seinfeld, playing herself in the two-part episode "The Cadillac". In this episode, George attempts to get a date with Tomei through a friend of Elaine. She has also made an appearance on The Simpsons as movie star Sara Sloane, who falls in love with Ned Flanders. Former Saturday Night Live cast member Jay Mohr wrote in his book Gasping for Airtime that, as guest host in October 1994, Tomei insisted that a proposed sketch about another actress not be used because she didn't like the idea of making fun of her, which displeased the writers and performers, given the show's penchant for satirizing celebrities.
2003-present
In 2003, Tomei appeared in the hit Anger Management with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, and Alfie opposite Jude Law. In 2005, she was featured in an ad campaign for Hanes with the slogan "Look who we've got our Hanes on now", featuring various other celebrities including Michael Jordan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Damon Wayans, Matthew Perry and, on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arambula and Pablo Montero. In 2006, Tomei had a recurring role on Rescue Me, playing Johnny Gavin's ex-wife Angie. She won a Gracie Allen Award for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work in the four episodes she appeared in. The following year she appeared in the comedy, Wild Hogs alongside John Travolta, Tim Allen, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence. The film was the 13th highest-grossing movie of 2007 ($168,273,550 domestic box office). She also starred in the Sidney Lumet-directed Before the Devil Knows You're Dead opposite co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke. This role received extra attention because Tomei appeared in nude love scenes with both Hoffman and Hawke.
Tomei at the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009
In 2008, Tomei played Cassidy/Pam, a struggling stripper in the Darren Aronofsky independent film The Wrestler opposite Mickey Rourke. She appeared in several nude scenes performing dance numbers in the film. Numerous critics heralded this performance as a standout in her career. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe writes, "Tomei gives a brave and scrupulously honest performance, one that's most naked when Pam has her clothes on." Variety exclaimed, "Tomei is in top, emotionally forthright form as she charts a life passage similar to Ram's."For her performance she was nominated for her first BAFTA, second Golden Globe and third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Tomei was included at #18 on the FHM annual list of "100 Sexiest Females in the world" in 2009. The following year she appeared in two films, the first a comedy-drama, Cyrus and a cameo in the comedy film, Grown Ups. Her next projects include Salvation Boulevard with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, and Crazy, Stupid, Love with Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
Theatre
Tomei has also done substantial work in the theater, including taking lead roles on Broadway in Wait Until Dark (1998) and Oscar Wilde's Salomé (2003) alongside Al Pacino and Dianne Wiest as well as many Off Broadway plays.
Personal life
In the early 1990s, Tomei dated Robert Downey, Jr. (her co-star in Chaplin and Only You). In 1999, she dated actor Dana Ashbrook and had a relationship with playwright Frank Pugliese, living with him in Greenwich Village.
Tomei was the recipient of an honorary degree from Boston University.
She has been dating actor Logan Marshall-Green for the past few years
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