Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. Her early appearances were in the soap opera As the World Turns (1983–1985) and the first season of the sitcom A Different World (1987). She gained prominence for her comedic performance in My Cousin Vinny (1992), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She received further nominations in the category for In the Bedroom (2001) and The Wrestler (2008).
Tomei's other notable films include Chaplin (1992), (1994), What Women Want (2000), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Wild Hogs (2007), The Ides of March (2011), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), Parental Guidance (2012), The Big Short (2015), and The King of Staten Island (2020). She also portrayed May Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Captain America: Civil War (2016) to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Tomei was formerly involved with the Naked Angels Theater Company and appeared in Daughters (1986) before making her Broadway debut in Wait Until Dark (1998). She earned a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Top Girls (2008), and a special Drama Desk Award for The Realistic Joneses (2014). She returned to Broadway in the revival of The Rose Tattoo in 2019.
Early life
Tomei was born on December 4, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York, to Adelaide "Addie" (née Bianchi), 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. Tomei's parents are both of Italian descent; her father's ancestors came from Tuscany, Calabria, and Campania, while her mother's ancestors are from Tuscany and Sicily. She graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School in 1982.
Tomei grew up in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. While there, she became captivated by the Broadway shows to which her theater-loving parents took her and was drawn to acting as a career. At Andries Hudde Junior High School, she played Hedy LaRue in a school production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She also attended Albee School of Dance. After graduating from high school, she attended Boston University for a year.
Career
1983–1991
Tomei followed up As the World Turns in 1986 with a main role on the sitcom A Different World as Maggie Lauten during the first season. Her film debut was a minor role in the 1984 comedy film The Flamingo Kid, in which she played Mandy, a waitress. She had only one line in the film. In 1986 she had a small role in the Bob and Harvey Weinstein directed comedy film Playing for Keeps which was a financial and critical failure.
During this phase, she made her stage debut in 1987 at the age of 22 in the off-Broadway play Daughters, playing Cetta. The role earned her rave reviews and the Theatre World Award for outstanding debut on stage. She continued to take roles off-Broadway in the plays Beirut in 1987, Sharon and Billy in 1988, and What the Butler Saw in 1989. She also portrayed Rosa Delle Rose in The Rose Tattoo at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She took more prominent roles opposite Sylvester Stallone in the comedy Oscar (1991), and Nicolas Cage in the erotic thriller Zandalee (1991).
1992–1999
Following several small films, including Oscar, Tomei came to international prominence with her comedic performance in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny starring opposite Joe Pesci for which she received critical praise. Critic Vincent Canby wrote, "Ms. Tomei gives every indication of being a fine comedian, whether towering over Mr. Pesci and trying to look small, or arguing about a leaky faucet in terms that demonstrate her knowledge of plumbing. Mona Lisa is also a first-rate auto mechanic, which comes in handy in the untying of the knotted story." For her performance, Tomei was named Best Supporting Actress at the 1993 Academy Awards, prevailing over Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Judy Davis.