Jennifer Esposito was born April 11, 1973. Jennifer and her older sister grew up in Brooklyn, New York, along with her father Bob, a computer consultant (and former music producer), and mom Phyllis, an interior decorator. Her dreams of becoming an actress were present from day one, and led her to enroll at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. Though she found bit parts every so often, bigger roles were hard to come by in the beginning, and so to make ends meet, Esposito worked as a waitress. But the wait finally paid off: In 1995, she got her first big break by landing a part on the ABC soap, The City. This brought her to the attention of the casting agents of Spin City, who were looking for a feisty, Italian-American to portray Michael J. Fox's character's assistant.
Esposito was eventually cast and began shooting for the successful sitcom in 1997. But finding the work to be unfulfilling, Jennifer left the series in 1999 in pursuit of a career in feature films.
Again, she did not have to wait long; after working on films like Kiss Me Guido and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Spike Lee cast her in his 1999 film, Summer of Sam. Although the film was not a commercial success, it did showcase Esposito's range while playing a punk singer whose boyfriend is accused of murder. Incidentally, Esposito was originally slated to play the role that ultimately went to Mira Sorvino, but she had to take on a smaller role due to scheduling conflicts.
Since then, Jennifer Esposito has consistently remained in the spotlight, landing roles in Just One Time, Dracula 2000, Don't Say a Word, and 2002's The Master of Disguise with Dana Carvey. To date, she has shown no signs of slowing down. Over the years, Esposito has been linked to various men, including Dean Winters and All My Children star Cameron Mathison, though it appears that she is currently single. Esposito is keeping busy auditioning and continues to work on various projects. You can see her next in Prey for Rock & Roll and Jesus, Mary and Joey.
