Jennifer Esposito

Jennifer Esposito (born April 11, 1973) is an American actress and author. She is known for her roles in the feature films Crash, Summer of Sam, Don't Say a Word, Taxi and Welcome to Collinwood. Esposito has also appeared in several television series, most notably The Looney Tunes Show, Spin City, Related, Samantha Who?, Blue Bloods, and Mistresses. From 2016 to 2017, Esposito played Special Agent Alexandra Quinn on the CBS series NCIS.
==Early life==
Esposito was born on April 11, 1973,[1] in New York City, into a working class household, the second of two daughters of Phyllis, an interior decorator, and Robert Esposito, a music producer.[2] She is of Italian (Neapolitan) descent.[3]She was raised on Staten Island and is a graduate of Moore Catholic High School.[4]
==Career==
Esposito made her first television appearance in Law & Order in 1996. She then joined the cast of Spin City, where she appeared for two seasons. She also appeared in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. One of her more notable roles was as "Ruby" in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam in 1999, which was set against the late 1970s backdrop of the Son of Sam murders. Esposito's next films included Dracula 2000, The Master of Disguise, the 2004 comedy Taxi, and the Academy Award-winning film Crash, in which she played Don Cheadle's partner and romantic interest, Ria.
On May 21, 2004, for Dinner for Five season 3, episode 7, she joined Jon Favreau, Stephen Dorff, Luis Guzmán, and Barry Pepper.[5][6][7][8][9] Esposito has made television appearances on the series Law & Order: SVU, Rescue Me, and Mercy. She was a regular cast member on Related and Samantha Who?. Esposito joined the cast of the CBS drama Blue Bloods in 2010, playing the role of Detective Jackie Curatola, the partner of Detective Danny Reagan (played by Donnie Wahlberg). In the third season, Esposito was diagnosed with celiac disease, and after collapsing on set,[10] Esposito informed CBS that her condition would limit her availability to work on the series. Rather than work around her limited schedule, Blue Bloods producers chose to write her character out of the series in 2012.[11][12][13][14][15][16]
In 2013, she launched Jennifer's Way[17][18] Bakery, in Manhattan's West Village which only serves celiac-safe food.[19][20][21][22][23] In 2014, she joined the NBC series Taxi Brooklyn.[24] On April 22, 2014, Da Capo Lifelong Books published Esposito's first book Jennifer's Way, a detailed look into her personal struggle with celiac disease before and after she was diagnosed and the things she did to survive. The book made The New York TimesBest Sellers list on July 6, 2014.[25][26][27] In 2015, Esposito played Calista Raines in the ABC drama series Mistresses,[28][29] and it was reported that she was a cast member on the CBS pilot Taxi-22, opposite John Leguizamo.[30][31] She played Dominic West's sister in the Showtime series The Affair for six episodes.[32][33][34]
In 2015, Esposito became the brand ambassador for Eclair Naturals, a gluten-free, GMO-free, and vegan body and skin care line available[35] in Rite Aid stores[36] across the United States.[37][38] In 2016, it was announced[39] Esposito would join the cast of NCISas Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Quinn,[40] an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center.[41][42] NCIS leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), will lure Quinn back into the field as part of his team where he will take advantage of her sharp wit, quick mind and immense talent as a federal agent. Upon joining the cast of NCIS as Special Agent Alex Quinn, executive producer Gary Glasberg said, "We couldn't be happier to have Jennifer Esposito joining us for season 14. She embodies everything that we hoped for in the character of Quinn and we can't wait to have her come be a part of our team".[43] In June 2017 it was announced that this would be her only season.[44] Esposito appeared on the September 10, 2016, episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now? where she said her doctor had her hospitalized in a psych ward.[45][46][47] She said the hospitalization happened during the time she was an actress on the show Samantha Who?[48]
== Personal life ==
Esposito married American actor Bradley Cooper on December 30, 2006.[49] In May 2007, after five months of marriage, they filed for divorce, which was finalized that November.[50][51][52] In 2009, Esposito became engaged to Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis.[53] The couple separated in August 2010.[54][55] In October 2011, Esposito announced that she had celiac disease on The Late Show with David Letterman.[13][15][56][57][58] In May 2014, Esposito announced her engagement to British model Louis Dowler.[59][60] They married on November 16, 2014 in New York City.[61][62] It was reported in March 2016 that Esposito had filed for divorce from Dowler.[63][64]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1997	A Brother's Kiss 	Lucy 	
1997	Kiss Me, Guido 	Debbie 	
1997	A Brooklyn State of Mind 	Donna Delgrosso 	
1998	No Looking Back 	Teresa 	
1998	He Got Game 	Ms. Janus 	
1998	Charlie Hoboken 	Girl in church 	
1998	Side Streets 	Jessica 	
1998	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Nancy 	
1999	Summer of Sam 	Ruby 	
1999	Just One Time 	Michelle 	
1999	The Bachelor 	Daphne 	
2000	Dracula 2000 	Solina 	
2001	Backflash 	Olive Dee "Harley" Klintucker	Direct-to-video
2001	The Proposal 	Susan Reese 	
2001	Made 	Club girl 	Uncredited
2001	Don't Say a Word 	Det. Sandra Cassidy 	
2001	Beyond the City Limits 	Helena Toretti 	
2002	Welcome to Collinwood 	Carmela 	
2002	The Master of Disguise 	Jennifer Baker 	
2004	Breakin' All the Rules 	Rita Monroe 	
2004	Crash 	Ria 	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture
2004	Taxi 	Lt. Marta Robbins 	
2006	Jesus, Mary and Joey 	Frankie Vitello 	
2008	Conspiracy 	Joanna 	
2008	American Crude 	Carlos 	
2009	Four Single Fathers 	Suzanne 	
2011	Mamitas 	Miss Ruiz 	
2012	Bending the Rules 	Olivia Garcia 	
2014	She's Funny That Way 	Margie 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1995 	The City 	Connie Soleito 	Unknown episodes
1996 	The Sunshine Boys 	Jeannie 	Television film
1996 	Law & Order 	Gina Tucci 	Episode: "Good Girl"
1997 	Feds 	Flo 	Episode: "Crash and Burn"
1997–1999	Spin City 	Stacey Paterno 	Main role (seasons 2–3); 46 episodes
1998 	New York Undercover 	Gina Stone 	3 episodes
2000 	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Sara Logan 	Episode: "Remorse"
2002 	Hack 	Abby 	Episode: "Obsession"
2004–2005	Judging Amy 	Louann "Crystal" Turner 	8 episodes
2005–2006	Related 	Ginnie Sorelli 	Main role; 18 episodes
2005 	Snow Wonder 	Pilar 	Television film
2006 	Law & Order 	Justine Bailey 	Episode: "In Vino Veritas"
2007 	Rescue Me 	Nona 	5 episodes
2007–2009	Samantha Who? 	Andrea Belladonna 	Main role; 35 episodes
2010 	Mercy 	Jules Fattore 	2 episodes
2010 	The Wish List 	Sarah Fisher [65] 	Television film
2010–2012	Blue Bloods 	Detective Jackie Curatola 	Main role (seasons 1–3); 46 episodes
2011–2012	The Looney Tunes Show 	Tina Russo (voice) 	5 episodes
2014 	Taxi Brooklyn 	Monica Pena 	Main role; 10 episodes
2015 	Mistresses 	Calista Raines 	Main role (season 3); 12 episodes
2015–2017	The Affair 	Nina Solloway 	6 episodes
2016–2017	NCIS 	NCIS Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Quinn	Main role (season 14); 24 episodes
2018 	Blindspot 	Lynette 	2 episodes (season 3)
2019 	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Sergeant Phoebe Baker VICE 	episode "Brothel" (Season 20)
=== Web ===
Year	Title 	Role	Notes
2009	The Broadroom	Roan	Main role; 4 episodes
Category:Female
Category:Females
Category:Voice actresses
Category:Living people
Category:Real-life personalities
Category:Real-life
Category:Looney Tunes
Category:Looney Tunes Voice Actors
Category:1970 births
Category:1970s births