Jennifer Esposito Biography

Jennifer Esposito (born April 11, 1973) is an American actress, author, baker, and health advocate. Esposito is most known for her appearances in the films Crash, Summer of Sam, Don't Say a Word, and Welcome to Collinwood, and the television series Spin City, Related, Samantha Who?, and Blue Bloods among others. She currently stars in the CBS hit drama NCIS as Special Agent Alex Quinn.

Early life

Esposito was born in Brooklyn, the second of two daughters of Phyllis, an interior decorator, and Robert Esposito, a computer consultant and music producer. She is of Italian descent. She was raised on Staten Island and is a graduate of Moore Catholic High School.

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 Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000, The Master of Disguise, the 2004 comedy Taxi, and the Academy Award-winning film Crash, in which she played Don Cheadle's girlfriend 'Ria'.

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?

In 2010, Esposito joined the cast of the CBS drama Blue Bloods 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 panic attacks, depression, and celiac disease, and after collapsing on set, Esposito informed CBS that her conditions 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.

In 2014, she joined the NBC series Taxi Brooklyn. 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 Times Best Sellers list on July 6, 2014.

In 2015, Esposito signed a one-year deal to play the role of Calista Raines in the ABC drama series Mistresses, and it was reported that she was a cast member on the CBS pilot Taxi-22, opposite John Leguizamo. She played Dominic West's sister in the hit Showtime series The Affair for three episodes.

In 2015, Esposito became the brand ambassador for Eclair Naturals, a gluten-free, GMO-free, and vegan body and skin care line available in Rite Aid stores across the United States.

In 2016, it was announced Esposito would join the cast of NCIS as Special Agent Alex Quinn, an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center.

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. She said the hospitalization happened during the time she was an actress on the show Samantha Who?

Personal life

Esposito married actor Bradley Cooper on December 30, 2006. They filed for divorce in May 2007, and it was finalized that November.

In 2009, Esposito became engaged to Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis. The couple separated in August 2010.

In October 2011, Esposito announced that she had celiac disease on The Late Show with David Letterman. In 2012, she opened a gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, celiac-friendly bakery, "Jennifer's Way", in Manhattan's East Village.

In May 2014, Esposito announced her engagement to British model Louis Dowler. They married on November 16, 2014 in New York City. It was reported in March 2016 that Esposito had filed for divorce from Dowler.

In May 2016, it was reported that Esposito left the country in the midst of a lawsuit against her. Esposito denied these claims.

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	'	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	'	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
2016	Tallulah	Carolyn

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	'	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"
1997-99	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"
2004-05	Judging Amy	Louann "Crystal" Turner	Recurring role; 8 episodes
2005	Snow Wonder	Pilar	Television film
2005-06	Related	Ginnie Sorelli	Main role; 18 episodes
2006	Law & Order	Justine Bailey	Episode: "In Vino Veritas"
2007	Rescue Me	Nona	5 episodes
2007-09	Samantha Who?	Andrea Belladonna	Main role; 35 episodes
2010	The Wish List	Sarah	Television film
2010	Mercy	Jules Fattore	2 episodes
2010-12	Blue Bloods	Detective Jackie Curatola	Main role (seasons 1-3); 46 episodes
2011-12	The Looney Tunes Show	Tina Russo (voice)	5 episodes
2014	Taxi Brooklyn	Monica Pena	Main role; 12 episodes
2015	Mistresses	Calista Raines	Main role (season 3); 12 episodes
2015"?16	The Affair	Nina Solloway	Supporting role (season 2-3)
2016-	NCIS	NCIS Special Agent Alexandra "Alex"? Quinn	Main Role (Season 14 - )

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	'	Roan	Main role; 4 episodes

See also

• Gluten-free diet