Drea De Matteo was popularly known as Adriana La Cerva on the HBO series, The Sopranos. Known as the long-time girlfriend turned fiancée of Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Soprano’s nephew and right-hand man, she grew up exposed to the mafia lifestyle. Initially, she portrayed a shallow and materialistic character but eventually became ambitious, business minded and concerned about Christopher’s best interests. Although she was relatively loyal to the mob, she became an easy target for the FBI. She tried to avoid giving up any serious information about the mob family but her deception eventually caught up with her after the FBI discovered her involvement in a murder. Later, she confessed everything to Christopher, but Christopher’s loyalty to his family turned out to be greater than his love for her. In the episode entitled “Long Term Parking,” Tony had Silvio Dante put her to death. After her death in 2004, she appeared on several episodes in the form of dream sequences.

After The Sopranos, De Matteo continued acting on television, starring as Gina Tribbiani on the Friends spin-off Joey. She also worked in films like Assault on Precinct 13, Farce of the Penguins and Walker Payne.

At present, she is working on several movie projects. One June 22, the romantic comedy movie Broken English will be released. She stars as Audrey and joins other cast members such as Parker Posey, Melvil Poupaud, Justin Theroux, Peter Bogdanovich, and Gena Rowlands. She will also star in the comedy-drama The Good Life as Dana. Last but not the least, she will be portraying the character Hope in the Southern drama film Lake City, which will also be released this year.

-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist

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