Thirty-four years after My Cousin Vinny turned Marisa Tomei into an Oscar winner at age 27, she’s still pulling focus without trying. These days, a lot of people first met her as Aunt May opposite Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that role only works because Tomei has been quietly building a career that never boxed her in, even when Hollywood tried.
Born in Brooklyn in 1964, Tomei didn’t arrive through the red carpet door. She worked soap schedules on As the World Turns, studied everything from literature to feminist theory, and dropped out of college after her father told her to take a risk. It paid off. By the time Mona Lisa Vito explained tire treads in court, Tomei had timing, nerve, and the confidence to hold her own next to Joe Pesci. “Joe chose me for the part, then took me by the hand and guided me immensely,” she told The Guardian. That Oscar still lives in her library.
TV never scared her either. On A Different World, she lived with co-star Lisa Bonet on and off screen and became godmother to Bonet’s kids, including Zoë Kravitz. She flirted with sitcom fame on Seinfeld because Larry David liked how her name sounded.
As the years stacked up, Tomei chased harder material. In the Bedroom came together in three days. The Wrestler pushed her into unfamiliar territory. Both earned Oscar nominations. Still, she’s blunt about missteps. She told Collider, “I really regret starting down this road” when talking about default mom roles, even though she crushed one opposite Pete Davidson in The King of Staten Island.
Off camera, Tomei keeps things simple. Minimal makeup. Filtered water in every shower. Short stints in infrared saunas. “That was before I knew anything and a lot of makeup got slapped on my face,” she joked to Vogue about Vinny-era glam.
At 61, she posts fresh-faced videos that send fans spiraling into George Costanza-level admiration. Hollywood still watches her closely. Tomei just keeps working and aging exactly how she wants.
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