Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress, singer and activist. She has played Samantha Micelli in Who's the Boss? (1984–1992), Jennifer Mancini in Melrose Place (1997–1998), Phoebe Halliwell in Charmed (1998–2006), Billie Cunningham in My Name Is Earl (2007–2008), Savannah "Savi" Davis in Mistresses (2013–2014), Renata Murphy in Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later (2017), and Coralee Armstrong in Insatiable (2018–2019). As an activist, Milano is known for her role in the #MeToo movement in October 2017. She was the replacement of the role of Roxie Hart, and did her own singing in Chicago.
Early life Alyssa Jayne Milano was born in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City on December 19, 1972. She and her family left Bensonhurst after a neighborhood shooting, relocating to Great Kills, Staten Island. She is of Italian descent and has a brother named Cory, who is a decade younger. She was raised Catholic, and still practices the faith.
Career 1980s and 1990s Milano began her career at age seven, when her babysitter, without notifying her parents, took her to an audition for the national touring company of Annie. She was one of four selected from more than 1,500 girls. During the course of her work in the play, Milano and her mother were on the road for 18 months. After returning to New York, Milano appeared in television commercials, and performed several roles in off-Broadway productions, including the first American musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. While accompanying a friend from Annie to the office of a New York agent, the agent signed Milano. She does not feel that growing up in front of the camera harmed her childhood and has said: "I love my family very much – they've really backed my career. I consider myself to be normal: I've got to clean my room, and help in the kitchen". In August 1984, Milano made her film debut in the coming-of-age drama Old Enough, which she recalled as a "great way of starting out". The film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won First Prize.
Milano auditioned as the daughter of Tony Danza's character on the sitcom Who's the Boss? After winning the part, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, where the show was produced. It premiered on ABC on September 20, 1984. Throughout Who's the Boss?, Milano developed a close relationship with co-star Danza. Commenting on their early years together, Danza observed: "She was just the sweetest little girl of all time ... She became much like my daughter". The series established Milano as a teen idol,Leone Shewfelt, Raechal (September 8, 2015). "Alyssa Milano Remembers Her Totally Awesome '80s Workout Video 'Teen Steam'". Yahoo! Celebrity. and provided her opportunities for other roles. Her education was split between school and an on-set tutor with whom Milano would work for three hours a day.
At age 12, Milano co-starred in Commando (1985) as Jenny Matrix, the daughter of John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Subsequently, she starred in the children's film The Canterville Ghost, which did not achieve much praise or attention and Variety magazine noted in its review: "Milano as the catalyzing daughter Jennifer adapts to the ghostly Sir Simon without a qualm; that, of course, is the true charm of the story, but Milano doesn't exhibit enough presence to match the droll, charming [John] Gielgud".Variety magazine. September 26, 1986. A few years later this film was shown in Japan, prompting a producer to offer Milano a five-album record deal. Milano's albums, which she described as "bubblegum pop", scored platinum in the country, though she later criticised their musical quality.
On stage, Milano starred in Tender Offer, a one-act play written by Wendy Wasserstein, All Night Long by American playwright John O'Keefe,"All Night Long" . Lortel Archives: The Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved September 16, 2015. and the first American musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. She returned to the theater in 1991, producing and starring in a Los Angeles production of Butterflies Are Free from December 26, 1991, to January 19, 1992. Milano starred in two 1988 television films, Crash Course and Dance 'til Dawn. Both projects allowed her to work alongside close personal friend Brian Bloom, who worked with his brother Scott with her in episodes of Who's the Boss; this working camaraderie would later expand in 1993 when Milano made a cameo appearance in Bloom's film The Webbers. She produced a teen workout video, Teen Steam, and achieved some fame outside the US with her music career, which lasted until the early 1990s. Even though she scored platinum in Japan, Milano had no interest to pursue a music career in the United States: "I'm not interested in crossing over. I'd much rather have it released where it's appreciated than laughed at". Simultaneously, she wrote a weekly column called "From Alyssa, with love" for the teen magazine Teen Machine."Alyssa Milano: Idol Chatter" by Mark Ebner. Premiere Magazine, 1995.
Milano played a teenage prostitute in the 1992 independent film Where the Day Takes You. The film, which focuses on a group of young runaway and homeless teenagers,Brod, Doug (January 22, 1993). "Where the Day Takes You ".Entertainment Weekly. was shot on and around Hollywood BoulevardEbert, Roger (September 11, 1992). "Where The Day Takes You". RogerEbert.com and was met with positive critical reception."Where the Day Takes You (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 17, 2015. It was nominated for the Critics Award at the Deauville Film Festival, and won the Golden Space Needle Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.Obenson, Tambay A. (June 3, 2014). "Have You Seen Will Smith's Feature Debut As Crippled Homeless Man In 1992's 'Where The Day Takes You'?" . Shadow and Act, Indiewire. Although Milano feared that viewers would only recognize her as "the girl from Who's the Boss?", she was noticed by the media, which helped her land the role of Amy Fisher in the high-profile television film Casualties of Love: The "Long Island Lolita" Story, one of three TV films based on Fisher's shooting of Mary Jo Buttafuoco.Svetkey, Benjamin (December 18, 1992). "Amy Fisher on TV". Entertainment Weekly.Hofstede, David (October 1, 2004). Boss%2CMilano%2Camyfisher What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History. Back Stage Books, p. 165. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved September 17, 2015. Milano said that her portrayal of Fisher in the film, which was based on the Buttafuoco's point of view, "was the least 'Alyssa' of anything [she had] done". The film was shot from November–December 1992."Casualties of Love: Long Island Lolita Story(1993"). Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 17, 2015. She welcomed the cancellation of Who's the Boss?, as she was ready to move on to other roles and enthusiastic to "showcase" what she was able to do. Looking back on eight years of playing the same role, Milano commented, "Creatively, it's been very frustrating. I gave her more of a personality. I changed her wardrobe, cut her hair, anything to give her new life".
In the early 1990s, Milano auditioned for nearly every film role in her age bracket, including B movies, and finally tried to shed her "nice girl" image by appearing nude in several erotic films targeted at adults, such as Embrace of the Vampire, Deadly Sins and Poison Ivy II: Lily. She said the nude appearances taught her to begin requiring a nudity clause in her contracts giving her "full control" over all her nude scenes. In a 1995 interview, she explained her motivation for some explicit scenes in Embrace of the Vampire: "I'm not going to say that I was manipulated into doing things that I didn't want to do. I did it because it was a woman director and I felt protected. And I learned a lot as far as knowing where the camera is and what coverage they need so that it's not all explicit".
She starred in other roles, such as Candles in the Dark, Confessions of a Sorority Girl, The Surrogate, To Brave Alaska and Fear, which did not receive very positive reviews, although Jack Matthews of the Los Angeles Times called Milano's performance in Fear "very good". Milano starred in the lead role in Hugo Pool (1997). In late 1996, Milano was offered a role of Jennifer Mancini on the drama Melrose Place by producer Aaron Spelling:Variety magazine. December 12, 1996. "We were looking for someone with sparkle. Alyssa was the perfect choice".Complete Woman, December/January 2002. She left early in season seven. In 1998, she was cast as Phoebe Halliwell, one of the three lead characters on Spelling's show Charmed. She and Holly Marie Combs became producers for the show during season four. The series ran for eight seasons, concluding in 2006.Goldberg, Lesley (October 25, 2013). "'Charmed' Reboot in the Works at CBS". The Hollywood Reporter. Also in 1998, she played Mark Hoppus's love interest in the music video for Blink-182's "Josie".
2000s
In the early 2000s, Milano played Eva Savelot in MCI Inc. commercials for that company's 1-800-COLLECT campaign."Alyssa Milano for MCI". Celebrity Endorsement Ads.Boiso, Lidia. "MCI Worldcom -Eva Savealot" . /lidiaboiso.com. Retrieved September 22, 2015. In 2007, Milano's commercial work included two 2007 television ads for Veet and Sheer Cover. That year, she filmed a pilot for ABC called Reinventing the Wheelers, which was not picked up for the 2007–08 season. That season she appeared in ten episodes of My Name Is Earl. Milano was part of TBS's special coverage installment Hot Corner for the 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs. A fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in April 2007, Milano began writing a baseball blog on the Major League Baseball's website.Milano, Alyssa (April 2007). "Baseball Fantasy" . MLB.com/blogs. That year she reported at Fenway Park during the ALDS between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim."Los Angeles Angels v Boston Red Sox, Game 1". Getty Images. October 3, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
The same year, she launched her signature "Touch" line of team apparel for female baseball fans, selling it through her blog on Major League Baseball's website.Stein, Joel (November 27, 2013). "How Alyssa Milano Created a Fan-Gear Fashion Empire for Women". Bloomberg Business. It also became available in 2009 through a boutique store located in Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. She has an interest in the Los Angeles Kings, a National Hockey League team, and is involved with a related clothing line. In 2008, she expanded that to NFL football, as a New York Giants fan. Since Milano is from the same hometown as NFL Network's Rich Eisen, she revealed some of her family's connections with the Giants. In 2013, Milano expanded "Touch" into NASCAR.
On March 20, 2009, it was announced that Milano voiced Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn in Ghostbusters: The Video Game. In a 2010 interview she told the press that she had 'a blast' working on the game, although she recalled it being 'odd' having to grunt in a room alone. On March 24, 2009, her book on her baseball fandom, Safe At Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic, was released. Milano has signed on to star in and produce My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, a romantic comedy in which she plays a woman with a relationship dilemma. Milano starred in the sitcom Romantically Challenged as Rebecca Thomas, a recently divorced single mother attorney in Pittsburgh who has not dated "since Bill Clinton was president". The series premiered on ABC on April 19, 2010. The series was cancelled after airing four episodes. Milano produced and led the cast of Lifetime's TV film Sundays at Tiffany's. which was her second collaboration with Lifetime, after Wisegal (2008).
2010s and 2020s