Marisa Tomei is an American actress known for her roles on stage and screen.
Tomei had her breakthrough role playing Mona Lisa Vito in the comedy film My Cousin Vinny (1992), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. For the drama film Unhook the Stars (1996), she received her first Actor Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. She continued playing supporting roles in comedies such has Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) and What Women Want (2000), receiving nominations at the Satellite Awards and the Teen Choice Awards among others.
Tomei played a single mother who gets involved in relationship with a younger man in Todd Field's drama In the Bedroom (2001), earning her second Academy Award nomination and nods for an Actor Award, a Critics' Choice Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2008, she portrayed Cassidy/Pam, a struggling stripper, in the Darren Aronofsky-directed drama The Wrestler. Numerous critics heralded this performance as a standout in her career, and she was subsequently nominated for her third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, her first BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and her second Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. From 2016 to 2021, Tomei portrayed Aunt May in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, receiving a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
On television, Tomei took a guest role in the Fox drama series Empire (2015), for which she was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series. She has also been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1997 and a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 2024.
On stage, Tomei made her off-Broadway debut in 1986 as Cetta in the play Daughters at the Westside Theatre, winning a Theatre World Award. For her starring role in the Broadway play Top Girls (2008), she earned a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play nomination, while for the Will Eno's play The Realistic Joneses (2014), she won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. For the 2019 Broadway revival of The Rose Tattoo and the off-Broadway play Babe (2024), she received nominations for a Drama League Award and a Lucille Lortel Award, respectively.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1993 Best Supporting Actress My Cousin Vinny 2002 In the Bedroom 2009 The Wrestler
Actor Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1997 Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Unhook the Stars 2002 Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture In the Bedroom 2016 The Big Short
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Film Awards 2009 Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Wrestler
Critics' Choice Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Film 2002 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom 2008 Best Acting Ensemble Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 2009 Best Supporting Actress The Wrestler 2011 Best Acting Ensemble The Ides of March 2016 The Big Short Television 2016 Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series Empire
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Daytime Emmy Awards 1997 Outstanding Service Show Host Marisa Tomei's Salute to Shirley Temple News and Documentary Emmy Awards 2024 Best Documentary Lakota Nation vs. United States
Golden Globes Year Category Nominated work Result 2002 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture In the Bedroom 2009 The Wrestler
Miscellaneous awards Organizations Year Category Work Result American Comedy Awards 1993 Funniest Leading Actress in a Motion Picture My Cousin Vinny 1999 Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Slums of Beverly Hills Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 2001 Favorite Supporting Actress – Comedy/Romance What Women Want Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2015 Best Cast Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1993 Most Promising Actress Chaplin and My Cousin Vinny 2002 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom Chlotrudis Awards 2002 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards 2002 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom 2008 Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress 2015 Best Ensemble Drama Desk Awards 2008 Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Top Girls 2014 Outstanding Ensemble Performance Drama League Awards 2020 Distinguished Performance EDA Awards 2007 Best Depiction of Nudity or Sexuality Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 2008 Best Depiction of Nudity or Sexuality 2015 Best Ensemble Cast Film Independent Spirit Awards 2008 Best Supporting Female Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress 2015 Best Cast Georgia Film Critics Association Awards 2015 Best Ensemble Golden Raspberry Awards 1992 Worst Supporting ActressOscar Gotham Awards 2007 Best Ensemble Cast Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Gracie Awards 2007 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Rescue Me Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards 2020 Best Supporting Actress Hollywood Film Awards 2008 Supporting Actress of the Year Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress International Cinephile Society Awards 2009 Best Supporting Actress Lucille Lortel Awards 2025 Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play Babe MTV Movie & TV Awards 1993 Best Breakthrough Performance My Cousin Vinny Best Kiss Untamed Heart National Board of Review Awards 2015 Best Cast National Society of Film Critics Awards 2002 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom Online Film Critics Society Awards 2002 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards 2016 Ensemble Cast Award 2008 Best Supporting Actress San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress 2015 Best Performance by an Ensemble San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress Satellite Awards 2001 Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical What Women Want 2002 Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama In the Bedroom 2007 Best Cast – Motion Picture Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 2010 Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical Cyrus Saturn Awards 2022 Best Supporting Actress Spider-Man: No Way Home Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards 2001 Best Supporting Actress In the Bedroom Teen Choice Awards 1999 Funniest Scene Slums of Beverly Hills Theatre World Awards 1986 Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Daughters Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2009 Best Supporting Actress Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards 2015 Best Ensemble
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