Jennifer Esposito Biography

Fast Facts

• Worked as a waitress and as an exercise instructor while pursuing an acting career
• Studied at the Actors Studio in New York
• Appeared as a dancer on Club MTV
• Says she turned down a recurring role on The Sopranos because it would have required her to appear in sex scenes
• Was originally cast as the second-oldest sister in Related
• After shooting the pilot, however, the show was reworked to make her character the oldest sibling
• Revealed in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with celiac disease; she subsequently opened a gluten-free bakery in New York and released a book, Jennifer's Way, in 2014 about her struggles with the disease