Who is Vanessa Ferlito?
Born on 28th December 1980, in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, Vanessa Ferlito is an actress of Italian-American heritage, known for her roles in “NCIS: New Orleans” and “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps”. The vivacious brunette is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighs 128lbs (57kgs), with well-rounded vital statistics of 32-24-33.
Family & Upbringing
Sadly, Vanessa’s biological father died of a drug overdose when the brown-eyed Capricorn was just two years old. The thespian’s mother went on to remarry, with Vanessa’s stepfather becoming her father figure.
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The actress has no known siblings. Interested in the arts from an early age, Vanessa dabbled in modelling and commercial work before finding her niche in TV work.
First Roles
Vanessa bedazzled viewers for the first time in 2001, with the role of Tina Francesco in “The Sopranos”, the beloved long-running series based on a fictional crime family of the same name. Interestingly, the brunette briefly returned to the series three years later. Now in 2002, the young talent was offered a minor role in “On Line”, an R-rated drama film exploring the murky world of online dating, which was officially selected for that year’s Sundance Film Festival despite receiving poor reviews.
In the same year, Vanessa displayed her talents with a minor role in an episode of the cop series “Third Watch”, and a role as Lindsay Jamison in the award-winning drama movie “The 25th Hour”, based on the David Benioff novel, which follows a drug dealer re-evaluating his life a day before beginning a seven-year prison sentence. In 2003, Vanessa played Tina Montoya in an episode of “Law and Order”, and had the role as Lizette Sanchez in “Undefeated”, a gritty TV movie which became John Leguizamo’s breakthrough project. Thanks to her thrilling performances, Vanessa landed her first recurring role in eleven episodes of “24”; playing the bubbly Claudia Fernandez, Vanessa worked alongside silver-screen heavyweights such as Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub.
2004 proved to be a lucrative year for the aspiring starlet, as Vanessa also had roles in “CSI: Miami”, “Spider-Man 2”, and “The Tollbooth”. Going from strength to strength professionally, it would be a matter of time before the Brooklyn native landed the role of a lifetime.
Notable Roles
In 2007, Vanessa was cast as Arlene in “Death Proof”, a grisly Quentin Tarantino horror movie which was nominated for eight awards. As one of the main characters, Vanessa suffered a gruesome fate alongside Sydney Poitier and Tracie Thoms, after taking a ride in a stunt car. The movie was re-released in the same year as a double feature reminiscent of the 1960s, alongside “Planet Horror”, which was written and directed by Alex Rodriguez.
This time around, it won Best Movie award at the Rondo Hatten Classic Horror Awards, and received dozens of rave reviews. In the following years, Vanessa explored different genres, with “Cooper and Stone”, “Madea Goes To Jail”, and “Nothing Like the Holidays”. A recurring role came her way in 2013, when the thespian was cast as Agent Catherine DeMarco in “Graceland”. The action crime series, described as “a bunch of beautiful, funny and headstrong people living together in a fancy house on the beach and taking down bad guys”, ran for 38 episodes, with Vanessa co-starring opposite Daniel Sunjata and Aaron Tveit.
Initially, Vanessa accepted the role because the series reminded her of reality TV shows in which strangers from diverse backgrounds adjusted to living together, adding: “That’s why people are so drawn to this because, you know, just people and relationships and stuff… it wasn’t your typical procedural”. Maintaining a good relationship with her co-stars to this day, the brunette beauty has spoken positively of her time on set playing an undercover FBI agent, which also helped her gain valuable experience for her next recurring role, as Tammy Gregorio in “NCIS: New Orleans”. Since 2016, the New Yorker has appeared in 108 episodes of the CBS production. Vanessa’s transition from one series to another was smooth and painless, as the actress said of her newest cast-mates: “I have great chemistry with all of them.
I get along with all of them. I’m having a great time. They were very welcoming… I never really felt like the new girl on the block”.
Personal Life
Vanessa revealed her unexpected pregnancy in April 2007 while attending a publicity event, consequently sending the internet into a tailspin as gossip blogs and netizens alike wondered who the child’s father was. The actress has always kept details of her son’s paternity under wraps, and she’s rarely seen out and about with Venice, her only child. In fact, the pair have only been photographed together once, strolling down the streets of Beverly Hills in 2015.
Although Vanessa herself doesn’t use social media, dozens of fan pages on Instagram dedicatedly post updates of the actress’s life and professional ventures. One such account, @vanessaferlitodaily, has amassed almost 20,000 followers in just a few years: nonetheless, they’ve been unable to find any clues regarding their idol’s romantic partners, past or present. As for hobbies and interests, Vanessa previously confessed that she had a rough childhood, and often got into vicious fights with other neighborhood kids, which led to her discovering yoga in an attempt to improve her mental health, and stop resorting to violence.
After joining the cast of “NCIS”, Vanessa moved to New Orleans to be closer to work, and described the move as a “culture shock”. With that said, the actress has settled into the city well, having purchased her dream home and enrolled her son into a good school.
Net Worth
Debuting in 2002, Vanessa is now said to be worth an estimated $6 million, thanks to her contributions to the entertainment industry over the past twenty years. Although the actress’s exact salary per season of “NCIS” is unknown, her cast-mate Scott Bakula reportedly brings in over $120,000 per episode.
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