She received further nominations in the category for In the Bedroom and The Wrestler Her early appearances were in the soap opera As the World Turns β and the first season of the sitcom A Different World Tomei was a founding member of the Naked Angels Theater Company.
Tomei, a trial lawyer. Murrow High School in Tomei grew up in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. She also attended Albee School of Dance. After graduating from high school, she attended Boston University for a year. Her film debut was a minor role in the comedy film The Flamingo Kid , in which she played Mandy, a waitress.
She had only one line in the film. In she had a small role in the Bob and Harvey Weinstein directed comedy film Playing for Keeps which was a financial and critical failure. During this phase, she made her stage debut in at the age of 22 in the off-Broadway play Daughters , playing Cetta. The role earned her rave reviews and the Theatre World Award for outstanding debut on stage.
She took more prominent roles opposite Sylvester Stallone in the comedy Oscar , and Nicolas Cage in the erotic thriller Zandalee Following several small films, including Oscar , [ 15 ] Tomei came to international prominence with her comedic performance in the film My Cousin Vinny starring opposite Joe Pesci for which she received critical praise. Tomei gives every indication of being a fine comedian, whether towering over Mr. Pesci and trying to look small, or arguing about a leaky faucet in terms that demonstrate her knowledge of plumbing.
Mona Lisa is also a first-rate auto mechanic, which comes in handy in the untying of the knotted story. American film critic Rex Reed created controversy and a minor Hollywood myth [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] when he suggested that Jack Palance had announced the wrong name after opening the envelope.
