Téa Leoni (born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni on February 25, 1966 in New York City) is an American television and film actress. Her father was half Italian and half Polish, while her Southern-bred mother was of English descent. A graduate of Brearley School and Sarah Lawrence College, Leoni went on to star in a number of TV series and movies, starting as "Lisa DiNapoli" on Santa Barbara in 1989. She starred in 1995's smash box-office hit Bad Boys, along with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Her most commercially successful movie was Deep Impact, in which her character, "Jenny Lerner," breaks the story of a comet that is going to hit Earth. She also starred in Woody Allen's modest movie Hollywood Ending, which also starred Allen himself and Mark Rydell. In 2004, she starred in Spanglish with Adam Sandler, Cloris Leachman, and Paz Vega (a Spanish actress with whom she spoke Italian off-set). |
