Laura San Giacomo

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Laura San Giacomo (b. November 14, 1962, West Orange, New Jersey) is an American actress known for playing the role of Maya Gallo on Just Shoot Me!, as well as other work on television and in films.

[edit] Profile

Laura San Giacomo (pronounced (san JEE uh KO mo), an Italian American, was raised in Denville, New Jersey. She discovered acting in high school and subsequently earned a degree in fine arts at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. She also attended Washington College. San Giacomo then went on to appear in several theater productions. San Giacomo has appeared on the Los Angeles stage in the Garry Marshall-Lowell Ganz production of Wrong Turn at Lungfish, the Princeton/McCarter Theatre production of Three Sisters and Off-Broadway in Beirut. She has also starred in Italian-American Reconciliation, regional productions of Shakespeare's The Tempest, As You Like It and Romeo And Juliet, as well as Crimes of The Heart.

San Giacomo first drew international attention in Steven Soderbergh's independent film, sex, lies, and videotape (1989), which also marked her film debut. Her work was nominated for a Golden Globe, and she also received a Los Angeles Film Critics' Association New Generation Award. The film itself was honored with the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Grand Prize, the Palme d'Or. She has appeared in such films as Miles from Home (1988), Pretty Woman (1990), Quigley Down Under (1990), and Nina Takes a Lover (1994). She also appeared in the Stephen King TV miniseries The Stand (in the role of Nadine Cross) opposite Rob Lowe, which landed them on the cover of the May 7 – 13 1994 issue of TV Guide. In 2001, San Giacomo landed the starring role of Jenifer in the Jenifer Estess bio-pic Jenifer, which aired on CBS in October of that year. The biopic was based on a woman who had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

In addition to that, San Giacomo did voice work for the animated series Gargoyles (as the character of Fox), but her representation insisted that her name not appear in the end credits because they believed that it could damage her career if her name appeared in the credits of an animated series. ^[1] San Giacomo was going to star in a biopic of Frida Kahlo, but it was canceled because of a backlash from fans who insisted that a Mexican be cast. ^{[citation needed]} Salma Hayek starred in the film Frida.

Having a child influenced Laura to make the transition from films to television. San Giacomo still wanted to work, but she didn't want to be away from her new born son for months at a time as movies would require. And thus Laura decided to shift gears and begin working for a television series instead. Her move to television gave her a regular work schedule, not to mention that she didn't have to travel as much because the CBS Studio Center - the site of her new television project's tapings - was located within the vicinity of her San Fernando Valley residence. This lead to perhaps her best known role as the neo-feminist character Maya Gallo in the sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997–2003). She played a smart, hot-tempered, sassy journalist who reluctantly took a job at the fictional glamour magazine Blush - which happened to be owned by her father Jack Gallo (George Segal). The character was partially based on an unproduced idea Just Shoot Me! executive producer Steven Levitan once had in mind for actress Janeane Garofalo when he was a writer for The Larry Sanders Show. San Giacomo was originally cast in the starring role of the program as Just Shoot Me! was meant to be centered around her character, but David Spade's Dennis Finch character unofficially nabbed the lead role by Season 3 (1998-1999). Despite the shift of power, San Giacomo remained on as an integral part of the show and her name was still the first displayed when the credits rolled. She, along with the four other main cast members, appeared in all 148 episodes of Just Shoot Me!. San Giacomo's work during Season 2 (1997-1998) earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 1998 for Best Actress in a Television Comedy or Musical, but she ended up losing the award to Ally McBeal's Calista Flockhart. Also, in a February 2000 interview Maxim conducted with fellow castmate David Spade, the taboo subject of San Giacomo's large breasts was brought up. Spade noted that Just Shoot Me! headquarters would often receive letters from viewers regarding San Giacomo's chest. ^[2] The show's writers had taken note of her ample bosom as well and they occasionally wrote dialogue for Maya's fellow peers - usually Finch or Nina Van Horn (Wendie Malick) - to poke fun at the overwhelming size of her bustline. San Giacomo let the "boob jokes" slide and it was a long running gag on the comedy sitcom.

After NBC cancelled Just Shoot Me! in 2003, San Giacomo appeared sporadically on television and in films. She made guest appearances on several television series, including the short-lived CBS crime drama The Handler in 2003 and HBO's Unscripted in 2005. She was the narrator for the true-life crime series Snapped on Oxygen. San Giacomo also appeared in the 2005 films Checking Out and Havoc, as well as the 2006 film Conquistadora.

San Giacomo was to have made her return to television on The WB's new drama Related in 2005, but the character was recast due to creative differences. Kiele Sanchez took her place as "Anne Sorelli" on the show. San Giacomo's public appearances were also few and far between as well. San Giacomo made her first public appearance in nearly a year on October 19, 2005 at the 15th Annual Environmental Media Awards. San Giacomo made two more public appearances at the Crystal and Lucy Awards on June 6, 2006 and at the 3rd Annual Alfred Mann Foundation Innovation and Inspiration Gala on September 9, 2006.

In 2006, San Giacomo made her return to network television by making three guest appearances during the third season of Veronica Mars. San Giacomo reunited with her former love interest from Just Shoot Me!, Enrico Colantoni. She played Harmony Chase, a woman who comes into "Mars Investigation" to get Colantoni's character, Keith Mars, to prove that her husband is cheating on her. Soon after, a romantic connection starts up between the two. In contrast to their past on Just Shoot Me, their relationship is different this time around as San Giacomo's character attempts to come on to him first, though Colantoni's character initially denies her advances. In a subtle reference to their time on Just Shoot Me, Harmony introduces herself to Keith by saying, "Remember me?"

In September 2006, San Giacomo secured her first starring role on a television program since the cancellation of Just Shoot Me!. San Giacomo will be reuniting with another former peer as she will co-star opposite Holly Hunter in TNT's drama pilot Grace. San Giacomo will be playing Grace's best friend who happens to be a forensic scientist. ^[3] The pilot episode was taped in Calgary in October 2006 and is scheduled to air in 2007. ^[4]

[edit] Personal information

San Giacomo has been married twice: to actor Cameron Dye (1990-1998), with whom she had a son, Mason (born in 1996), who suffers from cerebral palsy, and since 2000 to actor Matt Adler. She is a cousin of Torry Castellano of the rock group The Donnas.

She lives in the San Fernando Valley in California. Her hobbies include horseback riding, gymnastics, ice skating, ballet, tennis, golf and playing piano.

San Giacomo is a strong supporter of charitable causes. She has appeared at the Environmental Media Awards, the "Voices For Change" gala benefit and concert benefiting Children with Disabilities and the "Friends Finding a Cure" gala benefiting Project ALS. She is also a founder of the Chime Charter Elementary School.