Hollywood nostalgia was in full force this week when an acclaimed actress, best known for playing Julia Roberts’ outspoken best friend in Pretty Woman, stepped out looking strikingly different from her heyday.
The 64-year-old, who first captured attention with her breakthrough performance in the 1989 film Sex, Lies and Videotape, was spotted enjoying a casual day out in Los Angeles.
Dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, she seemed a world away from the glamorous roles that made her famous, including her portrayal of sex worker Kit De Luca alongside Roberts’ Vivian Ward.
She also turned heads as Crazy Cora in the 1990 film Quigley Down Under, starring opposite Tom Selleck.
Later in the 1990s, she won over a new generation as the lead in Just Shoot Me! alongside David Spade and Wendie Malick, before taking on the role of Dr. Grace Confalone in the long-running drama NCIS.
Can you guess which veteran star continues to light up the screen?
Hollywood nostalgia was in full force this week when an acclaimed actress, best known for playing Julia Roberts’s outspoken best friend in Pretty Woman, stepped out looking strikingly different from her heyday
The 64-year-old, who first captured attention with her breakthrough performance in the 1989 film Sex, Lies and Videotape, was spotted enjoying a casual day out in Los Angeles
Dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, she seemed a world away from the glamorous roles that made her famous
If you said Laura San Giacomo, congratulations – you’re a true ’90s trivia master.
Long before the glitz of Pretty Woman or the laughs of Just Shoot Me!, San Giacomo was a New Jersey girl with a passion for the stage.
Growing up in Denville, she threw herself into school plays at Morris Knolls High School.
That early spark led her to Carnegie Mellon University, where she polished her craft and earned a degree in fine arts.
After several years immersed in theater, San Giacomo got her first taste of wider fame when she transitioned to television.
San Giacomo appeared in popular series such as Crime Story and Miami Vice – the latter featuring a cameo by her future husband, actor Cameron Dye.
She also took on a dramatic stint on All My Children.
Her breakthrough came in 1989 with Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape, a role that earned her a Golden Globe nomination and a Los Angeles Film Critics Association New Generation Award.
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Long before the glitz of Pretty Woman or the laughs of Just Shoot Me!, Laura San Giacomo was a New Jersey girl with a passion for the stage. Above, in 2003
The star’s portrayal of sex worker Kit De Luca alongside Roberts’ Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman made her a household name
Her breakthrough came in 1989 with Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape, a role that earned her a Golden Globe nomination and a Los Angeles Film Critics Association New Generation Award
The indie film itself was a critical darling, taking home the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and it firmly established San Giacomo as one of Hollywood’s most promising talents.
The early ’90s saw her transition seamlessly to the big screen, turning heads in Quigley Down Under and the 1991 thriller Under Suspicion with Liam Neeson.
Television soon beckoned again, but this time with a starring role: Maya Gallo in Just Shoot Me! became a fan favorite, earning her a Golden Globe nomination and proving that she could command a weekly sitcom just as deftly as a feature film.
Even after the series ended, San Giacomo remained a familiar presence on both television and film, with appearances on Veronica Mars, Saving Grace, and Hot in Cleveland.
Even in recent years, San Giacomo has continued to take on new projects, including a guest appearance on the Apple TV comedy-drama Margo’s Got Money Troubles, which follows college dropout Margo (Elle Fanning) as she navigates life with a new baby and mounting bills.
‘It was really lovely! I had such a great time. I have a very small part, but it was really fun to be around the cast and the director. They were all so fantastic,’ she told Digital Journal.
On playing Tessa, San Giacomo remarked, ‘I loved her right from the very beginning. When I first read the scenes, I felt really connected and I felt like she was in my bones.’
Later in the 1990s, she won over a new generation as the lead in Just Shoot Me! alongside David Spade
San Giacomo starred with actor Liam Neeson star in the 1991 thriller Under Suspicion
Reflecting on the experience of working with the cast and crew, she said, ‘I’m such a big fan of everybody in the whole cast. Also, the director, Dearbhla Walsh, is so incredible and she created such a beautiful atmosphere in rehearsal and for shooting, so it was really lovely.’
Off-screen, San Giacomo has balanced a successful career with family life.
She was married to actor Cameron Dye from 1990 until 1998, and the former couple has a son who was born with cerebral palsy.
Two years later, she found love again, marrying actor Matt Adler in 2000.
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