Vanessa Ferlito was born on December 28th, 1980, in Brooklyn and is of Italian descent. She made her big break on the big screen as an Internet sex worker in the independent drama On Line, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002. She then went on to star in Spike Lee critically acclaimed drama 25-th hour opposite Edward Norton, 2004 indie film The Tollbooth, Spider-Man 2, and more recently, 2005 comedy Man of the House opposite Tommy Lee Jones. She had guest appearances on the hit shows Law and Order, hird: More Watch, and The Sopranos, and has a recurring role as Claudia, the wife of a crime lord, on Fox 24.

She can be seen in the Tommy Lee Jones comedy, Cheer Up, and opposite Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the dark thriller Shadow-boxer.