Jordana Spiro
The director, writer, and actress Jordana Spiro was born on 12th April 1977, in New York City, USA – she was raised in a Jewish family and has one brother and three sisters, who prefer to remain out of the spotlight.
Some of her best-known acting projects include roles in the Netflix series “Ozark”, and the TBS comedy show, “My Boys”. Having been active in the entertainment industry for almost three decades, Jordana’s lengthy career is full of highlights, such as the premiere of her debut feature film “Night Comes On” at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.
Jordana, who won a Women In Film Productions award for her short, “Skin”, graduated from Columbia University in 2015 with a Master of Fine Arts in Film, having joined the program six years prior. The blue-eyed actress also received a Adrienne Shelly Foundation Fellowship for her outstanding work. After studying drama at New York’s Circle in the Square Theatre School, and briefly attending London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she was selected to join the exclusive and highly prestigious Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin.
Currently, Jordana splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.
Career
Jordana began acting in 1995, with a guest starring role in an episode of “Maybe This Time”. In 1996, she had minor roles in the TV movies “Her Last Chance” and “If These Walls Could Talk”, then played Callie Anderson in an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, Carrie Knox in an episode of “Beverly Hills 90210”, and Zoey in an episode of “City Guys”.
In 1998, Jordana had a brief recurring role as Alex in three episodes of “One World”. The following year, she was cast as Catherine Reece for her first film role in “From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter”, a prequel to the 1996 movie “From Dusk till Dawn” that went straight to DVD.
Now in 2000, Jordana was cast as Brandi Thorson in the crime drama series “The Huntress”, appearing in a total of 28 episodes. Between 2003 and 2004, she had roles in the TV movie “Beck and Call” and the films “Playas Ball” and “The Greener Grass”. Despite 2005 being a busy year for the actress, her projects were largely uneventful, with guest starring appearances in “Cold Case”, “CSI: NY”, and “Out of Practice”, as well as minor roles in the movies “Must Love Dogs” and “Partner(s)”.
However, the actress’s luck changed for the better the following year, as she was cast as a jovial sports reporter named P.J. in “My Boys”. A hopeless romantic trying to find her place in a male-dominated world, P.J. was an instant fan favorite who appeared in all four seasons of the series until its finale, which aired in 2010.
During that time, Jordana also starred in short films and had roles in “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”, and “The Year of Getting to Know Us”. In 2011, she had a recurring role as Rachael Miller in seven episodes of “Harry’s Law”. Although many fans of the New Yorker wished to see Jordana have another starring or leading role in a series, they were left bitterly disappointed when she was forced to drop out of “Love Bites” due to contractual obligations.
Years later, Jordana was cast as Rachel Garrison in “Ozark”, a crime drama series created for Netflix which premiered in July 2017. Rachel was a main character during seasons one and two, returning to the show in its fourth season. From 2017 to 2022, Jordana has taken on many other projects, including a leading role in the “Fear Street” horror franchise. Her debut short, “Skin”, was also widely successful, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and winning an Honorable Mention Award at SXSW.
NIGHT COMES ON: Jordana Spiro on what to remember when making your first feature https://t.co/2zqcxghS4y @nightcomeson @JordanaSpiro pic.twitter.com/wXYBwO0ts4
— No Film School (@nofilmschool) July 25, 2018
When “Skin” debuted, Jordana had been acting for almost two decades and felt dismayed by how women were being represented in media. In an interview with Refinery29, she explained: “I didn’t relate to the way they were portrayed, and I really wanted to develop a story with a strong female protagonist”. The short film, which is about a teenage female taxidermist, was critically acclaimed and set the stage for her feature debut, “Night Comes On”.
The film, which was co-written with Angelica Nwandu and funded by the Sundance Institute’s Director’s Lab, was also well-received, and tells the story of an 18-year-old who vows to get revenge against her father after being released from juvenile detention. Dominique Fishback and Tatum Marilyn Hall are just some of the young talents who Angelica and Jordana got on board for the project; however, it took Jordana and Angelica a long time to bring their vision to life, as they faced several rejections along the way.
“It took a very long time, it was very difficult,” Jordana previously said. “When we went the more traditional production company route, we got a lot of rejections… It did make it much more difficult.”
Personal Life
In June 2014, Jordana confirmed that she was expecting her first child with husband Matthew Spitzer. The “My Boys” actress has always kept her private life mysteriously private, so fans were pleasantly surprised to learn the news, although most of them had no idea she’d even tied the knot.
Despite some media outlets claiming that Matthew is a practicing doctor, he is in fact a producer. The couple have been together for well over a decade, and are presumed to have started dating in the late 2000s. Matthew doesn’t appear to be active on social media, whereas Jordana only has 16,000 Instagram followers, and uses her profile to promote upcoming projects, so there’s little to no online information regarding his birthplace, career, and other details.
Although Jordana isn’t one to shout her good deeds from the rooftops, the actress has long been interested in philanthropy, giving back to those who need it – and now, her daughter is following in her charitable footsteps. In October 2022, the “Ozark” star praised her child for raising over $2,000 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a charity that researches and fights against childhood cancer.
As of mid-2023, Jordana is reportedly worth $2 million, thanks to her career in the entertainment industry.
