Aleksa Palladino
Palladino at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Born (1980-09-21) September 21, 1980 (age 43)
New York City, U.S.
Other namesAlessio Palladino
Aleksa Alessio
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1996–present
Spouse
Devon Church
​
​
(m. 2004; div. 2015)​

Aleksa Palladino (born September 21, 1980)[1] is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her lead roles in Manny & Lo, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Find Me Guilty, Angela Darmody in the HBO crime series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011), Mara in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), The Midnight Swim (2014), Mary Sheeran in The Irishman (2019), and No Man of God (2021). She also played a main role in the second season of the AMC period drama Halt and Catch Fire. From 2007 to 2018, she was one half of the dreampop duo Exitmusic with former husband Devon Church, releasing the albums The Decline of the West (2007), Passage (2012), and The Recognitions (2018).

Life and acting career

Aleksa Federici Palladino was born in New York City,[2] where she grew up and worked as an actress. She is the only child of filmmaker, soprano singer, photographer, graphic artist, and producer Sabrina A. Palladino,[3] and the granddaughter of Sicilian painter and sculptor Angela Fodale Palladino[4] and the Italian-American illustrator and graphic designer Anthony Americo "Tony" Palladino, who designed the lettering for Robert Bloch's 1959 novel Psycho.[5] An episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, is dedicated to Tony.[6] Palladino's aunt, Kate Palladino-Kirk, is a designer, her great-great-uncle Rocco Fodale was a painter from Trapani, and her great-uncle Tonino Fodale worked as a retoucher for the biggest fashion photographers, such as Richard Avedon and Peter Lindbergh.[7] Palladino's ancestral origins are in Naples and Sicily.

Her debut role was as "Lo" in Manny & Lo opposite Scarlett Johansson and Mary Kay Place, in which she played a 16-year-old character despite being 14 at the time.[2] The next year, she was given her first lead role in the short film Number One Fan with Glenn Fitzgerald, and soon appeared in Wrestling with Alligators with Joely Richardson, the well-received The Adventures of Sebastian Cole with Adrian Grenier, and Second Skin with Fitzgerald again.

The year 2000 saw the release of Red Dirt, followed by the independent film Lonesome, and Storytelling with Selma Blair. She then had guest appearances in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (where she played two different characters), The Sopranos and Law & Order.

In 2004, Palladino returned to acting with a guest appearance on Medium, followed by her lead role in Spectropia and a supporting one in Find Me Guilty with Vin Diesel. After she worked in Find Me Guilty, director Sidney Lumet offered Palladino the role of Chris Lasorda in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. She then appeared in The Picture of Dorian Gray, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde, and landed a supporting role in the acclaimed horror sequel Wrong Turn 2: Dead End.

The 2010s saw her busy mainly on television; her role as Prohibition-era gangster Jimmy Darmody's closeted wife Angela in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire stands out.[8] She was also a series regular of season two in the critically acclaimed[9] AMC series Halt and Catch Fire[10] as Sara Wheeler.[11] Her next important film role was Mary Sheeran in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, which was distributed by Netflix and received only a limited theatrical release.[12]

Musical career and personal life

For over ten years she was the lead singer and songwriter of the band Exitmusic, which she formed with her husband Devon Church.[13] After a self-released album in 2007,[14] the band released an EP in 2011[15] and a full-length album in 2012[16] for the indie label Secretly Canadian. A final album followed in 2018 for Felte Records.[13]

Palladino met Church in 2001[17] while on a cross Canada train trip. They married on September 30, 2004, before separating in 2013. Their divorce was finalized in 2015.[18] They had no children together.[19]

Discography

with Duo Exitmusic

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Manny & Lo Laurel
1997 Number One Fan Sadie
1998 Wrestling with Alligators Maddy Hawkins
1998 A Cool, Dry Place Bonnie
1998 The Adventures of Sebastian Cole Mary
1998 Second Skin Gwen Short film
1999 Cherry Darcy
2000 Red Dirt Emily Whaley
2001 Lonesome Lily Randolph
2001 Ball in the House Lizzie
2001 Storytelling Catherine Segment: "Fiction"
2003 Mona Lisa Smile Frances
2006 Find Me Guilty Marina DiNorscio
2006 Spectropia Spectropia
2007 The Picture of Dorian Gray Sibyl Vane
2007 Wrong Turn 2: Dead End Mara Stone
2007 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Chris
2009 Acts of Mercy Maggie Collins
2014 The Midnight Swim Isa
2014 Rose Rose Short film
2016 The Veil Karen Sweetzer
2016 Holidays Persian
2019 The Irishman Mary Sheeran
2019 The Mandela Effect Claire
2021 No Man of God Carolyn Lieberman

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 The Huntress Brandi Thorson Episode: "Pilot"
2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Lilly Carlyle Episode: "The Insider"
2002–04 The Sopranos Alex / Alessandra Episodes: "Eloise", "Unidentified Black Males"
2003 Law & Order Teresa Drosi Episode: "Blaze"
2005 Medium Lyla Gallagher / Geraldine Hanscombe Episode: "Sweet Dreams"
2006 Without a Trace Katie Duncan Episode: "All the Sinners, Saints"
2009 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Angela Episode: "All In"
2010–11 Boardwalk Empire Angela Darmody Regular role
2014 Elementary Iris Lanzer Episode: "Corpse De Ballet"
2014–15 Rogue Sarah Recurring role
2015 Halt and Catch Fire Sara Wheeler Main role (Season 2)
2018 Unsolved Megan Poole 3 episodes
2018 One Dollar Chelsea Wyler 4 episodes
2019 The Loudest Voice Judy Laterza Miniseries

References

  1. ^ "Aleksa Palladino". Allmovie. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Chang, Kee (October 12, 2013). "The Archives: Aleksa Palladino". anthemmagazine.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  3. ^ "Sabrina Palladino". The Artists Company. November 17, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "This Course: Aleksa Palladino - Anthem Magazine". anthemmagazine.com. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  5. ^ Heller, Steven (May 21, 2014). "Tony Palladino, Designer of 'Psycho' Lettering, Dies at 84 (Published 2014)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "Who Is Tony Palladino? 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Dedicated An Episode To The Legendary Creative". Bustle. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  7. ^ "Home - Tonino Fodale". toninofodalestudio.com. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  8. ^ "The 15 Most Groundbreaking Gay Roles on Television". rollingstone.com. January 26, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  9. ^ Libby Hill (October 8, 2015). "AMC renews low-rated, critically acclaimed 'Halt and Catch Fire' for third season". www.latimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  10. ^ Elizabeth Wagmeister (February 19, 2015). "AMC's 'Halt and Catch Fire' Adds Two Cast Members for Season 2". variety.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  11. ^ Shavonne Bell (2015). "Halt and Catch Fire Q&A – Aleksa Palladino (Sara Wheeler)". amc.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  12. ^ Frank Pallotta (August 27, 2019). "'The Irishman' will skip a wide theatrical release and debut on Netflix November 27". cnn.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Prillaman, Ashley (April 26, 2018). "INTERVIEW: Exitmusic on Their Final Bow". audiofemme.com. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  14. ^ "Exitmusic - The Decline of the West". discogs.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  15. ^ "From Silence". secretlycanadian.com. October 4, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  16. ^ "Passage". secretlycanadian.com. June 22, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  17. ^ "Exitmusic Contemplates a Final Bow With New Album and Single, "The Distance" (premiere + interview)". PopMatters. April 10, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  18. ^ Hannah Burke (2018). "Interview: The emotional labyrinth of Exitmusic". altcitizen.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  19. ^ "Two sides of Aleksa Palladino". The San Francisco Examiner. April 18, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2021.

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