The Stunning Transformation Of Debi Mazar

Debi Mazar is known to many as an actor who got her start in a Martin Scorsese film and went on to star in a series of hit movies and TV shows. Mazar, with her thick New York accent and pinup-girl looks seemed like a natural for the big and small screen, but she did not always dream of becoming an actor. The child of a young mother, Debi Mazar came from humble beginnings that required her to work hard in order to stay afloat. She took on many different jobs in order to make money while honing her craft as a hair and makeup artist. Mazar was still a teenager when she found work at various New York City hot spots, where she would became friendly with a crowd of burgeoning artists and dancers, including a girl with pop star dreams, Madonna, who underwent her own stunning transformation over the years.

Mazar hustled hard and when the acting bug finally bit her, it took her by surprise. She went from dancing in her best friend's music videos to starring in feature films to becoming a mainstay on beloved series like "Entourage" and "Younger."

Over the years, Mazar proved time and again that she was multitalented. From living in the borough of Queens to eventually basking under the Tuscan sun, Debi Mazar has come a long way.

Debi Mazar was born in Queens Village, New York, to a 15-year-old mother and a father who was not exactly reliable. "He was sort of a small-time gangster-wannabe," Mazar told Zac Posen for Interview. Her parents had their marriage annulled and Mazar was raised by her mother, who often left Mazar in the care of her eclectic group of friends — "Puerto Rican strippers who wore fishnets and leopard print outfits and some richer friends that had the Ronnie Spector look with designer threads and go-go boots," the actor explained to Grandlife.

The result was that Mazar grew up emulating the style of her mom and her babysitters, cultivating a cool look at a very young age. Mazar's family did not have much money, but that didn't stop her from becoming a mini fashionista. In fact, it was something that worked in her favor. "We had no money so welfare gave us 1950s glasses. I was doing cat-eye frames and Elvis Costello type glasses by the time I was 10," Mazar told Grandlife.

In the '70s, Mazar and her mother moved to upstate New York where the actor felt lonely and out of touch. But as soon as she was on her own, she was back in the heart of the city and she knew exactly where to shop.

Debi Mazar was independent at the age of 15 when she moved into a New York City apartment with a friend. In order to make money, Mazar used her skills, parlaying her hair and makeup prowess into paying gigs as a stylist for magazines such as The Village Voice. While in beauty school, she waited tables, sold jewelry, and even worked for a short time as a dental assistant. "[I] lied my way into the job but they trained me, if you can believe that," Mazar confessed to Grandlife.

While she was making money, Mazar was also making connections. While waitressing at a spot called One U, she met poet and art critic Rene Ricard and became friends with iconic artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. At age 16, Mazar got a job at the famed Mudd Club, working her way up from coat check to VIP entry, which allowed her to rub elbows with the likes of David Bowie, Debbie Harry, and David Byrne. "It was sort of when punk met new wave met hip-hop met art. ... It was such a wonderful, inspirational time," Mazar told Interview.

It's clear Debi Mazar knew how to hustle, and it was at one of her many jobs that she met her longtime pal Madonna. Mazar was working the elevator at the nightclub Danceteria when she first bumped into the then-wannabe popstar. "She was alive and raw and fun and she was trying to get DJ Mark Kamins to play her tapes," Mazar told Grandlife. "I'd park my elevator when it was slow and the two of us would tear up the dance floor." The friendship blossomed and the two women, along with Rosie Perez and Dana Owens, better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, held dance-a-thons to raise money to help those suffering amid the AIDS epidemic of the '80s.

Mazar went on to appear in several of Madonna's early music videos, including "True Blue," "Everybody," and "Papa Don't Preach." She also landed a gig as a dancer in the TV movie "Graffiti Rock," despite her lack of training. "People assume that because I have a dancer's body visually that I'm going to be a fabulous dancer," Mazar explained to Brandon Voss. Mazar dismissed her appearance in "Graffiti Rock" as "just shaking my tush," and as for those Madonna vids, she said, "I wasn't dancing in any of them except for 'True Blue,' and it wasn't really even choreography." Still, it seemed she'd met the right people and made strong impressions, as her career took off from there.

Although she had a love for old movies and classic sitcoms, Debi Mazar didn't set out to become an actor. She began working out of necessity, and it just so happened that her talents aligned with the entertainment industry. Mazar became a makeup artist, working on operas and theater productions, and it was quite by accident that she found herself in the spotlight instead of behind the scenes.

While doing hair and makeup for a stage show, Mazar realized she knew some of the lines. During a break, she found herself in the dark theater and came onstage to perform a monologue. She thought she was alone, but then she heard the sound of applause. "I was horrified because I did this whole monologue, and it was the costume girl," Mazar told Adam Lupis," and she goes, 'You know, Debi, that was fantastic, you should really take lessons."

Mazar was unsure how to go about it or whether she could even afford lessons, but the costume designer gave her some helpful pointers. She ended up taking some classes and discovered that acting was a great release — plus, she had a knack for it. "I enjoyed it and I did it well," Mazar shared. She continued to work as a makeup artist to pay the bills, but she suddenly had a new passion.

When Debi Mazar began honing her acting skills, she didn't play around. Mazar took classes at the highly regarded Actor's Studio and studied with esteemed acting teachers Uta Hagen and William Hickey. She didn't have trouble landing an agent, either, but she did have to stretch the truth a bit when it came to her credentials. "I had no résumé," Mazar explained to Interview. "I made up a fake one because this was pre-IMDb and they couldn't check your stuff."

Whatever Mazar put on that fake résumé worked like a charm, as she got the opportunity to audition for Martin Scorsese's 1996 film "Goodfellas." She landed the role of Sandy, the mistress of Ray Liotta's character Henry Hill, despite the fact that the part originally called for an older actor. Mazar wasn't so much nervous about working with the cast, which included such heavy hitters as Robert DeNiro, who has a close friendship with Scorsese, and Joe Pesci, but she was a little intimidated by Scorsese. However, she soon found that he was actually very normal and approachable. As Mazar told Adam Lupis, "I just remember sitting on this stoop talking with him. ... it was just two New Yorkers."

"Goodfellas" served as Debi Mazar's first real acting gig and the springboard that launched her career. She went on to appear in many films in the '90s, working with Oliver Stone in "The Doors" and Spike Lee in "Jungle Fever" and "Malcolm X." She also appeared in indie hits such as "Singles" and "Trees Lounge" and cult classics like "Empire Records."

It's clear that Mazar liked to work, so it's hard to imagine her turning down a role, but she did opt out of one opportunity that she later regretted. Mazar was supposed to audition for the part of Carmela in the HBO hit series "The Sopranos," but she decided she didn't want it. "I'd done 'Goodfellas,' I had done a couple of bad mob movies, and I didn't want to get pigeonholed," Mazar revealed on "Larry King Now." While she admitted she was sorry she didn't join the cast of "The Sopranos," Mazar also conceded that the part went to the right actor. "In fairness, there's nobody but Edie Falco that could have played that role," she said.

Debi Mazar worked steadily throughout the '90s, mostly keeping mum about her personal life. In 2001, during a trip to Florence, Italy, to visit a friend, Mazar met her future husband, musician Gabriele Corcos. He made quite the first impression. "He walks in the door, and it was like Jesus walked in," she shared with Yahoo. "He had this great smile, he spoke English, and we had like the greatest day together." Apparently, the attraction was mutual, as the pair spent the day together and by that evening, Corcos was smitten. "I look at her, I'm like, 'You're fantastic, we should have kids together,'" Corcos said.

While it may have seemed a bit too soon to plan a future together, the couple ended up becoming inseparable. "We were married, pregnant, bought a house, and had a baby in all under a year," Mazar revealed. She and Corcos tied the knot in March 2002 and welcomed daughters Evelina Maria and Giuliana Isabel in 2002 and 2006.

Mazar and Corcos had been together for over 20 years, and according to Mazar, the key to longevity is not sweating the small stuff. "If he throws his jeans on the back of a chair, who cares," the actor told The New York Times. "At the end of the day none of it matters."

One of the roles Debi Mazar is best known for is that of tough talking publicist Shauna Roberts on the HBO series "Entourage," which premiered in 2004. While the show was a hit with fans, and Mazar called Shauna "a lot of fun to play," filming wasn't always a pleasant experience for her. For one, her character's dialogue wasn't her favorite, and she found it embarrassing at times. "I obviously have the ability to be a complete trash mouth, but some of the things I would say would completely make me blush," Mazar explained to Entertainment Weekly.

Additionally, there was some tension behind the scenes that made shooting the series unpleasant. "That set was very testosterone driven and misogynistic," the actor revealed, adding, "There were days where it was hard."

Mazar also shared with fellow NYC "it girl" Julia Fox in an interview for Document that her pregnancy was an issue while filming "Entourage." Mazar was very happy and had gained weight while pregnant with her second child, but she was in for a rude awakening when she showed up on set. "I arrived at work, and they didn't like it," she said. "They actually canceled my contract, I lost my paycheck. I was devastated."

In 2011, Debi Mazar branched out from her acting career to share one of her other passions with the world. Mazar and her husband, Gabriele Corcos, took their mutual love of food and created a cooking show together called "Extra Virgin." The series, which won a coveted James Beard Award, came about through Corcos' talent for Tuscan cuisine, and it paired cooking tutorials with a reality show dynamic.

According to Mazar, there was a practical element that inspired the show as well. "We want to teach families how to cook Tuscan wherever you are. How to reuse your leftovers," she shared with Esquire. "How to trick the kids into eating whatever you want by putting it into a frittata."

The series was a hit and spawned a spinoff, "Extra Virgin Americana" as well as two cookbooks penned by Mazar and Corcos, "Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen: A Cookbook" and "Super Tuscan: Heritage Recipes and Simple Pleasures from Our Kitchen to Your Table."

Many fans came to know and love Debi Mazar when she joined the cast of "Younger" as Maggie. Maggie is a lesbian with a killer sense of style, but Mazar initially had a different idea for her character's appearance. "Originally, I wanted to play her more butch ... but [series creator] Darren Star thinks I'm sexy and he wanted to see me in those heels and to keep it very femme," Mazar told Entertainment Weekly.

It wasn't until later in the series that Mazar got to dress in a way that really excited her. In Season 7 — the last season, as Younger was canceled — Maggie gets a job teaching at a college, requiring her to wear something a bit more sophisticated. "I was asking from the beginning, 'If I can be tailored, I wanted to wear men's suits,'" the actor shared with Fashionista. "I wanted to look like Katharine Hepburn since season one."

Sartorial choices aside, Mazar also had to get creative when it came to filming during the pandemic. Actors were required to wear masks and shields between takes, which made hair and makeup kind of a nightmare. But Mazar came up with a practical solution. "I ended up going, you know what, I'm not going to wear red lipstick ... and I'm just going to wear a ponytail the entire season," she divulged on "Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson."

When Debi Mazar fell in love with her husband, she fell in love with his native country as well. Amid the stress of the pandemic, Mazar and her family packed up and returned to her husband, Gabriele Corcos' hometown of Fiesole, Italy, located in the region of Tuscany. But it wasn't just stress that caused Mazar to want to relocate — it all went back to vow she'd made to Corcos' mother. "When I married him I said to his mother, 'I promise you I'll bring him home someday,'" Mazar told The Florentine.

The family flourished in their new surroundings, especially Mazar's teenage daughters, Evelina and Giulia, who loved taking in Italian culture and hopping from Venice to Rome to Milan for shopping and concerts. Although the move required a leap of faith, Mazar was sure she'd the right choice for her girls. "I feel like I made a decision out of love, and being brave, because it's not easy to move teenagers to a foreign country," she told People.

In August 2024, Debi Mazar celebrated a huge milestone when she turned 60 years old. The actor, who has never been shy about revealing her age, was also preparing for life without her grown daughters at home. "I'm about to be an empty nester," Mazar told People. She continued, saying, "I've spent the past 23 years being on top of my children, and now I have more freedom to go work and not feel guilty." Among the other things she was looking forward to were walking around the house in the nude and sharing intimate moments with her husband whenever they felt like it.

Mazar, who relocated to Italy with her family several years earlier, explained that living in Europe helped her feel more appreciated than she had in the U.S. where youth is a more coveted trait. "They like women of a certain age here. So, I feel that I went to the place that wanted me," Mazar said. On her special birthday, Mazar took to Instagram, sharing, "I turned 60 today! ... [I] jumped in the water immediately to wash off all my sins, rejuvenate & manifest a super fantastic decade to come."