Contains mild spoilers for “Blue Bloods” Season 14, Episode 11 — “Life Sentence”
“Life Sentence” featured the debut of a viral wiener dog, a Reagan-wide family crisis, and the debut of a well-known actress in what appears to be a pivotal role. The last thing the Reagan family needs is another spoiler, but new DA Evaline Romano (Debi Mazar) looks ready to make their last few outings very difficult. Accused of tampering with witness testimony, Erin Reagan (Bridget Moynahan) must fight against Romano’s accusations to clear her reputation before she gets prosecuted. While Erin eventually manages to get her accuser to admit that she falsified her testimony, Erin might encounter Romano again somewhere down the line. The door appears to be wide open as “Blue Bloods” approaches its final days.
Playing hard-nosed as a way of life has been Debi Mazar’s bread and butter for decades. She started her career backing up Madonna as a dancer, and their long-lived friendship has been a clear highlight of the actor’s life. But she’s played everything from a goddess to a secretary over the past few decades. Here’s why she looks so familiar.
Debi Mazar is a hard-working character actress – and friend of Madonna
Debi Mazar moved from dancing to acting in 1990 when she appeared in “Goodfellas” as Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) mistress Sandy. This small part would blossom into a steady acting career. Among her more notable big-screen parts, she appeared as Brenda in “Singles,” Susan in “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” and the wicked Regina in “Beethoven’s Second.” She was gun moll Spice in “Batman Forever” and Jane in “Empire Records.” But it’s television where Mazar has managed to carve out a solid place for herself — starting out with the Mariel Hemingway vehicle “Civil Wars,” she then played Denise Iannello in “L.A. Law,” stand portrayed Jackie O’Grady in “That’s Life.” Memorably, she was Shauna on “Entourage” and Maggie on “Younger.” She also headlined a sitcom of her own with “Temporally Yours.” She recurred on “All of Us,” “Kaos,” “Ladies in Black,” and “Jonas.”
On top of it all, Mazar has kept up her close Hollywood connection to Madonna, appearing in many of the singer’s music videos, for which she was her first makeup artist. Per an appearance she made on “Watch What Happens Live,” they’ve been best friends ever since they met on an elevator in their youth. It sounds like a connection that definitely won’t be hitting the ground floor any time soon.