Jennifer Pierro is an Italian American New York native. She was raised by her amazing hardworking & supportive parents Matilda and Richard Pierro. Matilda a Domestic Goddess with a huge heart,loving, loyal and the strongest woman I know. There is nothing she wouldn’t do for her 3 children. Richard a retired NYC Sanitation worker who worked his butt off to take care of his family. There was no limit to the amount of jobs he would work and could handle to make sure his family was well taken care of. It is these two amazing people that I have to thank for making me the hardworking, strong, independent and determined woman that I am today and for their support in helping to keep my dream alive! I thank them both from the bottom of my heart! Tiamo Bene!
I was born in Queens and raised in Putnam County NY until the age of 16 when my family moved to Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn. They enrolled me in St. Edmunds all girls catholic high school and let me tell you it was a culture shock! It took me a good year to adjust to this different world. You take a hick from upstate ny and stick her in the middle of big hair, mega makeup, name plates,initial rings, sweet sixteens that are like weddings and the letter “R”is now an “A”what??? Boy oh boy what an adjustment. Ha Ha!!
But guess what? I would not have changed that experience for a second. It added color to my life in a way that many do not experience. I met the girl who turned me onto acting class, I made amazing friendships along the way, I got to grow up in the house that my mom grew up in and looking back now I am so grateful that Brooklyn was and still is part of my life. What a fabulous place to live that til this day I hold Brooklyn very near and dear to my heart!
I started studying acting at the age of 16 at HB Studio (Herbert berghof Studio) in Greenwich Village NY under the guidance of Jeanne Kaplan. My mom would drive me down to class every Sunday morning and sit in the car for two hours waiting for me to finish and than we would go for lunch and she would listen to my stories. It was our own very special time together for years and memories I will cherish forever!
My first day in class was actually a funny story because at the time I had know idea that Jeanne only accepted students 18 years and older in her class and she had no idea how old I really was. She just assumed I was of age due to my “maturity, hard work and dedication” (as she said) to every acting exercise thrown my way. The best is when she gave me my first monologue from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” as Maggie the cat. Yikes!! I was only 16 and boy did I break out in red blotches on my chest. We laugh until this day over this story and how I have now opened the door to other mature 16 year olds. Thank you Jeanne for your many years of guidance and for pushing me forward. I am eternally grateful!
Over the years I have worked in and around NYC in Film, TV and Theatre and I co-founded a theatre on 42nd street called Manhattan Repertory Theatre that I currently run with my boyfriend Ken. My resume started as a blank sheet of paper on the back of a headshot and now it has years of experience and it keeps growing. I am so proud of my accomplishments and I will never stop this journey that I am on. No matter how big or how small the part, I will continue pursuing this dream until I am 102 years old god willing! Two is my lucky number :)
“Only as high as I can reach can I grow, Only as far as I seek can I go, Only as deep as I look can I see, Only as much as I dream can I be” - Karen Raven