Biography
Joanna is a native New Yorker from The Bronx. She frequently plays bold yet vulnerable wives, mothers, and cougars, characterized by fierce loyalty and underlying sensitivities. She earned the prestigious Bronze REMI Award for her lead role in the comedy TV pilot "GOOD 'n Screwed" (co-starring Vincent Pastore), portraying a naive, scattered, OCD "good wife"—a departure from her usual roles—at the 51st WorldFest Houston International Film Festival. Her accolades also include Best Actress, Best Pilot, Best Screenwriting, and Best Ensemble awards from festivals in Rome, Cannes, London, Las Vegas, and New York City.
Her TV credits feature appearances on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (alongside Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, and Ice-T), "The Sopranos" (directed by Steve Buscemi), "Mozart in the Jungle" (with Gael Garcia Bernal), and "Boardwalk Empire." A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she also studied English Literature from the 14th to 19th centuries, making her well-versed in figures like Tobias Smollett, Boswell, and Samuel Johnson. Additionally, she trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with a focus on Shakespeare.
Her Off-Broadway credits include "How Alfo Learned to Love" (opposite Robert Funaro) and the recently rediscovered 18th-century play "The Art of Thinking," in which she portrayed the intellectual courtesan Elizabetta Caminer. Other notable roles include The Duke in "Measure for Measure," Medea in "Medea," Beatrice in "Much Ado About Nothing," and Tamora in "Titus Andronicus." She is a proud member of the Renegade Theatre Company, led by Artistic Director Maureen Van Zandt, which she regards as her creative home.
Joanna founded BrainyBeauty Productions, also known as Still Waters Productions, to champion and produce female-driven content for women over 40 across film, television, and digital media. Before returning to acting, she achieved National Sales Awards in the cosmetics industry while working for Estée Lauder, managing their second-largest department store account worldwide and developing sales, training programs, and special events for successful product launches.
