Biography
A vibrant red-headed actress who proved effective on both TV and in features before landing her first regular role in a series, actress Marissa Ribisi brought an unaffected charm to her roles, her onscreen portrayals showing a clarity and lack of vanity uncharacteristic of many of her acting peers. The fraternal twin of actor Giovanni Ribisi, she got a bit of a later start in the entertainment industry than her brother, but worked steadily from her 1993 feature debut. As a featured member of the ensemble of "Dazed and Confused," Ribisi joined a cast of then-unknowns including Matthew McConaughey and Adam Goldberg. In this Richard Linklater look at a Texas high school on the last day of classes in 1976, the actress played Cynthia, a slightly awkward girl who runs with two verbose outsiders (Goldberg and Anthony Rapp) out looking for a good time. Ribisi's part, as is often true of Linklater's characters, was more complex and nuanced than the characterizations in many other teen pieces. She gave a subtle and engaging performance as the sensitive and well-liked but somewhat socially marginal character, and her hair, styled in a short kinky red afro, lent the film a timely and memorable image. The actress followed up with a part in 1995's "The Brady Bunch Movie," playing Peter Brady's love interest. The next year Ribisi was featured in the independent "The Size of Watermelons," as an alarmingly out of key rock singer. The actress made her feature starring debut in "Some Girls," which she also co-scripted. The film co-starred her brother Giovanni and Juliette Lewis and screened to acclaim, winning the Best Director award at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. She additionally had supporting roles in the major releases "Pleasantville" (1998) and "True Crime" (1999). Ribisi kept busy between feature work with extensive television appearances before landing a regular starring role as Shari, a married and grounded post-college friend of Jaleel White's conflicted J Calvin Frasier on the UPN sitcom "Grown Ups" (1999-2000). Earlier TV appearances include a 1988 guest role on "My Two Dads," co-starring with her brother (then billed as Vonni Ribisi), who had a recurring part on this NBC comedy. She also played the acerbic Zoey's like-minded friend Annie on a 1995 episode of the CBS sitcom "Cybill" and was featured in the 1996 flashback episode of "Friends" that explained how the six main characters came together. (Although her brother had a recurring role on this series as well, he was not featured in that episode.) The actress took a recurring role in episodes of The WB's hit college drama "Felicity" in 1998 and additionally appeared in the 1994 PBS miniseries "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City" and co-starred in the TV movies "Encino Woman" (ABC, 1996) and "The Patron Saint of Liars" (CBS, 1997). Ribisi largely retired from acting in the early 2000s, moving into work as a fashion designer. She also married musician Beck in 2004, though the couple filed for divorce in February 2019.
