Actress Drea de Matteo has opened up about her decision to join OnlyFans in order to "save her family" after revealing she was "never really paid very much money" for any of the roles she has had.
The 51-year-old star has appeared in many huge TV shows and movies, including The Sopranos, Joey, Sons of Anarchy, Desperate Housewives, The Mindy Project, and more.
However, despite a lengthy list of impressive credits under her belt, it's still been a struggle to make ends meet, particularly after being dropped by her agent amid the pandemic.
Like many others, Drea turned to OnlyFans to post content for her paying subscribers to supplement her income and look after her family.
She told Fox News: "People find that hard to believe that I was never really paid very much money for any of the jobs I’ve done. People think I’m f**king made of gold, and I’m not. I’ve worked job to job."
Drea made the choice to join the subscription platform, which launched in 2016 and quickly racked up a series of celebrity creators including Bella Thorne, Blac Chyna, and more, after finding work slowed down during the pandemic.
Making ends meet while being a jobbing actor can be hard work at the best of times, but with a family to feed and productions closing down for months on end due to the pandemic, Drea had to think outside the box.
She explained: "Things have changed in the last three years. My kids have always been my number one focus. I’ve turned down tons of jobs in the past just to be with my children because their dad [musician Shooter Jennings] is on the road, and he’s not around as much."
And while some people place a stigma on stars selling adult content online, Drea is unbothered by any criticism when the end goal is making sure her children can live comfortably.
"I just don’t care. I don’t. I’d rather save my family than save face," she explained. "I know some people have said some nasty things about me having joined OnlyFans.
"But, you know, the way we see it in this house is mommy’s a warrior, not accepting defeat."
Part of the reason she chose to go down the OnlyFans route was after she was dropped by her agent, allegedly due to her stance on the Covid-19 vaccine, which led to her struggling to get work and being in a position where she was at threat of losing her home over it.
While the pandemic restrictions have now ceased, much of Hollywood has shut down again due to the ongoing writers and actors strikes, meaning actors are unable to work on new projects or promote past projects until the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have reached a settlement over their protests for fair pay and job security with the threat of AI to the industry.
She admitted: "I guess you could say I was a bad girl because I did not follow the rules a couple of years ago. So, I don’t want to be at the mercy of mandates, or strike, or anything like that ever again."
Among her most famous roles, Drea starred as Adriana in the first five seasons of The Sopranos, before her character became an informant for the FBI and Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) ordered her to be killed.
Adriana was killed off by Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) but Drea returned for two episodes in the sixth season, and is an Emmy winner for her performance in the role.
Featured image credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images.