Esposito made her first television appearance in
Law & Order in 1996. She then joined the cast of
Spin City, where she appeared for two seasons. She also appeared in
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. One of her more notable roles was as "Ruby" in
Spike Lee's
Summer of Sam in 1999, which was set against the late 1970s backdrop of the
Son of Sam murders. Esposito's next films included
Dracula 2000,
The Master of Disguise, the 2004 comedy
Taxi, and the
Academy Award-winning film
Crash, in which she played
Don Cheadle's partner and romantic interest, Ria. Esposito joined
Jon Favreau,
Stephen Dorff,
Luis Guzmán, and
Barry Pepper for
Dinner for Five season 3, episode 7, on May 21, 2004. Esposito has made television appearances on the series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
Rescue Me, and
Mercy. She was a regular cast member on
Related and
Samantha Who? Esposito joined the cast of the
CBS drama
Blue Bloods in 2010, playing the role of
Detective Jackie Curatola, the partner of Detective Danny Reagan (played by
Donnie Wahlberg). In the third season Esposito was diagnosed with
celiac disease and, after collapsing on set, Esposito informed CBS that her condition would limit her availability to work on the series. Rather than work around her limited schedule,
Blue Bloods producers chose to write her character out of the series in 2012. In 2013, she launched Jennifer's Way Bakery in Manhattan's West Village, which only serves
celiac-safe food. In 2014 she joined the NBC series
Taxi Brooklyn. On April 22, 2014,
Da Capo Lifelong Books published Esposito's first book ''Jennifer's Way
, a detailed look into her personal struggle with celiac disease before and after she was diagnosed and the things she did to survive. The book made The New York Times
Best Seller List on July 6, 2014. In 2015, Esposito played Calista Raines in the ABC drama series Mistresses, and it was reported that she would be a cast member on the CBS pilot Taxi-22'', whose main character would be played by
John Leguizamo. She played
Dominic West's sister in the
Showtime series
The Affair for six episodes. Esposito became the
brand ambassador for Eclair Naturals also in 2015, a
gluten- and
GMO-free
vegan body and skin care line available in
Rite Aid stores across the United States. In 2016, it was announced that Esposito would join the cast of
NCIS as Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Quinn, executive producer Gary Glasberg noting, "We couldn't be happier to have Jennifer Esposito joining us for season 14. She embodies everything that we hoped for in the character of Quinn and we can't wait to have her come be a part of our team." In June 2017, it was announced that this would be her only season. Esposito appeared on the September 10, 2016, episode of
Oprah: Where Are They Now?, where she said her doctor had her hospitalized in a
psychiatric ward. She said the hospitalization happened during the time she was an actress on the show
Samantha Who? In 2019, she joined the cast of
The Boys, an Amazon Prime Exclusive. In August, she was set to play a recurring role in the
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens series on Comedy Central. In February 2020, it was announced that Esposito had joined the cast of the Netflix series
Inventing Anna created by
Shonda Rhimes in the role of Talia Mallay. However, this role was ultimately played by
Marika Domińczyk. In 2023, Esposito wrote, directed, and starred in the film
Fresh Kills playing the mother of two daughters in a coming-of-age story centered in the world of an organized crime family. ==Personal life==