Sciorra was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut to a fashion stylist mother and a veterinarian father.[1] Her father is of half Italian and half Cuban descent, and her mother is of French ancestry. She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Sciorra first came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film, Jungle Fever. Other major films roles include True Love, the director Nancy Savoca's first film that took the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and What Dreams May Come. She is also familiar to many viewers as Tony Soprano's mistress, Gloria Trillo, in the HBO series The Sopranos, for which she received an Emmy nomination and was a recipient of a SAG award and an Ekle award.

Sciorra also made a guest appearance in the first episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She later joined the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Det. Carolyn Barek, partner to Det. Mike Logan (played by Chris Noth. After one year, she was replaced by Julianne Nicholson as Det. Megan Wheeler, who played Christina Finn on the short-lived NBC legal drama Conviction. She also guest-starred on the fourth season of Showtime's The L Word.