A charismatic dark-haired actor with thick brows over piercing eyes, a dimpled chin and Roman nose, Michael Imperioli first caught filmgoers' attention with a brief turn as Spider, who paid dearly for messing up Joe Pesci's drink order, in Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" (1990). The following year, he began an ongoing association with director Spike Lee, appearing as Annabella Sciorra's brother in "Jungle Fever". Linked romantically onscreen (and off until 1995) with actress Lili Taylorin such indies as Nancy Savoca's "Household Saints" (1993) and "Girls Town" (1996), Imperioli became a mainstay of independent films, often playing street toughs or junkies. Though he raised his profile with strong turns as a hustler in "Postcards from America" and a witness in "Men Lie" (both 1994) and as flamboyant Factory denizen Ondine in Mary Harron's "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996), he enjoyed arguably his best film role to date as a Wall Street yuppie who becomes a crack addict in "Sweet Nothing" (filmed in 1993; released in 1995), starring opposite Mira Sorvino "Last Man Standing" (1996) offered Imperioli a rare mainstream turn as an Italian gang member in the midst of indie fare like Steve Buscemi's "Trees Lounge" (also 1996), John Andrew Gallagher's "The Deli" (1997) and Wonsuk Chin's "Too Tired to Die" (1998), a quirky cross-cultural item reuniting him with Sorvino (and allowing the Chinese-fluent actress to speak the language onscreen for the first time). He made his co-screenwriting and executive producing debut on Lee's "Summer of Sam" (1999), his fifth collaboration with the director, which might have been his own directorial debut (with Lee as producer) had Disney been willing to take the risk. Imperioli appeared infrequently in guest appearances on TV dramas like "NYPD Blue" and "Law & Order" before landing the role of Tony Soprano's hot-headed nephew, loyal Mafia soldier and aspiring filmmaker Christopher Moltisanti in HBO's wildly popular "The Sopranos" (1999- ). As an inside tribute to his "GoodFellas" role of Spider, he shot someone in the foot during the show's first season. In the series' second season, Imperioli wrote the first of several episodes he would pen, and during its third he finally garnered some recognition for his fine acting work with the first of three Emmy nominations--he would eventually take home the trophy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. As a result of his "Sopranos" exposure, Imperioli landed several other roles, including turns in the telepic "Disappearing Acts" (2000); a stint as Rosenkrantz in the star/director Campbell Scott's TV version of "Hamlet" (2000); a slot oposite future "Sopranos" co-star Steve Buscemi in the dramedy "Love in the Time of Money" (2002); a leading turn in "Stuey" (lensed 2003), the true story of the rise and fall of poker legend Stu "The Kid" Ungar; and he was teamed with Eddie Griffinand Anthony Andersonin the urban comedy "My Baby's Daddy" (2004). He also lent his distinctive voice to the CGI-animated underwater mob spoof "Shark's Tale" (2004). While in the midst of playing the career criminal Christopher on "The Sopranos," Imperioloi also took a moonlighting gig on the other side of the law with a recurring role on the venerable crime series "Law & Order" during the 2004-2005 (subbing for series co-star Jesse L. Martin who was filming the big screen version of the Broadway play "Rent"). As Det. Nick Falco, Imperioloi played the nephew and temporary partner of Det. Joe Fontana (Dennis Farina) in four episodes.