Appearing in over several films in the past fifteen years, her most commercially successful films to date are What Women Want (2000), Anger Management (2003), and Wild Hogs (2007). She received critical acclaim for her performances in Unhook the Stars (1996), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) and received subsequent Academy Award nominations for her performances in In the Bedroom (2001) and The Wrestler (2008).
In 2008, Tomei played Cassidy/Pam, a struggling stripper in the Darren Aronofsky independent film The Wrestler opposite Mickey Rourke. She appeared in several nude scenes performing dance numbers in the film. Numerous critics heralded this performance as a standout in her career. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe writes, "Tomei gives a brave and scrupulously honest performance, one that's most naked when Pam has her clothes on." Variety exclaimed, "Tomei is in top, emotionally forthright form as she charts a life passage similar to Ram's." For her performance she was nominated for her first BAFTA, second Golden Globe and third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Tomei was included at #18 on the FHM annual list of "100 Sexiest Females in the world" in 2009. The following year she appeared in two films, the first a comedy-drama, Cyrus and a cameo in the comedy film, Grown Ups. Her next projects include Salvation Boulevard with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, and Crazy, Stupid, Love with Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
