Sopranos actress Drea de Matteo, 52, SLAMS Hollywood as a ‘cesspool’ and hints she has QUIT for good in blistering takedown – after blacklisting from industry amid COVID vax scandal saw her forced to turn to OnlyFans to survive

Sopranos actress Drea de Matteo has criticized Hollywood after she was blacklisted by the studios for refusing to get the Covid vaccine – revealing it would take a lot for her to retire.

In September, the 52-year-old star claimed she was forced to turn to subscription service OnlyFans to make money after her stance on the vaccination caused her acting work to dry up and her agent to drop her, which soon led to her in a dangerous financial situation and is at risk of losing her home.

Although Drea has since stated that she was able to make enough money to pay off her mortgage foreclosure in five minutes of launching her profile, she has now suggested that she is cutting ties with Hollywood herself.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Drea criticized the ‘saturated’ industry, saying: ‘I mean, that place (Hollywood) is a fucking cesspool. I’m not going to lie. Television sucks.

The actress played the role of Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos between 1999 and 2006

‘There’s nothing great. Sopranos opened the door for (me) 100 percent.”

Drea played the role of Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos for seven years from 1999 to 2006.

Referring to a recent meeting with the HBO drama’s showrunner David Chase and executive producers Terence Winter and Matthew Wiener, she continued, “They did a panel and basically said, ‘We don’t even trust the audience anymore because it’s all of this stuff that societies are cramming down people’s throats.”

“It’s like I don’t even know it’s the audience. I think it’s more the industry.

“The industry has just… everything that our generation has pushed for, whether it’s better television, whether it’s human rights, body sovereignty, all these things, they’ve taken it and turned it into an aberration.

‘And the same was true for television. Television is so saturated. Streaming doesn’t help anyone except the big companies.”

While weighing whether she would ever return to acting, Drea said, “It would really have to be something that was meaningful to me.

“I don’t have to just jump ship to get a paycheck, even though I literally had $10 left in my bank account when this all happened.” That’s why I started the OnlyFans page.

“I’d rather bet on myself than the man right now.”

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Drea said she would only return to acting if the right project came along

Last year she was forced to launch her OnlyFans profile after being blacklisted from Hollywood for not getting the Covid vaccination

While Drea seems disappointed with Hollywood, she did share that she was in a movie after Covid mandates were lifted on May 12, 2023 and before the SAG-AFTRA strike on July 14, 2023.

In the same interview with DailyMail.com, Drea said her move to OnlyFans helped her save her house from bankruptcy and launch her own business, a fashion brand she calls ULTRAFREE.

She admitted: “OnlyFans saved my life 100 percent. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but it really saved us.”

Tearfully, she continued, “Anyone who wants to condemn and tear me down, go for it. I just hope you never find yourself in the position I was in taking care of two small children.

‘It saved my house of many years which was very important to us. And what’s more, it has given me enough money to start up and finance ULTRAFREE.’

Drea won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for her performance in the hit series

Drea only had $10 in her bank account when she started her OnlyFans account.

She found herself in a perilous financial situation after showing patience to help with her mortgage repayments, but ultimately was unable to pay the astronomical amount she owed to collectors.

“They foreclosed on me and my house was flooded, so I tried to sell the house quickly,” she said. “I wanted to try to sell it before they took it away.

‘At the same time I lost my mother, and my other mother, who has dementia, no longer had money for her caregiver. I didn’t know which way was up.’

Turning to the platform wasn’t initially something Drea wanted to do. And when she first toyed with the idea, it was because she and her boyfriend had been thinking about starting a podcast.

“I did it, but I didn’t want to do it,” she continued. “I got a lot of attention for it and it went viral and people went crazy.

“I mean, the original premise of opening the OnlyFans was that Robbie and I were going to do a podcast there that was controversial. We wanted to put it behind a paywall so it wouldn’t be trashed in the media.

“That’s what it was originally, you know, like when he rubs my feet, because you have to add something there for OnlyFans.”