First Aida

Forget the Fondas: the latest thing in acting dynasties are the Turturros. John Turturro, whose next film is Robert Redford's Quiz Show, is fast shaping up as another De Niro. His brother Nicholas stars on ABCs NYPD Blue. John's wife, Katherine Borowitz, is an actress, and even their mother, Kitty, and cousin Olinda occasionally show up in a picture. This month, the spotlight is on yet another cousin: 30-ish Aida Turturro, who stars with Geena Davis in Martha Coolidge's Angie. Set in Bensonhurst, the film features Aida as the tough-talking Tina. "She's not just some bimbo Italian girl," she explains. "You had to have a heart with this part."

Her first film role was in True Love in 1 989, and in 1992 she made her Broadway debut as the Kowalskis' upstairs neighbor in Gregory Mosher's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Mosher had great faith in Aida's stage presence. "The curtain goes up and here are these people waiting for Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange and here you are. You need guts and charm to carry that opening off." Aida admits that she thrives in the limelight. "Before each show, I'd sit on the stage by myself and I'd sing Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday to the ushers. They loved me." They weren't alone.

MARIA RICAPITO