Joe Mantegna Shares a Beautiful Photo with His Actress Daughter on Her 29th Birthday

The veteran actor took to his Instagram account to mark the occasion of his younger daughter Gia turning 29, sharing a picture of him and his grown child, who have followed his steps.

71-year-old actor Joe Mantegna, nowadays mostly known for his role in “Criminal Minds,” took to social media on April 17 to wish his daughter Gia a happy birthday, sharing it with his more than 370.000 followers on Instagram.

WISHING GIA A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

“Happy Birthday to my darling daughter,” Joe, whose career spans more than forty years, captioned the snapshot that pictures him alongside Gia, famous for her role in “The Middle”, happily smiling at the camera and looking very handsome.

Gia might not think that she looked so good in the photo, for she took to the comments section of the post to leave a comment complaining about it while complimenting her beloved father.

“This picture is horrible but you are not,” the actress wrote, adding three blue heart emojis, in reference to Joe.

A STAR ON HER OWN RIGHT

Gia was born in 1990 and was named Gina Cristine. She is the second daughter of Joe and his wife, 69-year-old restaurateur Arlene Vhrel, with whom he has been married since 1975, after being together for two years.

Gia’s big screen debut happened when she was 13 years old, playing a character with her real name and working alongside her father on the 2003 film “Uncle Nino.”

In 2005, Gia made her TV debut. She also shared the small screen with her father with two guest appearances on “Criminal Minds,” one in 2008 and another in 2017.

During her career, Gia has been recognized with the title of Miss Golden Globe in 2010, apart from being nominated for the Young Artist Award for her part in 2007’s “Unaccompanied Minors.”

GIA’S OLDER SISTER MIA

Gia’s older sister, 31-year-old Mia, works as a makeup artist. Mia was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, but her parents took the advice of a teacher and put her in a regular school, which helped her developed important social skills.

“Just let the kids know. Once you include them, once you make them part of the process, the accommodation, they get it,” Joe told Brain World Magazine in 2018.

They’re very supportive. So you don’t put them in a position where they’re wondering, What’s with this girl? Why is she acting so weird? Passing the information to others makes all the difference,” the actor added.

After graduating from high school, Mia found her vocation in makeup, after attending a nine-week course at the Mood professional makeup school, becoming the first person in the autism spectrum to graduate in the institution.

Nowadays she is not only the makeup artist for Inclusion Films, where she also teaches young adults with disabilities the main aspects of the film industry. She also works at her mother’s restaurant once a week, keeping the books.

Since Mia was diagnosed, Joe has learned more than he ever imagined about a condition he had hardly heard about back in the 1990s, and he uses his platform to collaborate with several advocacy and charity organizations focused on autism.