Jamie Lynn Sigler Recalls Last James Gandolfini Conversation
Jamie Lynn Sigler can vividly recall her last dialog together with her Sopranos costar and TV dad, James Gandolfini.
“We were at a casino,” Sigler, 44, completely informed Us Weekly for her latest cover story selling her upcoming ebook, And So It Is…: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope. “He checked out me, and he was like, ‘Do you need assistance strolling?’ And I used to be like, ‘I’m OK proper now.’ He was like, ‘All proper, you inform me when you do.’ And I used to be like, ‘I’ll.’”
Gandolfini — who performed Mafia boss Tony Soprano, father to Sigler’s character, Meadow — was the one individual on the solid of the hit HBO present who knew that the actress had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
“I remember him being proud, like, ‘OK, look at you. You’re still doing this. You’ve got this,'” she recalled of the pair’s last run-in. “It was a beautiful moment that I am very grateful we had because his death was obviously shocking to all of us.”
Gandolfini died of a coronary heart assault whereas vacationing in Italy along with his household in 2013. He was solely 51.
“I just remember how happy he was,” Sigler informed Us of her late castmate. “I was so happy to see him in a beautiful marriage [to Deborah Lin]in a beautiful space in his life, creatively doing things that he really loved.”
James Gandolfini and Jamie Lynn Sigler
Stephen Shugerman/Getty ImagesThe “gentle” and “caring” Gandolfini Sigler knew off-screen was in stark distinction to the robust man he performed on the set of their crime drama, which aired from 1999 to 2007.
“Playing Tony Soprano was really hard on him,” she famous of the actor. “It was torture in many ways. He gave every ounce of himself, obviously, and so to see him so settled and so happy just made me so happy. He was always the dad. He was our pillager. He was our rock. But we also saw him struggle, and we also saw him go through really difficult times. And so it was almost like the similar moment of him and I both being like, ‘We’re good right now. Look at us. We’re doing good.'”
The Sopranos premiered on HBO in January 1999, and all through its six-season run launched viewers to actors who would finally go on to turn out to be main stars. The late James Gandolfini starred as New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano for everything of the long-lasting present. Fans introduced Tony and his household — Carmela Soprano (Edie […]
Sigler was recognized with MS on the age of 20, about midway by means of The Sopranos‘ six-season run. At first, she selected to maintain her well being battle a secret.
“I felt like I was always acting. I felt like I was always pretending. I felt like I was always living a lie,” she admitted to Us. “I had no idea what authenticity felt like. I had no idea what truth felt like. … I didn’t even know who I was. All these secrets had piled up on top that I was just suffocated and literally just trying to survive every day. I was constantly in fight or flight.”
Sigler recalled Gandolfini sensing one thing was occurring along with his value.
“He had this way about him where it’s almost like he would look at me just long enough to be like, ‘I know you. I know something’s going on,'” she shared. “And he would by no means press me. He would take a look at me, ‘How are you?’ And I’d say, ‘I’m good.’ And he’d simply take a look at me and nod.”
James Gandolfini was memorialized by his former solid members in The Sopranos documentary as they revisited the HBO present’s success in a two-part documentary titled Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos. Released by way of HBO on Saturday, September 7, the movie exhibits director Alex Gibney sitting face-to-face with the present’s creator, David Chase, on a […]
Ultimately, Sigler determined to speak in confidence to her TV dad, and the actor dutifully saved her secret till the very finish. (Sigler went public together with her well being struggles in 2016, almost three years after Gandolfini’s dying.)
“He knew that I couldn’t carry whatever I was carrying alone anymore, and he never really asked me about it again,” she stated. “Sometimes if we have been off set, he would ask me about it. If we have been ever at a solid celebration or a charity occasion or some look, he would all the time pull me apart and be like, ‘How’s the MS? Tell me what is going on on.’ But by no means at work, by no means in entrance of anyone.”
Sigler added, “I don’t know if he knew this, but just having someone [on set] know was a game changer. It truly shifted a lot of the energy for me there, just knowing that just someone knows my secret and I’m not carrying this alone.”
And So It Is…: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope hits bookstores on Tuesday, May 5.
