Jamie-Lynn Sigler opens up about her supportive relationship with on-screen father James Gandolfini in an interview with Justin Long.
Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler reveals that it wasn’t until after the passing of her on-screen father James Gandolfini in 2013 from a heart attack that she found out that he had consistently donated to Multiple Sclerosis charities for her.
The 43-year-old actress has long been open about her journey managing her MS and even does so on the MeSsy podcast with cohost, and Married… with Children star, Christina Applegate, who also has MS.
While talking to Justin Long on his recent Life Is Short podcast , Sigler admitted that at one point her diagnosis was a secret from the public, one that was safe with Gandolfini while on the set of The Sopranos.
“He pulled me aside one day and he said, ‘Jamie, what is going on?’” she said. “I just fell in a puddle in his arms. And I was just like, ‘I’m so scared, but I have MS, and I don’t know how to tell anybody.’ And he’s like, ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’”
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Sigler kept her MS diagnosis a secret for 14 years after first experiencing symptoms while filming the third and fourth seasons of the HBO hit show.
“The MS was really starting to affect me, like, for instance, it affects your bladder. And I have to pee. And in the middle of a take, I’d be like, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I have to pee.’ And they’d be like, ‘What the f–k is wrong with her?’”
She continued, “Nobody asked me what was wrong — I can’t blame anyone — except Jim [asked].”
The actress paid her respects to the Emmy-award winning actor, who supported her both emotionally and professionally while she learned ways to overcome this life-changing health obstacle. She shared that he even offered his acting coach in order to get her back on track.
Alongside the podcast she cohosts with Applegate, the actress cohosts the Not Today, Pal podcast opposite her former TV sibling on The Sopranos, Robert Iler. She also recently starred as Tonya Walsh in the first and second seasons of ABC’s Big Sky
