Jamie-Lynn Sigler learned after “Sopranos” dad James Gandolfini's death that he quietly donated to MS charities
He was the first person on the set of the HBO drama that Sigler told about her diagnosis.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler discovered a secret about James Gandolfini, who played her dad on all six seasons of The Sopranos, after the actor died of a heart attack in 2013.
"I found out after his death that he donated to MS organizations constantly for me," Sigler, who revealed in 2016 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 14 years earlier, said on the June 18 episode of Justin Long's Life Is Short podcast.
The Sopranos star also noted that Gandolfini was the first person on the set to learn about her medical issue.
"He pulled me aside one day and he said, 'Jamie, what is going on?'" Sigler 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 noted that, at the time, she was struggling.
"I was going through a divorce, and I wasn't telling anybody about it. And the MS was really starting to affect me, like, for instance, it affects your bladder," Sigler said. "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-–- is wrong with her?'"
The only person who asked that question was Gandolfini, who Sigler costarred with on the HBO show from 1999 to 2007. She went on to praise him for being a hard worker.
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Sigler has raved about Gandolfini in the past.
In October 2023, on another podcast, Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, the Big Sky alum called Gandolfini "an exceptional human being," who was an exceedingly generous costar.
"Jim was the type of scene partner," Sigler said, "where it felt like he was there and his only intention was to make me as good as I could be. And it had nothing to do with him. Every time I worked with him, I felt like his sole purpose was... 'I'm going to help you give your best f---ing take, Jamie.'"
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