Jamie-Lynn Sigler opened up about how supportive James Gandolfini was to her amid her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The 43-year-old actress recently revealed she only learned that her former The Sopranos co-star and on-screen father had been consistently donating to MS charities for her until after he passed away.
During Tuesday’s podcast episode of Life is Short with Justin Long, she opened up about how he kept her diagnosis a secret until she was ready to tell the world.
When the late actor had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 51 in 2013, she said she was moved when she ‘found out after his death that he donated to MS organizations constantly for me.’
It was in 2016 when she decided to tell the world she had already been battling MS — a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system), according to the Mayo Clinic — for 15 years.
This comes shortly after she reunited with several of her other Sopranos co-stars at the Tribeca Film Festival last week.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler opened up about how supportive James Gandolfini was to her amid her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS); seen on June 13
The 43-year-old actress recently revealed she only learned that her former The Sopranos co-star and on-screen father had been consistently donating to MS charities for her until after he passed away; seen in December 2012
Sigler also gushed about working with the late Emmy-winning actor and recalled that he was the first one on the set of the crime drama TV series she told about her diagnosis.
‘He pulled me aside one day and he said, “Jamie, what is going on?” I just fell in a puddle in his arms,’ she said.
‘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.”‘
She kept her diagnosis a secret for over a decade after first experiencing symptoms while filming the third and fourth seasons of the show.
During that time, she said she was having a hard time on set and pointed out that Gandolfini was the only one who asked her how she was doing.
‘I was going through a divorce,’ she recalled about how tough that period in her life had been. ‘And I wasn’t telling anybody about it.’
‘The MS was really starting to affect me, like, for instance, it affects your bladder,’ she explained.
‘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?”‘
During Tuesday’s podcast episode of Life is Short with Justin Long , she opened up about how he kept her diagnosis a secret until she was ready to tell the world. When the late actor had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 51 in 2013, she said she was moved when she ‘found out after his death that he donated to MS organizations constantly for me’
Sigler also gushed about working with the late Emmy-winning actor and recalled that he was the first one on the set of the crime drama TV series she told about her diagnosis; seen with Edie Falco, Robert Iler and Gandolfini in 2005
During the podcast, she also paid her respects to Gandolfini and said he supported her both emotionally as well as professionally while she was learning to live with MS; seen in 2001
In the past, she also raved about Gandolfini and working alongside him as his on-screen daughter Meadow Soprano on the HBO series from 1999 to 2007
She added: ‘Nobody asked me what was wrong — I can’t blame anyone — except Jim [asked].’
During the podcast, she also paid her respects to Gandolfini and said he supported her both emotionally as well as professionally while she was learning to live with MS.
She recalled her dear on-screen dad offering his own acting coach for her to work with to help her get back on track.
In the past, she also raved about Gandolfini and working alongside him as his on-screen daughter Meadow Soprano on the HBO series from 1999 to 2007.
Back in October 2023, she recalled Gandolfini helping her on set and called him ‘an exceptional human being’ on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast.
‘Jim was the type of scene partner 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,’ she said.
‘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.”‘
