She was one of the top stars of the hit long-running mob series The Sopranos.
And this actress also had a large role opposite Ray Liotta in the Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas which also featured Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.
Her other credits include the 1992 movie Medicine Man with Sean Connery, 1995’s The Basketball Diaries with Leonardo DiCaprio, and the TV series Rizzoli & Isles.
Before movie and TV fame this brunette bombshell worked as a top fashion model in New York City.
Here is a rare photo from her high school yearbook.
Who is she?
She was one of the top stars of the hit long-running mob series The Sopranos. And this actress also had a large role opposite Ray Liotta in the Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas which also featured Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Who is she?
She is Lorraine Bracco.
The performer portrayed Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the Sopranos, which ran from 1999-2007.
Melfi served as a psychiatrist for mafia boss Tony Soprano, portrayed by the late actor James Gandolfini.
Bracco, who received four Emmy nominations and four Gold Globe nominations for her role as Dr. Melfi, appeared to look completely different in a teaser for the documentary.
Last year she was in a documentary about the Sopranos.
Bracco shared that she was drawn to the role of Dr. Melfi, despite Chase originally wanting her to portray Tony’s wife, Carmela.
She turned down the role, saying that she already played a mobster’s wife in the film Goodfellas.
Lorraine recalled to HuffPost: ‘I fell in love with David [Chase] the minute I met him – when I walked into the room. I said, “I like this guy.”
‘And I said, “Look, I don’t think I should play Carmela, because, I did it. I did it in a Scorsese movie. I got an Oscar nomination.
“I really don’t think I’m going to bring so much to this for you, that I haven’t done already.”
‘I said, “But I really love this script, and I want to play Melfi.”‘
She is Lorraine Bracco. The performer portrayed Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the Sopranos, which ran from 1999-2007. Seen in January in NYC
Seen here with Ray Liotta in 1990’s Goodfellas
She portrayed Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the Sopranos, which ran from 1999 to 2007
Bracco’s character, Dr. Melfi, served as a psychiatrist for mafia boss Tony Soprano, portrayed by the late actor James Gandolfini
Bracco received four Emmy nominations and four Gold Globe nominations for her role as Dr. Melfi
Bracco shared that she was drawn to the role of Dr. Melfi, despite show creator David Chase originally wanting her to portray Tony’s wife
Actress Edie Falco ended up landing the role of Carmela.
In 2013, the cast was devastated to learn of the death of Gandolfini, who died of a heart attack at the age of 51.
Bracco called him ‘loving, caring, sweet, funny – a jokester,’ in an interview with HuffPost.
‘It was devastating – young man, talented, the peak of his career, the peak of his life with a beautiful wife and baby, and children, and [his son] Michael. It was really shocking to me,’ she said.
Since the Sopranos aired, Bracco has starred in many TV and movie projects, including Rizzoli & Isles and Blue Bloods.
In 2024, she appeared in the action-comedy The Union, starring Halle Berry and Mark Wahlber
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