sewfae¡ speshul — 4 years ago(November 23, 2021 12:13 PM)

INSIDER
Jamie-Lynn Sigler reveals how her 'Sopranos' costar James Gandolfini 'stepped up' to make sure she was 'taken care of' following her MS diagnosis
Jamie-Lynn Sigler revealed that her "Sopranos" costar James Gandolfini "stepped up" to help her following her MS diagnosis, including by sending his acting coach to work with her.
"There was a time in the maybe fourth or fifth season where I was dealing with my divorce privately and and my diagnosis of MS and a lot of other stuff that I wasn't talking to people about, and he really stepped up," Sigler said of Gandolfini in "Woke Up This Morning," the new oral history of "The Sopranos."
The actress split from her first husband, AJ DiScala, in 2005, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around the same time.
But according to Sigler, Gandolfini remained a supportive presence throughout her personal struggles.
"He sent his acting coach, Susan Aston, to work with me, just to make sure I was taken care of," Sigler said in the new book. "Little things like that, that he really just stepped up in amazing ways."
Sigler starred as Meadow Soprano, Tony and Carmela's daughter, on the HBO drama from 1999 to 2007. She later starred on HBO's "Entourage," and tied the knot with professional baseball player Cutter Dykstra last year.
Stories about Gandolfini (who died in 2013) feature heavily in "Woke Up This Morning," written by fellow "Sopranos" stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa.
Elsewhere in the oral history, "Sopranos" writer Todd Kessler said James Gandolfini took him out for dinner after the staffer was fired from the HBO drama.
"'You hold your head high and know that you did great work,'" Kessler recalled Gandolfini telling him.
https://www.insider.com/james-gandolfini-sopranos-jamie-lynn-sigler-woke-up-this-morning-2021-11