Jamie-Lynn Sigler opened up about the support James Gandolfini gave her amid her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The 43-year-old actress recently revealed that she only learned that her former Sopranos co-star and on-screen father had been constantly donating to MS charities for her until he passed away.
During Tuesday’s podcast episode Life is short with Justin Longshe talked about how he kept his diagnosis a secret until he was ready to tell the world.
When the late actor suffered 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 constantly donated to MS organizations for me.”
It was in 2016 when he decided to tell the world that he had already been fighting 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 he reunited with several of his other Sopranos co-stars at the Tribeca Film Festival last week.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler spoke about the support James Gandolfini gave her amid her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS); seen June 13
The 43-year-old actress recently revealed that she only learned that her former Sopranos co-star and on-screen father had been constantly donating to MS charities for her until he passed away; seen December 2012
Sigler also gushed about working with the late Emmy-winning actor, recalling that he was the first on the set of the crime drama television series she told about her diagnosis.
“One day he pulled me aside and said, ‘Jamie, what’s going on?’ I just fell into a puddle in his arms,” she said.
And I was like, “I’m so scared, but I have MS and I don’t know how to tell anyone.” And he says, “Your secret is safe with me.”
He kept his diagnosis a secret for more than a decade after first experiencing symptoms while filming the show’s third and fourth seasons.
During that time, he said he was having a difficult time on set and noted that Gandolfini was the only one who asked him how he was doing.
“I was going through a divorce,” he recalled how difficult that period of his life had been. “And she wasn’t telling anyone.”
“MS was really starting to affect me, like it affects the bladder,” he explained.
And I have to pee. And in the middle of a take, she would say, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I have to pee.” And they said, “What the hell is wrong with him?”
During Tuesday’s podcast episode of Life is Short with Justin Long, she talked about how he kept her diagnosis a secret until she was ready to tell the world. When the late actor suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 51 in 2013, she said he was moved when “after his death I discovered that he constantly donated to MS organizations for me.”
Sigler also gushed about working with the late Emmy-winning actor, recalling that he was the first on the set of the crime drama television 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 that he supported her both emotionally and professionally as she learned to live with MS; seen in 2001
In the past, she has also praised Gandolfini and worked alongside him as his on-screen daughter Meadow Soprano on the HBO series from 1999 to 2007.
He added: “No one asked me what was going on, I can’t blame anyone except Jim (asked).”
During the podcast, she also paid her respects to Gandolfini and said that he supported her both emotionally and professionally as she learned to live with MS.
She recalled that her beloved on-screen father offered her own acting coach for her to work with and help her get back on track.
In the past, she has also praised Gandolfini and worked alongside him as his on-screen daughter Meadow Soprano on the HBO series from 1999 to 2007.
In October 2023, she recalled that Gandolfini helped her on set and called him “an exceptional human being” on the podcast Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.
“Jim was the kind of scene partner who felt like he was there and his only intention was to make me the best 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 be the best you can be, Jamie.'”
