AOL Interview With Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer Melfi)

[JamesG]

Lorraine Bracco's enjoyed a long and fruitful film career ('Goodfellas','The Basketball Diaries'), but you may know her best from HBO's groundbreaking mafia series, 'The Sopranos.' She was Dr. Jennifer Melfi, the psychiatrist unlucky enough to get panic-attack-ridden mob don Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as a patient.

When we spoke with the Brooklyn-born actress about AOL TV naming 'The Sopranos' the no. 1 TV drama of all time, she was strikingly candid about her time on the show, which cast member wanted help getting into heaven ... and what lost role made her cry like a baby. -- By Angie Argabrite




1. What's your response to The Sopranos being named the no. 1 TV drama ever by AOL TV?

[Yells] Woo hoo! Woo hoo! ... It was a great show. I loved watching it, I loved being part of it. So that's very, very touching and moving.




2. The story lines were very intense, what was it like shooting those?

Except for that despicable rape scene, I feel that I was kind of lucky to have escaped a lot of that hard work and harshness of that show ... I had a lot more fun than those guys.




3. Do you keep in touch with the cast?

I'll see Tony Sirico tomorrow; I'll see Jimmy [Gandolfini] next week. So yeah, we definitely keep in touch, most of us.




4. What are your thoughts on the controversial ending, with the "fade to black" and the Journey song playing?

I'm hiding. I'm hiding! You know, I keep trying to tell David [Chase] that it was a brilliant ending, and I'm so glad that he's going to write the movie soon ... trying to make him crazy and write the script before we all get too old and fat. [Laughs]




5. Are there plans for the movie?

I have no idea. But you know, it is something that I bring up with him and beg him ... I hope [Tony]'s fine, happy in New Jersey, bringing AJ to colleges. I think that would be a great way to start the movie, bringing AJ to colleges ... it would be very funny.




6. What was your favorite episode of the show?

I have to say, because I know all the characters involved and I love them and I know how hard they worked and how just absurd the whole script and scenario was, was when they were in 'Pine Barrens.'

Two of my favorite people, Tony Sirico and Michael Imperioli, and of course Steve Buscemi directing. So I have to say it really is one of my favorite episodes. I laugh, I cry ... I always got a huge amount of enjoyment out of it ... There's so many memorable moments for me, as just a viewer, that I loved. I loved being able to read the script and do the readings for the writers and watching the episode, it was always so great to see how they managed to make everything work in a really good way. It was always a surprise.




7. What is your best off-screen Sopranos memory?

We were so privileged to make money for a lot of charities. I mean, we really did an unbelievable thing. We ... support[ed] each other... everybody's charity. That's a nice thing that we shared together.

Tony Sirico would make us do stuff for St. Jude's. For Tony, it was almost like penance, because he was such a bad boy. He would say, "We got to do it for the kids, because when I get up there I want them to open up the gates for me! Cause I've done some bad things, but I'm repenting now!"
And we would say "All right we get it, you were a bad boy; we get it!"

Jimmy's mom passed away with cancer, so we've done a lot of [charity work] for cancer. We've really done the right thing with our celebrity. And enjoyed it, and helped a lot of people along the way. And I know a lot of people don't know that ... I can lay my head down at night and say, "You know, these are a great bunch of men."




8. Do fans still approach you on the street, and what do they say?

Sure! Either I get yelled at about the last episode, and they ask when the movie is, or why didn't we capture the rapist. Why didn't I tell Tony about the rapist ... The rape thing was really a morals issue for Dr. Melfi. If she had told Tony about the rapist and then for him to go and get him, which she knows he could have done very easily, then she becomes the gangster, doesn't she? And then there's no more right and wrong.




9. You suffered from depression. How did that inform your portrayal of a psychologist?

I was lucky that I've been in therapy before. And I understood how it goes. And so you know, I brought all those experiences with me. But David had a very specific take on the psychiatrist. She was a little wound tighter than I would have liked her to be. But that was okay, I understood it.




10. Are there any roles in your career you didn't get that you still wish you had?

The one that I sobbed over was Working Girl. I sobbed over that. I remember watching the play Le Miserable that night and literally sobbing through the entire play. And you know, I allowed myself the 24-hour grievance period and then that's it -- it's over.




11. One of your daughters, Stella, is an actress. What advice have you given her?

I've given her no advice and told her not to do it. But that's the way I am. I really feel it's something inside of you that you cannot stop. And if it is not that, then go do something else. It's a very difficult business. It's very, very tough. I could give you a million reasons why not to do it. And then, you know, if you're lucky, you've gotten a role that's been memorable and exciting and thrilling and fulfilling. But does that mean you're going to eat the next day?




12. You and Stella's father, your ex Harvey Keitel, had a lot of animosity in the past. Are you on good terms with him now?

I really don't talk to Harvey. He doesn't call me … Stella's much older now, she's a big girl, and she has her own relationship with him ... his relationship is with Stella.




13. You're more focused on producing then acting now, why is that? Do you think it gets harder for women as they age to find acting roles?

Look, if I'm given the right script, right character, right director -- I'm in. But I haven't really read anything that's been exciting. I've kind of refused a lot of work this last year. But what do you do. Nothing excites me.

I think Hollywood -- and everybody now -- really wants to make these Superman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Watchman movies. They want to make all these big $200 million opening movies like that. And you know, when you look at a movie like Revolutionary Road, which I thought was magnificent -- they make $29, and nobody is going to see them, and Hollywood's not making those movies. Very few and far between.

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