Assignment: Get the goods on sexy Sopranos daughter Jamie-Lynn Sigler without violating any major laws. Result: We want our lawyers.

 

By Dave Itzkoff  Photographs by Antoine Verglas

 

amie-Lynn Sigler is, well, mobbed up. The audacious actress who plays Meadow on HBO’s crime-saga phenomenon The Sopranos just wanted to sit down for a little lunch (no, she didn’t order gabagool) and now finds herself surrounded by eager fans. Some of them want her autograph; others want to rave about her performance as the headstrong progeny of Mafia kingpin Tony Soprano; and a few just want ... her. Mama mia, don’t they realize they’re dealing with the offspring of the most dangerous man in New Jersey?

It’s not surprising that everyone suddenly wants a piece of Jamie-Lynn. As she’s grown up on The Sopranos, her role has blossomed, too, and she’s just come off a season that not even nearsighted Uncle Junior could have missed: While Meadow went off to college, lost her virginity, experimented with drugs, and dated an aspiring wise guy, Jamie-Lynn has become an indisputable star of what is indisputably television’s most compelling drama. Now she’s got the juice to pull a few choice projects of her own (like her first album, due out this fall) and has the tabloids wondering if she and one of her TV costars are more than just ... business associates. To gather evidence on our favorite Mafia princess, we arranged for a sit-down at a secret location. Unfortunately, Jamie-Lynn declined our invitation to pat us down for a wire.

Before we get to your other family, tell me about the Siglers. What do your real parents do?

My father founded what is now the largest amateur baseball league in the country...

Hmm...that’s certainly more original than claiming he’s a waste management consultant.

No, it’s true! He put an ad in the paper to get guys together to play hardball, and it grew to 40,000 members. So he’s a sports freak. My mother came here from Cuba when she was young. She took me to all my acting classes and auditions. I tell her everything. My friends can’t get over that, but it’s better that way, just so if anything ever slips out I won’t be embarrassed.

So you’re not even Italian?

I have no Italian in me. I’m Cuban, Greek, Romanian, and Sephardic Jew, so I couldn’t get further from Italian. But I guess I’ve been adopted into that family, too.

How close are you to your TV mom and dad?

Edie Falco is like a really cool friend. She’s so laid-back and nothing like her character, Carmela. Jim Gandolfini calls himself my second dad. And he’s very protective—probably more protective than my own father.

How so?

During the first season, I had my first on-screen kiss, and Jim came up to me after the scene and asked, “How was it? Did he use tongue?” He was kidding around, but I was, like, “Well, yeah, he did.” Jim got so mad. He was screaming, “He’s not supposed to do that!” Let’s just say that actor never came back.

So when Tony, er, Jim, sees this magazine, am I going to wake up next to a severed photographer’s head?

It’s possible! I don’t know what he’s going to do. But all the older guys on the show are like father figures. I was talking to Tony Sirico [Paulie Walnuts] about an ex-boyfriend who screwed me over, and he was, like, “I’ll fucking kick the shit out of him. I’ll find out where he lives—I’ll kill him!” He seemed serious. I have to be sorta careful around these guys.

Are potential boyfriends afraid to approach you now that you’re the daughter of a Mafia don?

I think they’re intimidated. The one thing I look for in a guy is confidence—if you want to talk to me, come up and talk. I’m more than willing. If you don’t know my name, that’s OK—just ask. But don’t come up and call me Meadow. You’ve already got one strike against you. And I want to hear about you, too.

Well, I’m a writer for a men’s magazine...

There you go. We’re off to a perfect start.

Before The Sopranos, you performed in dorky musicals Did friends give you a hard time?

They were cool about it. When I was in 10^th grade, I did Anything Goes, and the costume consisted of these little shorts and a halter top. We were performing for an elementary school, and all of a sudden my whole shirt fell down. I wasn’t wearing a bra, so basically I gave these kids their first shot of boobs. Of course, my friends were in the back, screaming, “Take it off!”

I assume that didn’t happen in your gig as Cinderella in a recent musical. Seems a far cry from The Sopranos.

It’s definitely a different atmosphere, but I grew up doing musicals like Grease and The Wizard of Oz. Some people wouldn’t want to see me in that kind of role. They like me as Meadow. But I’m not Meadow, either. I’m probably somewhere between the two characters. I don’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight, though—I’m a night owl.

How did you land the role of Meadow?

I was 16 and about to go away to summer camp like everyone else when my manager said, “Jamie, there’s this audition for something called Sopranos—maybe it’s about singing.” So I went in with such an attitude because I was sure I wasn’t going to get it anyway. I read a scene for [Sopranos creator] David Chase, and he said, “You played it with a little attitude there, didn’t you?” I was, like, “Ohhh, shit. I could play it different.” But they told me I got the part because I gave them attitude. The typical TV girl is cute, and that’s not Meadow. She’s the furthest thing from your average sweetheart.

Did you have any sense of what a phenomenon The Sopranos was going to become?

None of us did. After we wrapped the first season, David told us, “Well, it was nice meeting all you guys, but I don’t think this is going to go anywhere.” Even now, on the set, the success of the show is still really surreal to us.

How do you feel about the criticism the show has received for its violence?

Our show is really raw. I’ll admit it’s a little uncomfortable for me to watch sometimes, but this stuff happens. It’s not glamorizing the Mafia at all or saying that these people are wonderful. And we’re not saying that all Italians are like this.

All this fame hit just as you were finishing high school. Were you able to have a normal senior year experience?

I did. For spring break I went to the Bahamas for a week, just me and all my girlfriends, gambling and going out and meeting different guys every night. Thank God I didn’t have a boyfriend—that’s all I have to say.

Are you more careful now that you have a public image?

Well, now I have to be careful because the press is convinced I’m dating Jason Cerbone [the actor who, until recently, played Meadow’s love interest, Jackie Jr.]. You open up a newspaper, and page two says, “Is there going to be a world war?” And page three says, “Are Jamie and Jason dating?” Come on—how important is that?

So can we settle this once and for all?

We’re just good friends. He has a girlfriend, and she probably wants to kick my ass after all of this. The second season, Jason was on for one episode, in a little scene where Meadow and Jackie Jr. flirt with each other, and we both said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they had us dating next year?” Who knew I was going to turn into an Ecstasy-freak nymphomaniac, too?

Did you notice, as you started to read the scripts for the past season, that they were suddenly turning you into the show’s resident sex object?

I wasn’t uncomfortable with it, because that’s what really happens. Meadow is a freshman in college, she has her first boyfriend, her first sexual experience, he breaks up with her, and then she goes out with another guy. Once you lose your virginity, it’s not such a big deal anymore. Meadow’s not a whore—she’s just a teenager.

In one episode, Jackie Jr. described your body as “mad ripe.” Are you used to such flattery?

Yeah! I mean, I’m naturally curvy—I’ve got my mom’s Latin figure. I’m a spiritual girl; I have faith in God, and this is what God gave me. I have no problem showing it. I have no complaints, and I don’t hear any complaints from anybody else, either.

Have any genuine wise guys taken an interest in you?

I was friends at this Italian restaurant, and it was expensive because there were 15 of us. The manager says, “Someone wants to meet you.” So we went to this back corner to meet these two guys, and one of them says, “I want to tell you I really enjoy the show. And the bill is taken care of.” I was, like, “I appreciate it, but no.” The manager squeezes my arm, so I just said, “Thank you very much.” Later I was told he was a prominent Mafia figure. It was, like, his last supper before going to jail.

You’re releasing an album this fall. How are you going to muscle out Britney and Christina?

Well, I’m a brunette, so it’s totally different. [laughs] No, I’m not looking to compete—I just hope it does well and people like it. It’s real Latin, so it has more of a J. Low, funky R&B feel. It’s definitely something that makes you want to dance. It’d be nice to live the rock star life for a little while

You mean waking up in the morning surrounded by groupies and empty booze bottles?

No, more like do a concert, go out till 5 a.m., wake up at 2 p.m., and start over. And hang out in the tour bus. That’s cool.

So, about next season ... Who gets whacked?

You don’t understand. I can’t say a thing, not even to my family. We get a speech every time we get a script. We have to take an oath, like with the real Mafia. If I tell, you, I’ll lose a finger. M