‘Sopranos’ star opened up about body shaming experience
Jamie-Lynn Sigler has revealed the devastating psychological toll of being physically shamed over her years The sopranosHer brutal criticism of her appearance left her feeling “not good enough” to land a place in one of television’s most celebrated dramas.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actress, now 44, who played Meadow Soprano The sopranos from 1999 to 2007, spoke candidly about the pressures she faced as a young woman working on the groundbreaking HBO mafia series.
Appears on the “Not skinny but not fatIn a podcast with host Amanda Hirsch, Sigler described how cruel comments about her body and appearance contributed to deep insecurities and an eating disorder, later described in her memoir: And so it is… A memoir of acceptance and hope.
Sigler said, “Someone called me live on a radio show and told me they had a bet with their friends on how much weight I had gained between seasons.”
She continued, “It was definitely a bit brutal at the time. You felt enormous pressure.
“I was already coming into it and not looking like a Hollywood star and what the people I saw on the CW shows that I loved looked like. And it was really hard to have all that validated in my face.”
A source familiar with the production said the entertainment industry of the late 1990s and early 2000s was particularly ruthless toward young actresses who did not adhere to strict beauty standards.
The insider said: “There was an expectation that women on television always had to look impossibly polished. Jamie-Lynn was almost immediately put under a microscope because The sopranos became such a cultural phenomenon.”
Another source close to Sigler said the actress internalized many of the criticisms she encountered during the show’s early years.
They added: “She was incredibly young and suddenly had to deal with fame, public judgment and constant comparisons to other actresses. It had a profound effect on her self-confidence.”
Sigler also explained that many of the struggles she went through were faced in private because she didn’t know how to ask for support.
She said: “I think unfortunately for a lot of the things that I talk about and struggled with in the book, I experienced them all alone in my own head and in my own way.
“I just didn’t know how to ask for help. I didn’t know how to open up. You know, I think the eating disorder would have happened regardless of the show. I think it was just the time and my vulnerable mindset that led me to that space.”
The actress also recalled dramatically changing her appearance between the filming of the pilot episode and the rest of the first season, losing a significant amount of weight and undergoing cosmetic surgery.
According to Sigler, the transformation alarmed producers enough to spark discussions about whether she should remain on the show.
She said, “I’m 40 pounds lighter and have a completely different face.”
Sigler revealed that producers contacted her mother over concerns about her changing appearance, leaving her terrified she would lose the role that launched her career.
She said: “I knew they confronted her about my height and my face and I was convinced I was going to get fired. And rightly so, they toyed with that idea.”
The actress said the experience permanently shaped the way she saw herself during production of the critically acclaimed series.
Sigler said, “I don’t know why the decision was made to keep me. I’m obviously grateful that they did, but that unfortunately set the tone for me for the rest of the taping of that show that I felt so less than. I felt like such a burden, I felt like such a problem, I felt so undeserving and so not good enough to be on that show.”
