Edie Falco Dishes On Carmela Soprano, Life During Visit To John Jay

CROSS RIVER, NY — John Jay seniors studying the craft of an unfolding story were treated to a special insider's take on how those tales get told.

From the Katonah-Lewisboro School District.

One of the most iconic cast members on one of the most highly acclaimed television series of all time, "The Sopranos," walked down the aisle of John Jay High School's auditorium, stepped up on a chair and sat on the edge of the stage.

Wearing jeans and a sweater, Edie Falco looked way more casual than her character ever did, but her voice was immediately recognizable. Carmela Soprano.

"I grew up on Long Island, in a Swedish/Italian-American household," said Falco, now a resident of Pound Ridge. "I knew exactly who this woman was," she said, referring to Carmela, the wife of crime boss Tony Soprano. "It’s not a mafia series. It’s about a family."

The auditorium was filled with more than 100 seniors enrolled in the elective Social and Theoretical Criticism in the Serial Narrative—known as the "Series" — taught by Chandler Lewis and Amanda Adamo.

"The Sopranos" is one of the series that the class studies closely. Last year, actor Vincent Pastore, who plays Salvatore Bonpensiero, came to speak to the students.

The students' excitement for Falco’s March 19 visit was palpable in their silence as she spoke, and their exuberance for taking selfies with her afterwards.

For ninety minutes, students asked Falco about her life and her career. She responded as an award-winning actor, and as a mom.

Falco told the students that she was introduced to acting through her mom, who did community theater. "It seemed so fun," she said. "But my mom had a job!" She overcame her natural shyness to audition for her high school’s plays and musicals and discovered that she loved being on stage.

"There’s nothing as much fun as the school show," she said. Many of the students who had just finished working on John Jay’s spring musical, "Legally Blonde," nodded. "To this day, there’s little as exciting as that part of life."

She went to SUNY Purchase because it was affordable. "That’s how the whole thing happened," she said. Her voice teacher told her that she knew how to act. "Go out there and do it."

Falco told the students the thru line in her life has been acting.

"I almost didn’t audition for 'The Sopranos,'" she said. "I had a job—I was in 'Oz.' I thought it was about singers. I could have so easily missed it. Only long after shooting it did we realize it was going to be big. The way things unfold in life has been magical."

One student asked Falco if she feels what her character is feeling.

"You absolutely do," she said. "I’m not truly the other person but I’m not myself. Acting is lending your body and being to that character for a while."

In response to a question regarding how she defines success, Falco mentioned her son who’s about to graduate from high school and a daughter who’s in tenth grade. "I turn a lot of stuff down because I moved up here," she said. "As you get older your perspective changes."

Lewis asked the last question. "You’re speaking to a room full of kids about to graduate. What do you tell your 17-year-old self?"

"Stop worrying," said Falco. "It will work out."