Jamie Lynn Sigler talks about 'Sopranos,' Mariah Carey, more

Jamie Lynn Sigler doesn't believe in the saying "You can never go home again."

The Jericho native, who gained fame as Meadow, the rebellious daughter of mob leader Tony Soprano on HBO's award-winning drama series "The Sopranos" (1999-2007), is heading home to Long Island for the launch of her book tour. She'll be interviewed by her TV sibling, Robert Iler, about her newest book "And So It Is ...," on May 3 at Gold Coast Cinema at LIU Post in Brookville, an event being presented by Theodore's Books in Oyster Bay.

Throughout the pages of the book, which comes out May 5, Sigler gets candid about the many challenges she's faced, including an eating disorder; a troubled first marriage to her former manager, A.J. Discala; being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; and her son Beau's hospitalization and treatment for acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in 2024, a rare autoimmune disorder causing brain and spinal cord inflammation. 

Sigler, 44, who now lives in Austin, Texas, with her second husband, former baseball player Cutter Dykstra and their two sons, recently spoke by phone with Newsday's Daniel Bubbeo.

Are you excited about coming back to Long Island?

Yes, it’s very fitting that my first stop is on Long Island, where I’m from, my home, where my journey of life and show business and all of that began. It feels just right.

It was fun reading about the local theater groups you performed with when you were younger. Do you imagine that had you not grown up on Long Island and not had such access to theater and the arts that you would have pursued your career?

I don’t really know. I don’t think many people realize how rich Long Island is with the arts and with opportunities to explore it, especially as a kid, and it really shaped me and made me fall in love with performing. ... I’ve been around a lot of really talented people, and I will say, some of the people that I did Long Island theater with are some of the most talented people I’ve ever known.

When you first heard about "The Sopranos," you write that you weren't that excited about auditioning for it, not to mention you thought it was about opera singers.

Correct. When there’s not much context being given and it has a title like that, you’re left to your own ideas.

Was it your idea to have Robert Iler interview you?

It was. He has been in my life longer than anyone else other than people in my family. He also knows so much of everything I was going through and experienced it. He also is the person other than my husband and children that disarms me the most. So when I was thinking that I want to be candid and honest and vulnerable, he was the safest person for me to have to talk about my book.

What was the most difficult thing for your to write about in the book?

The hardest thing to write about and relive was the hospitalization of my son because it was very fresh. I was in the middle of writing the book when he got sick. It was imperative and important for me to write about what was happening with him even though my editor said no one should relive or revisit trauma for at least seven years.

I hope he's doing better now?

He is, thank you so much for asking.

You quote your first husband saying “I want us to be JFK Jr. and Carolyn. I want us to be on Page Six all the time." Did you every say to yourself after hearing that, "Maybe this is not the right person for me?"

I was so young and naive. I think he meant it with true love and hope, meaning you're doing everything in your career and doing things at the highest level. That’s how I took it. But I think when you zoom out and look at it, you see how unhealthy and how inappropriate that was to say. But I don't think he had meant it to be manipulative.

You write about the shocking moment after an argument with him when you actually took a sharp implement and intentionally cut yourself. That had to be a difficult moment to relive.

I actually hadn’t really thought about that moment or even remembered it until I was looking back on that time and writing about it. It was like a memory that came flooding back, one that I had tried to bury for some time. ... It was important in that I needed to show where things were coming to a head and how much pain I was in. It was a cry for help.

On a lighter night, I loved the section where you talk about playing Mariah Carey's mother in her music video for "Through the Rain." Why did she choose you?

She was a huge fan of "The Sopranos." And the gentleman I played opposite was on "The Wire," so I guess she liked HBO shows.

Was it also the Long Island connection you had?

I think that was just the cherry on top. She was magical and beautiful and appreciative of me to do it. She was as lovely as it gets.

You played Belle in "Beauty and the Beast." Do you ever think about coming back to Broadway?

All the time, I just don’t know if I physically could. It’s not about stamina, it’s not about energy, it's just the physicality of it all. I just don’t know if there’s a role for me in a show that I could physically do. I’ve made peace with that. Maybe a play. Who knows? If I’ve learned anything in life it’s expected the unexpected and never say never.