Lorraine Bracco Almost Played Carmela on 'The Sopranos'

Bracco could've been a mob wife, again.

Apr 06, 2015
Not Available Lead
Image via Complex Original
Not Available Lead
Image via Complex Original

Once upon a time, legendary mob cornerstones The Sopranos and Goodfellas almost shared a star: Ray Liotta, but Liotta passed on the role of Tony Soprano, which would go to James Gandolifini. It turns out these two would've had more in common as Lorraine Bracco, who famously played mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas, reveals Sopranos creator David Chase didn’t ask her to play Tony Soprano’s therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi. Chase actually approached her to play Soprano’s wife, Carmela. 

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Bracco said, “I fell in love with David [Chase] the minute I met him, when I walked into the room. I said, ‘I like this guy.’ And I said, ‘Look, I don't think I should play Carmela because I did it, I did it in a Scorsese movie, I got an Oscar nomination. I really don't think I'm going to bring so much to this for you that I haven't done already.’ I said, ‘But I really love this script, and I want to play Mefli.'

Chase took the bait, Edie Falco ended up landing the part of Carmela, and the rest is history. 

[via HuffPost Live]

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