Sarah Shahi Wondered How She’d Get Turned on by a “47-Year-Old Large Balding Man” on the Sopranos. “Oh Boy Did It Work For Me.”
Sarah Shahi calls her kiss with James Gandolfini one of the best she’s ever had. She was not expecting that going in.
Shahi was early in her career in 2007 when she landed a guest role on The Sopranos. She played Sonya, a Las Vegas woman Tony Soprano connects with during a drug-fueled spiral after Christopher’s death. The scene had her sitting on his lap, taking prop hallucinogens, and kissing.
On The Bossticks podcast this month, she said she walked in skeptical. “I remember thinking to myself, like how am I going to get turned on by this 47-year-old large balding man? Like, there’s nothing. How is this going to work for me? But oh boy did it work for me.”
“There’s a scene where I’m sitting on his lap and we’re taking these mushrooms and then we have to kiss and when they called ‘cut,’ we were still kissing. We did it three, four times, and every time, they would call ‘cut’ and we’re still making out.”
“Yeah, I did a sex scene with Tony Soprano. One of the best, I have to say, kisses I’ve ever had.”
The gifts set the tone before they ever shared a scene. Gandolfini missed the first day of shooting and sent a dozen roses with a note: “Sorry about today. Don’t be nervous because I suck. Love, the fat man.” Shahi joked back that to match his energy he should send Jimmy Choos, size seven. A box of size-7 Jimmy Choos turned up at her hotel.
“He’s incredible. He was incredible. He was a very troubled man, but the crew loved him.”
James Gandolfini played Tony Soprano for six seasons. He died in June 2013 of a heart attack while traveling in Italy. He was 51.
Thank you for reading Thought Catalog. You can follow us on Facebook here. Or check out our website.
