Edie Falco on Why Her ‘I’ll Be Right There’ Character Is Way More Relatable Than Carmela Soprano
When it comes to being a mom in her real life, Edie Falco feels much more salt of the earth than mob wife.
“I think [my Sopranos character] Carmela's parenting, you know, is contingent upon [certain things],” Falco, 61, exclusively told Us Weekly while discussing her upcoming family comedy, I’ll Be Right There. “She always knew that her husband, [Tony], would provide the backbone, the security, the money and all that. Wanda feels more like me, where if you're a single mom — she's not a single mom, but [her ex has] his own family now — it’s different.”
Falco noted that there’s added pressure to a parent raising their kids solo, as “decisions that have to be made” and the “finances” fall on them alone. “It’s a much larger responsibility,” she said. “So it feels very different.”
Directed by Brendon Walsh with a script by Jim Beggarly, I’ll Be Right There tells the hilarious and heartwarming story of Wanda, a woman finding her place now that her kids are grown, the divorce papers are signed and a new chapter of life is beginning. While Wanda still has her hands full with her sick mother (Jeannie Berlin), 8-months-pregnant daughter, Sarah (Kayli Carter), and wayward son, Mark (Charlie Tahan), she’s also trying to figure out what life is like when she’s putting herself first.
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“The writing felt like real dialogue,” Falco told Us of taking on the role. “That's something I always respond to. ‘Does this sound like people? The way people talk?’ And it was about people and the stuff they go through, which is kind of what life is.”
While much of the film focuses on Wanda learning to fill space away from her loved ones, Falco told Us that some of her favorite moments shooting the film were with Carter and Berlin.
“Those are two extraordinary actresses where I don't feel like they were trying to prove themselves. That helps you be better when you've got a little bit of confidence in your back pocket knowing that you're good at this. And I felt that with both of these women,” she said. “So it was really just the best of all possible scenarios where you're just having fun. It was easy and fun, always.”
Some of the most poignant moments in the film come when the three women are together, opting to take a breather from reality by enjoying a late night ice cream run. Falco said that while there was no improv happening in the scenes, the trio were able to pick up on each other’s “cues” and deliver something fresh every take.
“Each time we would run it, it would be a little bit different, but holding the main thing intact,” she explained, noting that landing the moment can’t be “hard” on small projects because there isn’t a lot of “time” to get it right.
“You do the best you can given what you have,” she added.
As for bringing Wanda to life, Falco said that there were aspects she pulled from her own life — she’s mom to teenagers Anderson and Maci — even without actually realizing that’s what she was doing.
“I never know how that works, but I'll hear myself do a line and I'm like, ‘I said that to my son like yesterday,’” she quipped. “You don't do it on purpose, but it becomes a part of your parenting.”
Falco thinks there also may be elements she draws from her own past, as she played mom of two and mob wife Carmela of The Sopranos for years before welcoming her own kids. “You do wonder if a lot of this stuff is things you've heard from your own parents or other parents,” she added.
While Falco is widely known for her time on the HBO hit, it’s far from her only notable role. She starred as Jackie Peyton on the beloved drama Nurse Jackie from 2009 to 2015 — a series with an upcoming reboot in the works with Falco set to return — as well as countless other network TV appearances, all of which earned her a combined four Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and five Screen Actors Guild Awards.
In 2011, she earned her first Tony Award nomination for her role in The House of Blue Leaves.
When asked if at this point in her career she’d like to try out different aspects of the industry — directing or writing, perhaps — Falco told Us that performing continues to be her first and only love, whether it be on screen or stage.
“A lot of people are like, ‘I’d like to direct.’ I got none of that,” she said. “I just want to do more of the same. Different, but more of the same. I don't have anything in particular, but I feel like, all of a sudden, a script feels almost magical. Like, a script will come to me, I'll be like, ‘Oh, my God, I never would've thought of that. What a great idea.’ That's what I wanna do next. It's out there and I've been lucky enough that it has flown past my eyes always just at the right time.”
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While Falco is excited to get back in front of the camera for Nurse Jackie — “I’m just excited to see family again,” she told Us of the upcoming return — she’s also still basking in the post-curtain call glow of Pre-Existing Condition, an Off-Broadway play she recently wrapped in the East Village, a true return to her roots.
“I feel like I'm floating. It’s how it first started, you know, doing little teeny theater performances in little spaces,” she recalled, noting that she initially “wasn’t sure” how she’d feeling getting back on stage. “That's where the love [of acting] started. And as it turns out, it's where the love still is.”
“The fact that I get to jump around and do all different things,” she continued, “I seem to need all of them at different times. So I've been truly blessed with the shape of things.”
While Falco may relate to I’ll Be Right There when it comes to motherhood, she definitely possesses a perspective Wanda is sorely lacking. When asked to give advice to those trying to overcome personal hardships in life, Falco — intentionally or not — shared wise words her character could use in spades.
“Everything changes. What you're in right now may seem difficult, but you just got to know that it will pass. ‘Cause it all passes, including the good stuff,” Falco told Us. “Do your best to just accept what's in front of you and say, ‘All right, show me what I gotta do. Put me in the right direction and tell me where I gotta go and what I have to say to whom.’ Fighting it never goes anywhere good.”
I’ll Be Right There is now playing in select theaters and on demand.
