Lorraine Bracco savors the bonds of food and family
Dr. Melfi was all about the shrink’s chair. At age 70, it’s all about the table.
“I love to cook. I have two girls and I have grandchildren now,” Lorraine Bracco says. “We’ve gone through a lot like every family has in life. But one of the things that always helps people is to just sit at the table and have a meal with your loved ones.
“A lot of really important conversations, decisions and advice happen when you’re passing the meatballs,” the “Sopranos” star adds. “Food and family — two of the greatest things in life.”
Bracco is returning to her Italian roots in her new Netflix film, debuting Friday.
In “Nonnas,” set in New York City and based on a true story, Vince Vaughn stars as Joe Scaravella, who opens his own Italian restaurant after his mom passes away. He hires Italian grandmothers — nonnas — to be the chefs and asks them to cook the dishes that have been passed down in their families over the generations.
The film also stars Susan Sarandon, Joe Manganiello, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro and Linda Cardellini.
“It was a lot of amazing women working together and being together, which made it feel really special,” says Bracco, who starred in the Martin Scorsese classic “GoodFellas” and portrayed mob boss Tony Soprano’s psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi.
Bracco, a Brooklyn native who grew up with an Italian American father and a British mother, shares her good life tips:
What’s next?
“This film is about older women finding their second act. Life doesn’t end at a certain age. There are still days to be celebrated, empowered and loved,” she says of “Nonnas.” “The theme is that you can find your joy and purpose at any age.”
Soothing memories
Bracco says her fondest memories aren’t always of the food that was on the table. “You know, I had an English mother who was a war bride,” she shares. “Tea was her favorite food, and it’s still one of my favorite things in life. Hot tea takes me all the way back. It’s wonderful to find what soothes you.”
Set the scene
“I can cook, but on the set, we had chefs preparing the most wonderful food,” Bracco says. “Brenda Vaccaro would walk by nibbling on something and I’d say, ‘Stop eating everything!’ She would say, ‘Did you taste this bruschetta?’ All of us women were eating these entire plates of food we needed for scenes. Why deny yourself?”
Tell your story
In 2006, Bracco published a memoir called “On the Couch,” a candid look at living on her own terms. “It’s tough to write your life story, but wonderful,” she says. “You might want to take out some paper and jot down a few of your favorite stories as notes. Once you start writing, all of these things come up in the middle of the night. I’d rush to write them down.” A few years later and she had her book.
Heart of the role
One of Bracco’s most famous roles was her Academy Award-nominated performance as Karen Hill in “Goodfellas.” Prepping for the role was a bit different. “Usually, an actor tries to find people who had the job — if you play a banker, you go to a bank. There weren’t a lot of Mafia wives that were interested in talking to me. That was the hardest thing,” she shares. “I really had to work off the books to find the heart of Karen Hill.”
Of working with the late Ray Liotta, who played her gangster husband, Henry Hill, she says, “We just talked and talked after Marty cast us. It was easy to play a screen couple with him. He was so wonderful.”
Too good to refuse
Bracco wasn’t in the market for another mob project when “The Sopranos” came along. “I was offered every Mafia girl, wife, mistress and daughter available after ‘Goodfellas.’ I said, ‘No, can’t do it better than ‘Goodfellas.’ But I read ‘Sopranos’ and was really surprised at how good it was.”
She didn’t want to play Tony’s put-upon wife, Carmela. “I said, ‘I want Dr. Melfi.’ I loved how she had this intimate relationship with Tony that grew over time,” she shares. “I wasn’t sure if the audience would want to watch two people sitting in chairs talking to each other. But I realized it was big when people in the street started calling out to me, ‘Hey, Doc!’ ”
Get healthy
Bracco says losing her parents, who died nine days apart in 2011, had a huge impact on her. “Watching them suffer was really hard. He had water in his lungs; she had emphysema. I swore that I didn’t want to die unhealthy,” she says.
Her tips? “You should go to the doctor and work on your healthy living. It’s important to watch what you eat. I try to eat food that nourishes me instead of what just tastes good. … It doesn’t take long to change your eating habits. Give it two weeks in the name of healthy. At the end of two weeks of getting rid of extra sugar and unhealthy foods, you won’t want to go back.”
Not forgotten
She still misses her late friend and “Sopranos” co-star James Gandolfini. “I’ll always see him as this gentle, generous man filled with so much love and that big cheeky grin sitting in that small chair, squeezing himself into it, in Dr. Melfi’s office,” she says.
How’s it end?
One wonders how Bracco interprets the much-talked-about, fade-to-black ending of “The Sopranos.” Many people surmise Tony was “whacked,” but not Bracco. “I think he lives,” she says. “They had a nice meal and some ice cream. In my mind, they’re home and they’re fine!”
