What's Up, Jamie-Lynn Sigler? The Love, Loss Star Talks Sopranos and Style

TV audiences know Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Jersey mafia princess Meadow Soprano from HBO's groundbreaking series The Sopranos. In the years since Tony and family called it quits, Sigler has made a name for herself by playing well, herself, during an extended run on Entourage and has appeared on Ugly Betty and in some hilarious Jersey-themed viral videos. The Sopranos sweetheart made her Broadway debut in 2002 as Belle in Beauty in the Beast, and now she’s back to being beautiful onstage as a September cast member in off-Broadway hit Love, Loss and What I Wore. Sigler chatted with Broadway.com about growing up in one of TV's most famous households, returning to the stage and her own fashion musts.

It’s been several years since you’ve been on the New York stage. How’s the show going?
It’s so much fun. I knew I missed the stage, but being back makes me realize that so much more. I definitely have the bug again. Plus, I’m surrounded by amazing women. I’ve known them for about a week and half and they all feel like lifelong friends.

One of your castmates is What Not to Wear stylist Stacy London. Is she helping everyone with fashion choices?
Stacy is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met in my life. That being said, I’m very conscious of what I wear to the theater every day [laughs]. I’m usually someone who comes in my sweatpants and doesn’t care, but now I just want to look good for Stacy! She’s helped all of us out. She’s shopped with Nancy [Giles] already and is taking me this weekend.

You started on The Sopranos as a teenager. With your formative years recorded on TV, do you ever watch old episodes to see how you looked?
I was with a bunch of friends recently and we were flipping channels and saw clips from the first season and I’m such a baby [laughs]. I still feel like I’m so young, so I’m glad I haven’t lost that spirit for my work. I went through phases of odd hairstyles and tank top-over-tee outfits and stuff like that. The trendy type of fashion that everybody looks back and wonders, ‘Well how did I wear that?’…it’s all documented for me to see!

There’s a great scene in Love, Loss and What I Wore about New Yorkers’ affinity for wearing black. You must be used to that from all those Sopranos funerals.
Every year when we would have our costume fittings, there would be a funeral rack. Even though they didn’t have all the scripts for the entire year, it was known that there’d be a few funerals to attend. Black is a go-to. It’s classic and sexy, but Stacy tells me all the time I’m young and have to wear some color.

In Beauty in the Beast, you played a Disney princess. Did all that flashy dress-up match your personality?
That’s still one of the highlights of my life. I’m not that girl-y and princess-y, although wearing those dresses was awesome, but just to be on Broadway was genuinely my one dream. Every single night, at the moment where she’s revealed in the yellow dress and there’s that heavy spotlight, I would get chills because I couldn’t believe where I was.

Can you share a personal clothing-related memory?
I had this short skirt I used to wear when I was about 16, but I could never wear it in front of my dad. I was going out with a bunch of friends, and my dad and I had a stand-off at the door because he would not let me out of the house wearing the skirt! So I went and changed, and then my mom met me in the garage and helped me get back into the skirt before I left. My dad didn’t find out until a couple years later, but he will never let me forget that story.

What’s your one fashion must-have?
I’m a boots girl. The most I’ve ever spent on clothing is a pair of Ralph Lauren boots that go over the knee but can also fold down. I was freaking out when I bought them because I thought it was so inappropriate to spend that much money on clothing, but they have been with me many years and are in amazing shape. They go with everything.

What’s next for you after Love, Loss and What I Wore?
I’m about to shoot a pilot for Lifetime with Sherry Stringfield where we play sort of a modern-day Cagney & Lacey. We’re detective partners, and as much as it has a procedural element, you see these women at home, following their personal lives, just as much. I’m so excited.

Do you think you’ll ever come back to Broadway?
100% yes! If they’ll have me, I’ll be there!