Born in Brooklyn, New York, into an artistic family of actors, playwrights, and musicians, Edie Falco didn't fight the familial urge to express herself. She made her film debut in 1987 in the movie Sweet Lorraine, followed by brief TV roles in Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street. Tom Fontana, executive producer of Homicide, was so impressed with Falco that he cast her in his gritty 1997 HBO prison drama, Oz. In 1999, the actress caught the eye of David Chase, who cast her in The Sopranos, which, thanks in part to Falco, is considered one of the greatest TV series of all time.
For her dynamic portrayal of mobster Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) wife, Carmela, Falco was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, winning three. The accolades didn't end there; Falco won five SAG Awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe for every season of The Sopranos, winning twice. Few characters were willing to stand tall when confronted by Tony's towering presence, but Falco imbued Carmela with unrivaled grit and determination. There's a reason the show is called The Sopranos, plural: here are ten examples of Carmela's excellence.
The Sopranos
TV-MADramaCrime Where to Watch*Availability in US
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Release Date January 10, 1999 Creator David Chase Cast James Gandolfini , Edie Falco , Jamie-Lynn Sigler , Lorraine Bracco , Michael Imperioli , Steve Van Zandt , Tony Sirico , Steve Schirripa Main Genre Drama Seasons 6 Studio HBO Expand 10 "Kennedy and Heidi"
Season 6, Episode 6
Audiences tune into an episode that begins innocently enough with asbestos and trash route turf wars but dovetails into various drug use, random acts of violence, and shocking deaths. Tony re-negotiates Phil Leotardo's (Frank Vincent) sanitation arrangement with Christopher's (Michael Imperioli) disdain, and Tony realizes Christopher has relapsed. Meanwhile, Tony's son, AJ's (Robert Iler) new "friends," are revealed to be sadistic bullies who beat and torture defenseless people for fun. Tony decides to let Christopher go, then absconds to Vegas for gambling and (hypocritical) experimental drug use.
"Kennedy and Heidi" isn't a Carmela-centric episode. She's barely in it. Yet, what Falco can achieve with mere seconds of screen time makes her an incredible performer. The episode shocked Sopranos fans worldwide with the death of Christopher, Tony's beloved philosophical nephew, who yearned for notoriety. Aside from his death, one of the most memorable moments belongs to Carmela. Tony calls his wife with the late-night news, and her master-class-level reaction, executed with genuine, heart-sick incredulity, echoes the audience's emotion. Falco proves there are no small parts when you're a giant in your craft.
9 "The Test Dream"
Season 5, Episode 11
Tony's cousin, the loose cannon Tony B. (Steve Buscemi), ignites an inevitable fuse that Tony will have to snuff out in one of the wildest Sopranos episodes in the series. Chase's take on the familiar human phenomenon of dreams depicting unpreparedness plays out with absurdist humor in "The Test Dream." Annette Bening guest stars (as herself), numerous ghosts come back to life, and Tony rides his horse, Pie O My, into his living room.
Tony and Carmela are still separated, but that doesn't sideline the character everyone loves to hate. In an episode that divided fans, Falco had an opportunity to utilize her comedic prowess while offering further evidence of how much power Carmela has. Tony is depicted as a frightened, childlike man, bewildered but willfully ignorant of the dilemma unfolding just outside his dream. Falco delivers hilarious deadpan statements alongside Bening, adding texture to the eerie dream sequence. She's available to Tony when he finally wakes from the harrowing experience, in a move that could be read as caring but also strategic. Say, Tony, who is the boss?
8 "Amour Fou"
Season 3, Episode 12
While visiting a museum with Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), Carmela is emotionally overcome by a Renaissance painting depicting a cherub-like baby, puzzling her daughter. Meanwhile, Tony's volatile relationship with Gloria Trillo (Annabella Sciorra) escalates in a myriad of unexpected ways, bringing their time together to an end. Carmela inadvertently takes a drive with Gloria and later finds herself weeping while watching a pet food commercial. After dodging a medical bullet, Carmela's lunch friends encourage her to play the mob wife long game, sparking a new interest in real estate.
"Amour Fou" garnered Sciorra a (well-deserved) Primetime Emmy nomination and Gandolfini a win, but they weren't the only ones celebrating. Carmela's emotional journey through the episode reminds audiences why Falco's Soprano-era trophy shelf holds the most acting awards on the show. While Tony and his girlfriend spin out, Carmela quietly navigates a loss of emotional control in her body but gains mental clarity in the end. While she didn't exactly look within (she wasn't willing to sacrifice the spoils of Tony's crimes), she did look to the future, which is more than anyone can say about her husband. Tony might be flying the plane, but Carmela has the parachutes. Bada Bing!
7 "Marco Polo"
Season 5, Episode 8
Carmela is throwing a surprise party for her father's 75th birthday, and due to a marital pause, she asks Tony not to participate in the festivities. However, Carmela's father doesn't want to party without his son-in-law, so Tony's invitation is reinstated post-haste. Tony's cousin, Tony B. (Buscemi), means to impose by leaving his twin boys with an overextended Carmela while the capable (estranged) mob wife curates a party despite insuperable odds. In the end, Tony disarms Carmela with his BBQ sausage link repertoire, a generous gift, and a playful toss into the pool.
At the end of a long day of party prep, Carmela couldn't help but give in to the indulgent ease of family bonding. Though Tony and Carmela had given little evidence to suggest a reunion, in "Marco Polo," the pair jumped into the pool and bed with both feet. The episode illustrates the scope of what Carmela is willing to do for those she loves and offers a rare moment of appreciation for Tony's contribution. The adoring daughter never stops working to make her father's 75th birthday a success, without help from her children and despite other people's children underfoot. Throughout the episode, Carmela manages to maneuver her temperamental husband in ways that people in his orbit wouldn't dare. The range of emotions, from anxiety to frustration, anger, and ultimately peace, filtered through Falco in this episode should be studied in acting school: well-done meats and acting feats.
6 "Proshai Livushka"
Season 3, Episode 2
Ding-dong, Livia's (Nancy Marchand) dead. Tony's emotional trauma root source, the woman martyred in perpetuity, has uttered her last negative word. The matriarch, who had an insult ready for anyone who dared enter her space, didn't want a funeral, but Tony's sister Janice (Aida Turturro) had other plans. Tony processes the "loss" with Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), while Janice earnestly begins her inheritance scavenger hunt. As mourners fill the Soprano home, their non-verbal "final respects" are deafening. RIP to Marchand, who passed away off-screen.
Tony Soprano isn't an innocent man. Dr. Melfi ultimately diagnoses him as having a narcissistic personality. Yet, Gandolfini succeeds in evoking empathy for one of the best anti-heroes on TV. With a mother like Livia Soprano, audiences easily take the side of a murdering mobster over a frail, older woman. Thankfully, Carmela interrupts a smattering of posthumous platitudes by exclaiming, "This is such a crock of s***!" Having held her tongue during her relationship with Tony, Carmela was over it. In another demonstration of her authority, Carmela reveals her rank, seated on an equidistant boss's throne. She said what everyone else thought without apology and lived to serve dessert.
5 "College"
Season 1, Episode 5
Tony and Meadow hit the road on a father-daughter bonding excursion to tour potential colleges in Maine. Ever the opportunist, Tony decides to conduct some "business" while traveling, and Carmela and her Catholic priest friend/crush, Father Phil (Paul Schulze), have a eucharist-infused sleepover. When Tony returns home to discover Father Phil overstayed his welcome, he is incensed, but Carmela flips the script by catching her husband in a lie.
Carmela fluctuates between promising romantic vibes from Father Phil and heartbreak after learning she was simply a means to an end via baked goods and services. "College" has been widely praised and is often included in prominent lists featuring TV's most excellent episodes. Unsurprisingly, Falco secured a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on the episode. Carmela is a complex creature with wells of empathy and reserves of vengeful receipts. She knows Tony will air his Father Phil grievances and waits to counter pounce with a Dr. Melfi morsel he never saw coming. Tony should take Carmela to Vegas with that poker face.
4 "Full Leather Jacket"
Season 2, Episode 8
Meadow wants to leave the Soprano nest and attend classes at Berkeley, but mom and dad aren't ready (or willing) for their baby to travel so far away. While Tony and Carmela agree on their daughter's collegiate future, Carmela takes matters into her own hands. After disposing of Meadow's acceptance letter to her preferred school, Carmela decides that Georgetown would be suitable. Soprano's neighbor, Jean Cusamano (Saundra Santiago), is approached with an offer she and her Georgetown alum sister Joan (also Santiago) can't refuse.
Carmela doesn't flex her mob muscle often, but when she does, viewers remember the animal prints she selects to showcase them. She's continually demonstrated the lengths she is prepared to go in her family's name, and in "Full Leather Jacket," she pops her collar. Tony's wife has taken notes over the years, but her approach is more insidious; Carmela does offer a "Rigot pie with pineapples" for Joan's trouble. In truth, the offered dish was a stand-in for a loaded weapon. A glowing endorsement to Georgetown and a returned, clean casserole dish later, Carmela loses no sleep over her actions. Audiences have grown accustomed to what the Soprano name affords its members, but Carmela's statement, "I want you to write that letter," threw her ordinarily subtle manipulation out the window. Was there anything else in that pie?
3 "Join the Club"
Season 6, Episode 2
In the previous episode, "Members Only," Tony is cooking for his Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) when Junior mistakes his nephew for an intruder and shoots him in the chest. "Join the Club" opens with Tony in a coma while his family and crew wait in the hospital with the weight of a poor prognosis in the air. Carmela uses the time alone with her husband to declare her love and apologize for statements she'd made in the past about him "going to hell." The episode alternates between Tony's dream state and the grave hospital environment. Visitors react with shock and horror at the sight of Tony while Carmela soldiers on.
"Join the Club" is one of the most celebrated episodes in the series. In a massive oversight by the Emmy Voting Committee, Falco did not receive a nomination, pass go, or collect one hundred dollars. Egregious award omissions aside, and with high praise to everyone involved, Falco was the distraught bedside star of the show. For all of their acrimony, Carmela didn't want her husband to die. In the couple's private ICU quarters, Carmela delivered raw, rarely spoken words to a man who could've realistically been killed every time he left the house since they'd first met. Gandolfini is also excellent in an equally intense and existential episode. Viewers walk away, thankful they have signed up for a Sopranos membership.
2 "Second Opinion"
Season 3, Episode 7
Tony's temperamental behavior sends Carmela to Dr. Melfi's office for counsel, who, in turn, refers Carmela to a therapist of her own. The dean of Columbia University (where their daughter Meadow is studying) solicits a fifty thousand dollar donation from the Soprano family, but Tony refuses a dollar amount surpassing fifteen thousand. After securing an appointment with her therapist, Carmela is accosted by Tony, who complains about the pulp level in his orange juice. Carmela launches the large, circa '90s cordless phone at him in response. Later, the psychiatrist refuses Carmela's blood money payment and offers hard truths instead of empathy.
This isn't the first time Carmela has sought advice regarding her husband, but it is the first time someone has responded directly. The therapist tells Carmela she is an accomplice and an enabler—two honest descriptors she wasn't ready to absorb. In an Emmy-winning performance, Falco's emotional voyage in "Second Opinion" is spectacular as she guides Carmela through awakening and reckoning. When she ultimately shuts down and curls up on the sofa, Tony understands that his wife is more than a cog in the Soprano hierarchy; she's the oscillator, maintaining function. Though she dropped the mic and left her business card, audiences weren't prepared for Falco's tour-de-force masterclass in "Whitecaps."
1 "Whitecaps"
Season 4, Episode 13
Tony takes his family to look at a house he's considering buying nestled on the Jersey Shore in the fan-favorite, critically acclaimed episode "Whitecaps." Initially, Carmela is perplexed and against the second home, but after some real estate research, she welcomes the idea. However, before they can sign on the dotted line, Carmela receives a call from Tony's former concubine, Irina. After years of looking the other way and turning to supplemental compensation for Tony's many affairs, Carmela's last threadbare straw disintegrates.
Largely considered one of, if not the best, episodes in series history, "Whitecaps" is a doozy. Tony and Carmela face off multiple times in heated, tearful explosions that nearly end in violence. Gandolfini and Falco were awarded their third Primetime Emmy Award for their work on the show. Additionally, Falco took home a Golden Globe Award and a SAG Award and was the first female winner of the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama. What Falco accomplished with her fearless portrayal of Carmela Soprano isn't celebrated enough. The actor worked tirelessly to ensure Chase's vision for the character was fully realized, and she would do it again. Carmela was a force. A profoundly flawed force—but an impressive depiction of a complicated woman on the verge. Salute!
ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kwLC80ZqlqKtdmK6zucSlmGadoJ7AsLDErGSrmZ6gsqV7