EDIE FALCO GOES FROM
THE MOB TO MEDICINE
URSE
Jackie is a drug addict. She cheats on her husband, swapping sex
with the pharmacist for drugs. And yet despite her blatant
philandering you still like her.
She is a good mother and a dedicated nurse
even though she’s slightly deranged and cons her hardworking husband
Kevin (Dominic Fumusa).
Did I mention her life is collapsing
around her?
And as played by Edie Falco, 47, a
native of Long Island, N.Y.— married to the mob for years on HBO as
Tony Soprano’s main squeeze and long suffering wife Carmela—she is a
pretty riveting character. And quite addictive.
Nurse Jackie, the Showtime series, is
back on the air for a second season. And rightly so.
It’s an intriguing drama with dark comedic
overtones—something that obviously appeals to the cable crowd weaned
on such shows as Six Feet Under and Dexter.
What makes the show work so well is the
fact that Falco is surrounded by a powerful cast: Merritt Wever
is Jackie’s simple but loveable nurse-aide sidekick Zoey; Anna
Deveare Smith, the hospital’s eccentric boss Gloria; British
actress Eve Best is the even more eccentric Dr. Eleanor
O’Hara, Jackie’s best friend; Peter Facinelli is the vain
hospital physician Dr. Fitch Cooper, and Paul Schulze is the
pharmacist happy to barter drugs for a roll in the hay with Jackie.
The show is not quite your typical medical
drama.
Falco, 47, who hails from Long Island, has
already picked up Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations
for playing this complex lady who struts her stuff at All Saints
Hospital in New York.
Falco—surrounded by her producers and
co-stars age showed up the other day at the Langham Hotel in
Pasadena, to talk about her latest TV incarnation.
When you play a character like Jackie do
you know her immediately? Or does she grow with each episode?
It’s a combination of the two. I
immediately feel some sort of visceral connection on some level; in
a weird sort of way I kind of get a feeling of her internal journey.
But the best stuff continues to surprise me every step of the way.
And if you’re lucky enough to have a second season it starts to grow
more roots in you and becomes even more thrilled when you can
continue to investigate the character.
In the second season Jackie seems—despite
her bad habits—to be surprisingly fit.
She really is fit. You walk around
Manhattan and see these junkies who are somehow able to get up and
do it again. It’s amazing. On some level it’s almost like they’re
being looked out for by something higher.
So can Jackie bounce back from her
horrible habits?
I think when you’re deep in this addict
thing, like she is, she doesn’t believe there’s a whole lot of
validity in doing this whole AA shtick. In fact she finds it
annoying.
Does Jackie’s proximity to drugs and the
pressures of her private life make it easier for her to become
addicted?
She would have been an addict if she was a
circus performer, plumber or lawyer. It’s not the job pressure, it’s
the pressure of her mind. I believe she was born with this as all
addicts are. At least born with that predisposition to drugs. So I
think it makes it easier and harder because the drugs are so readily
available.
Did she become a nurse to cope with those
adrenaline needs?
Could well be. Living in high stakes
circumstances all the time does in a way seem part and parcel of an
addict’s mechanism.
Would you be best friends with Jackie?
I wouldn’t go anywhere near her to be
honest (laughs). But the fun factor in the role is very large for
me. Jackie has one goal in mind—to help people. Certainly in her job
she wants to be a good person. She spends really very little time
trying to figure out what other people will think about what she
says and does.
We see a lot of Jackie snorting drugs. How
do you make it look so real?
That’s my secret. But it’s all done by a
little movie magic.
