Edie Falco is a survivor. Now wrapping up her starring turn as the pill-addicted title character in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, she has battled her own real-life demons as a recovering alcoholic who adheres to the 12-step program.
“You learn how to put [your addiction] aside,” says Falco, who first achieved TV immortality as Tony’s wife in The Sopranos. “Live without it, and everything else falls into place…. You wake up one morning, and you know you are done. Some people get it, some people don’t. People get it at all different times in their addiction and it depends on what their bottom is.”
Falco says addiction is hardest for loved ones who are forced to watch their friend or family member struggle.
“It’s a nasty, nasty journey for the addict and for the people around them,” the four-time Emmy winner says. “For those people, go to Al-Anon. It’s a fantastic organization that really works.”
Falco has now been sober for more than 20 years, and says her life has never been better.
“I’m crazy boring,” she says with a broad smile. “I didn’t used to be, but I’m so thrilled with my boring life. I have two beautiful kids, and we watch Nickelodeon and order a pizza. My friends say, ‘We never see you in the [gossip columns],’ and I say, ‘They gotta sell papers! Why would they be saying anything about me? I got nothing!’ ”
More like everything.
See what one of our editors learned after giving up drinking for 47 days.
