Falco Brings Soul to Mean Nurse Jackie

Former Sopranos matriarch Edie Falco is back, and this time her cable series character is closer to the actress herself—a blue-collar woman who shirks appearances and works hard, Newsweek reports. But Falco isn't quite the brassy protagonist in Showtime's Nurse Jackie, either. The Long Island native is a warm, happy mother of two adopted kids.

Despite her battles with alcoholism and breast cancer—and the quick marriage of her jazz drummer father and actress mother—Falco isn't cranky and mean like Nurse Jackie. Instead, the 45-year-old has become grounded over the years. "My work stuff doesn't have the same intense desperation it used to have," she says. "If people respond, great. If not, onto the next thing."
(More Edie Falco stories.)