Aida Turturro is best known for her role as Tony Soprano Baccalieri’s hot-headed and foul-mouthed sister Janice Soprano Baccalieri in The Sopranos, who has joined Cameo.
Turturro was introduced to Cameo by her co-star Jamie-Lynn Sigler immediately before production began in March 2020. Turturro is now in Connecticut, working on a nun character in Phyllis Nagy’s upcoming film Call Jane, but she felt she needed something to do while in quarantine. She told Vulture that appearing on Cameo helped her “put on some lipstick and look at my screenplay.”
Cameo is an internet service where fans may pay “anything from $5 to hundreds of dollars for a personalized video greeting from over 40,000 celebrities” for the event.
Turturro costs $90 for each Cameo and claims to have created over 450 messages for her admirers. The eccentric actress revealed that she had multiple requests to “Do Janice,” particularly from younger fans who binge-watched the episode for the first time during the lockdown.
HBO reported last year that since stay-at-home rules come into force, viewership for The Sopranos had soared by 179 percent. In April 2020, the channel also made many of its most popular shows available for free streaming, and the show was the most-watched free series of all time. Turturro commented on the show’s reappearance and her position on Cameo, adding, “It’s strange at times. But this is life — it’s a cyclical process.”
The 58-year-old admitted she is scared to return to Janice and has not been able to rewatch the episode since the loss of co-star James Gandolfini in 2013 after a heart attack.
“It was maybe too soon after Jimmy’s death. When you observe yourself, you may recall so many memories. It’s been [explicitly] 20 years! In two minutes, I’m not going to be Janice!
Her Private Life Besides the Show
Turturro was raised in an acting family that includes well-known cousins John and Nicholas Turturro and was born in New York. Ten years before she appeared on The Sopranos, in 1989’s True Love, she made her film debut.
Turturro nevertheless had a Broadway career as well, appearing in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1992 alongside James Gandolfini. At first, the two were incredibly friendly but competitive, frequently arguing like siblings.
She was able to represent Tony Soprano’s older sister years later thanks to this prior connection. The actress, who prides herself on being “unbelievably gorgeous,” has never been wed.
She doesn’t use social media and doesn’t date, but she is open to the idea of getting married and having a partner in the future. Turturro has experienced significant medical problems all of her life. When she was 12 years old, she received a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, which rendered her unable to walk without excruciating pain.
After receiving treatment and recovering from her condition, Turturro was named the spokesperson for a nationwide rheumatoid arthritis awareness campaign. She was also given a type 2 diabetes diagnosis in 2001.
Despite receiving a diagnosis, Turturro spent many years in denial before realizing the seriousness of her condition. She put a lot of effort into educating herself so that, with the help of a nutritionist, she could control her diet.
The actress also opened up about her battles with diabetes and weight loss, and she finally took part in numerous national public education campaigns supported by her medication supplier, Sanofi-Aventis.
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