Sarah Shahi, who starred alongside James Gandolfini in The Sopranos, got candid about working with him nearly two decades later.
Recently, the 46-year-old actress reflected on the steamy scenes she filmed with the late actor on the hit HBO series prior to his death at 51 in 2013.
Shahi, who had an age gap of 18 years with her former costar, recalled having to do a sex scene with the screen legend and admitted it was ‘hot’ while reflecting on the experience.
She also revealed that, at one point, she continued ‘making out’ with him even after the director had called ‘cut’ on the scene.
Shahi delved into how she and Gandolfini manufactured real, physical heat between themselves on set in order to film their intimate scene.
‘I did a sex scene with Tony Soprano,’ she said while making an appearance on The Bossticks podcast in an episode released on Thursday, June 18.
Sarah Shahi got candid about the steamy scenes she filmed with the late James Gandolfini in The Sopranos back in 2007
Over two decades ago, she guest starred on the hit HBO drama series and appeared on a season six episode as the mafia crime boss’s one-time love interest; pictured in May
The actress, who guest starred in season 6 of the drama series in 2007, added that Gandolfini was ‘one of the best, I have to say, kisses I’ve ever had.’
She also said she was surprised by her attraction to him while filming together despite their age gap.
‘We had this scene where he was so hot and … I remember thinking to myself, “How am I going to get turned on by this 47-year-old large, balding man?”
She recalled asking how the scene would go down before being pleasantly surprised by how it ‘worked’ for her.
Shahi said: ‘There’s nothing … how is this going to work for me? Oh boy, did it work for me!’
Shahi also recalled filming a scene in which her character, the Las Vegas stripper Sonja Aragon, and Gandolfini’s character were ‘doing mushrooms.’
Her character is also a college student and the former mistress of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).
In the episode Kennedy and Heidi, she meets Gandolfini’s leading character Tony Soprano.
She admitted she found the intimate scene more ‘hot’ than she expected and revealed she kept ‘making out’ with Gandolfini longer than necessary
Shahi noted how Gandolfini was 18 years older than her, but she said he ended up being ‘one of the best, I have to say, kisses I’ve ever had’
Shahi also recalled filming a scene where her character, the Las Vegas stripper Sonja Aragon, and Gandolfini’s were ‘doing mushrooms.’
The storyline follows the dancer introducing him to a hallucinogenic plant that goes on to prompt the mafia crime boss to experience a profound spiritual awakening
Shahi recalled how she kept kissing him in their scene even after they did a take. ‘Like, and we did it three, four times and every time they would call “cut” and we’re still f***ing making out,’ she recalled about her experience filming with the late actor
Gandolfini died at the age of 51 in June 2013 after suffering a fatal heart attack in Rome
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The storyline follows the dancer introducing him to a hallucinogenic plant that goes on to prompt the mafia crime boss to experience a profound spiritual awakening.
‘I don’t know if you remember the scene,’ the Paradise actor recalled of filming that episode with the late star. ‘And he’s a very method actor.’
Shahi then revealed the secret about how they manufactured real, physical heat between them for their intimate scene.
‘So, he wanted props. I think they actually had dehydrated mushrooms and he wanted them to put pepper on them or a lot of spice or just something, so when you put it in your mouth, there’s some kind of a reaction,’ she explained.
‘There’s a scene where I’m sitting on his lap, and we’re taking these mushrooms, and then we have to kiss, and when they called “cut,” we were still kissing … we were still kissing,’ she continued.
Shahi added: ‘Like, and we did it three, four times and every time they would call “cut” and we’re still f***ing making out.’
