Profiles Of Addiction Recovery | Edie Falco

Edie Falco is an American actress known for playing Carmela Soprano in the HBO series The Sopranos as well as a nurse living with drug addiction in Nurse Jackie. However, she has not only dealt with addiction on screen. 

Falco struggled with alcohol addiction in her 20s but has maintained her sobriety for over 30 years.

“Found Nirvana” With Alcohol

Edie Falco first started drinking at college after being a non-drinker for years. She was a fledgling actress and very shy. She tried drinking alcohol and, as she put it, “found nirvana.” 

She was also a big fan of cocaine, but she could never really afford it so she stuck with alcohol.

Falco got to a point where she was even choosing boyfriends based on whether they drank alcohol or not. If they mentioned alcohol at all, she knew they were someone she wanted to be with. She also convinced herself that she worked better when she was hungover.

Out-Of-Control Drinking

Her drinking eventually became completely out of control and she was hanging around with dangerous people. 

As she noted in an interview with The Guardian, she didn’t realize she had a problem until she drank too much one night and woke up in her apartment with the front door open. 

The door had been open all night and the possibility of what could have happened scared her enough to get help and quit drinking. She was 29 years old.

Luckily, after she stopped drinking, her career began to take off with movies and then, eventually, The Sopranos.

Edie Falco’s Recovery Journey

When Falco started her recovery journey, she made it a big part of her life and took it very seriously. She found help with a variety of 12-step programs and went to many AA meetings. 

On her first sober anniversary, when she had to go to Italy to work and couldn’t find any meetings, she found another person living with addiction to talk and connect with.

Nurse Jackie 

Her interest in recovery and her experience in many 12-step programs eventually helped her with her role as Nurse Jackie, a nurse hiding a serious prescription drug addiction. Falco could relate to the struggle but also understood the road her character took by not seeking help.

Edie Falco’s Filmography & Accolades

Falco quickly got into acting due to seeing her mother perform as an actor. 

Falco is most well-known for her portrayals as Carmela Soprano in the HBO TV show The Sopranos alongside her co-star and on-screen husband James Gandolfini (who played Tony Soprano), as Nurse Jackie Peyton in the Showtime comedy series Nurse Jackie, and as Hillary Clinton in Impeachment: American Crime Story.

She has also acted in Law & Order True Crime, Laws of Gravity (1992), Sunshine State (2002), Freedomland (2006), The Comedian (2016), and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). She also acted in the 2011 Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves, which earned her a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

Falco’s also won two Golden Globe awards and four Emmy awards. 

Recovery Is Possible

If you or a loved one live with alcohol addiction like Edie Falco, Ark Behavioral Health can help you start on your road to recovery.

We have a full staff of addiction specialists and clinicians who will walk you through our addiction treatment options. We offer detox, inpatient and outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment, and aftercare support. 

For more information on everything we provide and how we can help you and your family, please call our helpline today.