Jamie-Lynn Sigler, known for playing James Gandolfini’s onscreen daughter in The Sopranos, has faced her fair share of tragic events. Despite this, she focuses on the positive and prioritizes her family over her acting career. Many actors in hit shows struggle to move on from their iconic roles, and Sigler is no exception. 

However, she has continued to work as an actor after ‘The Sopranos’ ended. In March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sigler and baseball player Cutter Dykstra relocated to Texas from California. Sigler wanted her two sons, Beau and Jack, to grow up in a less glamorous environment with more outdoor space. They chose Austin for this reason. 

Sigler is enjoying her life and has found a good balance between her career and family. However, she had to endure a lot to get to where she is today.  

Jamie-Lynn Sigler, at the height of her ‘Sopranos’ fame in 2000, was diagnosed with Lyme disease. She didn’t think much of it until her legs suddenly stopped moving. She was transported to a hospital in Long Island, where doctors struggled to diagnose her condition. 

After a year of misdiagnosis, she finally learned the truth about her illness. In 2016, Sigler revealed that she had been living with multiple sclerosis for close to 15 years.  

She remembers the moment when the doctor called her dad and said, ‘Your daughter has MS.’ Despite being terrified, Sigler is happy with how things turned out with the help of her loved ones. Although she can’t run or go on super long walks, she considers those setbacks minor compared to what she can do. 

Jamie-Lynn Sigler now advocates for MS, hoping to empower others and raise awareness. In 2024, she partnered with Christina Applegate, who also suffers from MS, to launch the podcast ‘MeSsy.’ 

Before the onset of her MS symptoms, Sigler developed exercise bulimia, a condition where calories are burned off through excessive exercise. She spoke about this on ‘The Early Show’ in 2003. Sigler started small by reducing her meal portions and working out in the mornings. However, it quickly became an obsession, leading her to exercise for six or seven hours a day.

She felt paralyzed by her routine, leaving no time for anything else. Sigler woke up at 3 a.m. to jump on the treadmill and stayed there for four hours until she had to get ready for school. As a result, she lost a significant amount of weight, dropping to 80 pounds. 

Jamie-Lynn Sigler had to say goodbye to her oldest brother, Adam Sigler, in November 2014. Adam, a stockbroker, died from a sudden brain hemorrhage that put him in a coma. 

James Gandolfini’s death in 2013 was felt worldwide, but it hit Jamie-Lynn Sigler particularly hard. In a statement to E! News, Sigler said, ‘This news has left me heartbroken.’ Gandolfini had been there for her, even when she tried to push him away. 

During her struggle with an eating disorder, Sigler was approached by Gandolfini, who noticed she did not want to talk about it and left it alone. However, he always let her know he was there for her. When Sigler was diagnosed with MS and went through a divorce from A.J. DiScala, it was a challenging time, and Gandolfini was one of the people she leaned on. 

Although Gandolfini was not the only ‘Sopranos’ actor Sigler has had to grieve, the 2022 death of Tony Sirico devastated her as much as Gandolfini’s. Unlike Gandolfini, Sirico was a bit less respectful of Sigler’s space, but in a good way. She captioned an Instagram post, ‘I have never been able to walk into a room that you were in without you giving me an enormous hug, drenching me in your cologne.’