JJamie-Lynn Sigler (formerly
DiScala; born May 15, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She is
perhaps best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO television
series The Sopranos.
Sigler was born in Queens, New York City to Steve and Connie Sigler. Her
father is Jewish, the son of immigrants from Greece and Romania, and her
mother is a Cuban-born convert to Judaism. Sigler grew up on Long Island
in Jericho, New York, and began acting and singing at age 7. She attended
Jericho High School. Sigler also attended the Cultural Arts Playhouse
where she played many leads.
In 1997, she was cast as the smart but troubled Meadow Soprano, daughter
of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. The show premiered in 1999 and became
a huge success, with Sigler rising to some fame as a TV actress.
In 2000, while filming Campfire Stories in Hamburg, New Jersey, Sigler was
paralyzed from the waist down for several days having contracted Lyme
disease. Sigler then spent five months on Broadway from October 2002
through February 2003 playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast where she
replaced long-running Belle Sarah Litzsinger. She has continued to appear
in theatrical roles, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.
In 2004, she starred as "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss in the USA
television movie Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss next to actor
Jason Stewart. In that same year, she had her first starring feature film
role, Extreme Dating, an independent film.
In 2005, Sigler starred in Lovewrecked and the following year in Homie
Spumoni, when she played the role of Alli, a girlfriend to Renato/Leroy
(Donald Faison) directed by Mike Cerron.
Also in October 2008, she appeared as herself in the fifth season of the
HBO series "Entourage", appearing in the episodes "First Class Jerk" ,
"Playing With Fire" and "Return to Queens Blvd". She returned for season
six of the series. On November 17, 2008, Sigler guest-starred as Jillian
on the TV series How I Met Your Mother in the episode "Woooo!" On the
December 6, 2008 airing of Saturday Night Live, Jamie-Lynn appeared as the
checkout girl for the SNL Digital Short music video, Jizz in My Pants by
The Lonely Island.
She can currently be seen on ABC's Ugly Betty in a 5 episode arc involving
a cult.
In 2001, she released a pop album called Here to Heaven, which featured
the single "Cry Baby". The album was a commercial failure and had low
sales. In 2007 Sigler said she was "embarrassed" by the album and regrets
releasing it.
In 2002, she co-authored an autobiography, Wise Girl: What I've Learned
About Life, Love, and Loss. In October 2008, the actress paired up with
MasterCard to promote the MasterCard Savings Program, a new rewards
program for debit MasterCard and prepaid MasterCard cardholders.
On July 11, 2003, Sigler married her agent and longtime boyfriend, A. J.
DiScala. She subsequently changed her name to Jamie-Lynn DiScala, stating
she is a very "traditional girl", and never had any doubt that she would
take her husband's name after marrying, even professionally. However, in
September 2005, Sigler and DiScala announced that they were separating,
and she subsequently changed her name back.
She is close friends with pop singer Lance Bass; a review by Bass was
featured on the back cover of Sigler's 2002 memoir, Wise Girl: What I've
Learned About Life, Love, and Loss.
During January 2008, Sigler visited Israel through the Birthright Israel
program and subsequently was moved by the trip, calling Israel "one of the
most beautiful, inspiring places I've ever been to." She further noted
that the trip gave her a greater understanding to preserve her Jewish
identity and, after talks with Israeli soldiers who were also participants
on the trip, she expressed solidarity towards the efforts of the young
soldiers. |
On her ex-husband, A.J.
Discala: "I began trusting this man with my career and now I trust
him with my life".
On changing her name from Sigler to DiScala: "I never thought I'd do
otherwise, even before I met A.J. I'm traditional that way. Once we
have children, I'd love for them to have the same name as their
mom."
"I have no Italian in me. I'm Cuban, Greek, Romanian, and Sephardic
Jew, so I couldn't get further from Italian. But I guess I've been
adopted into that family, too."
“The one thing I look for in a guy is confidence—if you want to talk
to me, come up and talk. I’m more than willing. If you don’t know my
name, that’s OK—just ask. But don’t come up and call me Meadow.
You’ve already got one strike against you.” |
Son of Morning (2010) ....
Jamie
Wake (2010) .... Adrienne
"Ugly Betty" .... Natalie (5 episodes, 2009)
- Level (7) with Me (2009) TV episode .... Natalie
- Backseat Betty (2009) TV episode .... Natalie
- Plus None (2009) TV episode .... Natalie
- The Wiener, the Bun and the Boob (2009) TV episode .... Natalie
- Blue on Blue (2009) TV episode .... Natalie
"Saturday Night Live" .... Checkout Girl (1 episode, 2008)
... aka NBC's Saturday Night (USA: complete title)
... aka SNL (USA: informal title)
... aka SNL 25 (USA: alternative title)
... aka Saturday Night (USA: first season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live '80 (USA: sixth season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live 15 (USA: fifteenth season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live 20 (USA: twentieth season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live 25 (USA: twentiefifth season title)
- John Malkovich/T.I. (2008) TV episode (uncredited) .... Checkout
Girl
"How I Met Your Mother" .... Jillian (1 episode, 2008)
... aka H.I.M.Y.M (USA: short title)
- Woooo! (2008) TV episode .... Jillian
"The Gathering" (2007) (mini)
TV Series (pre-production)
New York City Serenade (2007) (completed) (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala)
.... Lynn
Homie Spumoni (2007) (completed) (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala) .... Ally
"The Sopranos" .... Meadow Soprano (84 episodes, 1999-2007)
- Made in America (2007) TV Episode .... Meadow Soprano
- The Blue Comet (2007) TV Episode .... Meadow Soprano
- The Second Coming (2007) TV Episode .... Meadow Soprano
- Kennedy and Heidi (2007) TV Episode .... Meadow Soprano
- Walk Like a Man (2007) TV Episode .... Meadow Soprano
(79 more)
Dark Ride (2006) (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala) .... Cathy
Blinders (2006) (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala) .... Alexa
"Higglytown Heroes" .... Ms. Fern (1 episode, 2005)
- Say What?/Higgly Harmonies (2005) TV Episode (as Jamie-Lynn
DiScala) .... Ms. Fern
Lovewrecked (2005) (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala) .... Alexis Manetti
"Will & Grace" .... Ro (2 episodes, 2004)
- Queens for a Day: Part 1 (2004) TV Episode (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala)
.... Ro
- Queens for a Day: Part 2 (2004) TV Episode (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala)
.... Ro
Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss (2004) (TV) (as
Jamie-Lynn DiScala) .... Heidi Fleiss
Extreme Dating (2004) .... Amy Baker
Death of a Dynasty (2003) (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala) .... Sexy Woman
No. 3
Campfire Stories (2001) .... Natalie
A Brooklyn State of Mind (1997) .... Young Angie |