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Edie Falco

Out of 'Sopranos' shadow and into limelight

Critical analysis: “From her tired Florida twang to her slumped posture to her slightly sour squint, Ms. Falco’s Marly is so fully realized that not a drop of her signature role on ‘The Sopranos’ is allowed to leak into her performance.” — Stephen Holden, New York Times

Awards pedigree: The only woman to win an Emmy (1999, 2001), Golden Globe (2000) and SAG Award (2000) for actress in a television series for “The Sopranos.”

Upcoming: About to begin taping the fifth season of “The Sopranos” and will appear in TV production “The Shadow Box” in 2003, directed by Sam Mendes.

In John Sayles’ intricately woven ensemble piece “Sunshine State,” Edie Falco was far from the Garden State environs of “The Sopranos.”

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In Sayles’ movie, she runs a local diner, but never has to make ziti. Though she has difficulties with men, it isn’t the type of chauvinistic disrespect she’s forced to accept every Sunday night on HBO.

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Such was the difference when you take the actress out of the New Jersey cold and into the Florida warmth. Known by millions as Carmela Soprano on the megahit series, Falco gave such convincing texture to Marly — a life-weathered woman who knows she won’t end up with younger entrepreneurial nice guy Timothy Hutton — her TV persona remained completely out of mind.

“I absolutely loved the role,” says Falco from New York, where she just finished her run in the Broadway hit “Frankie and Johnny,” for which she earned rave reviews. “It’s the kind of part that doesn’t come with a preconceived notion.”

Falco had previously experienced a spiritual connection with Sayles, though the two never worked together before “Sunshine State.”

“I remember seeing ‘City of Hope’ on a rainy day in Manhattan,” recalls Falco, a Long Island native. “It was one of those films that changes you.”

He, too, was familiar with her work.

“I did a film called ‘Cost of Living,’ and he was one of the four people who had seen it,” Falco jokes. So when Sayles sent her a handwritten letter asking her to play Marly, she didn’t hesitate.

Falco says, though, that when some friends chimed in with their opinions on Sayles, she became a bit concerned.

“People told me, ‘You’re going to love him,’ which made me want to put one strike against him before even starting, ” she jokes. “Seriously, though, he was an easygoing, straight and passionate guy. He has his priorities in order.”

Her priority is to separate the spector of Carmela from any upcoming film projects.

“I’ll only be typecast if I take those kind of roles: wives, mothers and Italians,” Falco says. “I want to do whatever great scripts come along.”

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