{"id":2384213,"date":"2026-04-22T12:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2384213"},"modified":"2026-04-22T12:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:03:10","slug":"jamie-lynn-sigler-on-teen-fame-the-sopranos-and-ms-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/jamie-lynn-sigler-on-teen-fame-the-sopranos-and-ms-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Lynn Sigler on Teen Fame, The Sopranos and MS Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s been a little more than a decade since Jamie Lynn Sigler<\/strong> <\/a>publicly revealed she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis<\/a> in her early 20s. Her only regret is not sharing her truth sooner. \u201cWhat struck me the most was the outpouring of support from the MS community,\u201d Sigler recalls to Us Weekly<\/em> during a late March Zoom call. \u201cI realized, \u2018Oh, I have robbed myself of this tribe, of these people who see me. And I\u2019m not alone anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At 44, the Sopranos<\/em> actress is doing better than she imagined possible. She and her husband<\/a> of 10 years, former baseball player Cutter<\/strong> Dykstra<\/strong>, live a quiet, happy life in Austin, Texas, with sons Beau, 12, and Jack, 8, and a community of close friends. She\u2019ll soon star in the upcoming third season of the Netflix comedy Tires on top of cohosting the \u201cMeSsy\u201d podcast with actress Christina Applegate<\/strong>, who was diagnosed with MS<\/a> in 2021, and her new memoir, And So It Is\u2026.: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope<\/em>, is out May 5. \u201cIt\u2019s wild to think that I\u2019m the most settled and confident I\u2019ve ever been,\u201d she says, \u201cdespite living in a disabled body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sigler spent 14 years hiding her MS diagnosis<\/a> from the world at large, becoming more and more reclusive as her first marriage to her manager AJ Discala<\/strong> was falling apart (they divorced in 2005). She ran herself ragged, concealing a limp, bouts of incontinence and pain from directors, castmates and fans. She finally shared the news of her condition \u2014 an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system \u2014 in 2016, days after her Palm Springs, California, wedding to Dykstra. With her secret finally out, she felt free. \u201cI\u2019m done apologizing for having MS,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Other moments tested her, like when her son Beau<\/a> was fighting for his life in the ICU. \u201cYour pain doesn\u2019t have to break you. Your pain can break you free,\u201d says Sigler, who is grateful for the highs, lows and everything in between. \u201cThe moments where you\u2019re stuck are special and important,\u201d she tells Us<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s when you find yourself and your grit and your courage. It\u2019s where you find who you really are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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CRISTINA FISHER<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why write this book now?<\/strong>
I felt ready. I\u2019d never wanted to write a book. I was approached after I came out about my MS, but I had an aversion to it. I assumed the only thing people would want to know about is my life with MS. I\u2019ve finally let go of the pressure to be what I think people want me to be. Over the last couple of years \u2014 whether it\u2019s being in a beautiful marriage, finding my incredible tribe of friends<\/a>, becoming a mother and doing my podcast \u2014 I felt the freedom to be who I\u2019ve always been behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

You seem to have found a real sense of acceptance.<\/strong>
I give Christina [Applegate] all the credit for being like, \u201cYeah, we have to wear diapers sometimes.\u201d That was always, like, God forbid anybody would have known [that]. There\u2019s still such shame about it. And then with what I went through with Beau, I\u2019m just like, \u201cF*** it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the writing process like?<\/strong>
I\u2019ve never worked harder on anything. I poured my heart and soul into this, and I enjoyed it so much. I would wake up in the middle of the night and write for hours. It poured out of me.<\/p>\n

You share that things really changed for you after you first saw a hypnotist. What happened?<\/strong>
I walked up to him [at his office], and he said, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you looking at me when you walk?\u201d I\u2019d never been challenged like that. I said, \u201cI don\u2019t like to watch people watch me walk.\u201d It unlocked something in my brain \u2014 I didn\u2019t realize how much shame I had around having MS. It was like this scarlet letter that said I was bad or tainted. We explored where that came from and how life would look if I didn\u2019t think that way. [After, I drove by] a studio lot and I was thinking about how if I had an appointment at 2 p.m. I\u2019d get there at 1, stretch by my car, walk for five minutes, then stop and pretend I was on my phone if I saw anyone [when really] I was dying inside. I thought, \u201cWhat if I could open myself up to life being a lot easier, and asking for help?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Jamie Lynn-Sigler’s Honest Quotes About Living With Multiple Sclerosis<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tXavier Collin\/Image Press Agency\/MEGA The Sopranos alum Jamie-Lynn Sigler first opened up about her multiple sclerosis battle in 2016, nearly 15 years after she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease at age 20. \u201cI already had a big career. It was difficult to accept,\u201d Sigler said while sharing the health update during an October 2016 [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What was behind your decision to keep the MS a secret?<\/strong>
My brother [Adam<\/strong>, who died of a sudden brain hemorrhage<\/a> in 2014 at age 41] was suffering from terrible OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder], but we were told, \u201cLet\u2019s not tell anybody.\u201d My mom was always like, \u201cPut lipstick on and say everything\u2019s fine.\u201d Your problems are not for anybody else to judge, and it\u2019ll keep you safe.<\/p>\n

Hiding it must have taken a big toll.<\/strong>
I was always acting. I had no idea what authenticity felt like. Everything was a lie and for show. I didn\u2019t even know who I was. All these secrets had piled up, and I was suffocating. I was constantly in fight or flight and survival mode. I\u2019m sure that it contributed to a lot of the flare-ups I experienced.<\/p>\n

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CRISTINA FISHER<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You mention in the book that you were relieved when a pilot you were working on didn\u2019t get picked up.<\/strong>
I finally had a lead in this high-profile pilot, and it was everything I wanted, but it was a terrible experience for me because I was so terrified everyone was going to find out. [During filming, the show\u2019s director noticed something was off with the way Sigler walked.]<\/em> For the first time, people were like, \u201cAre you limping? You look like something\u2019s wrong.\u201d The relief I had [when it wasn\u2019t picked up] was the opposite of what anybody should feel. I was like, \u201cThank God, I\u2019m still safe.\u201d My reps didn\u2019t even know at the time.<\/p>\n

You were so hard on yourself. What would you tell that person now?<\/strong>
\u201cI understand you, I see you. This is all part of the process, but what if this is actually an invitation to learn how to love yourself?\u201d Because that\u2019s what MS did. It stopped me in my tracks and was like [a] mirror [telling me,] \u201cThe lies you\u2019ve been telling yourself about who you are aren\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about The Sopranos<\/em>. You started acting as a child, but had decided to quit to become a camp counselor when you got the call to play Meadow. Can you imagine if you had missed that chance?<\/strong>
The only reason I went to New York City for the audition was because I was hoping to go to Urban Outfitters and get some clothes for camp. [Laughs.] It feels like everything is so divinely planned, which gives me so much faith moving forward.<\/p>\n

How do you think your life would have gone if you had missed the Sopranos<\/em> audition?<\/strong>
I probably still would have gone to NYU and probably would\u2019ve really focused on Broadway. The goal was to be on stage. I probably would have moved back to Long Island and raised a family there, like most of my friends from high school are doing, which is fine and wonderful.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Ned Fulmer, Christina Applegate and More Stars Battling Multiple Sclerosis<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tChristina Applegate, Selma Blair, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Jack Osbourne and many other celebrities have opened up about dealing with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease. Applegate revealed in August 2021 that she was diagnosed with the condition. \u201cHi friends. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with MS,\u201d the Married \u2026 With Children alum wrote via X [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You\u2019ve been open about losing weight and getting a nose job before season 1 got rolling.<\/strong>
I mean, it was all on me. Who shoots a pilot and comes back 40 pounds lighter and with a different nose? We were naive to think nobody would notice. I wouldn\u2019t have blamed them if they fired me.<\/p>\n

Did you feel a certain amount of pressure after that?<\/strong>
I was like, \u201cOK, I will not blow this. I will show them that they don\u2019t have to worry about me,\u201d which I think snowballed into all the things that were coming later. I was like, Oh God, I\u2019m not going to tell them [about the MS]. I constantly felt like a problem, and that was my biggest fear. I\u2019m such a people pleaser. I felt like such a black cloud. But what 16- or 17-year-old doesn\u2019t make dumb decisions? When you\u2019re on the No. 1 show in the world, everything\u2019s so amplified.<\/p>\n

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What was it like to play such an iconic character?<\/strong>
I was meant to be Meadow. She was me. She taught me a lot, and I infused a lot into her as well. We grew up together. There were a lot of times that I escaped into her from my own life.<\/p>\n

Your onscreen dad, James Gandolfini, was the only one<\/a> you told about your MS. Did a weight lift off you?<\/strong>
Having somebody there who knew was a game-changer. I think he knew I couldn\u2019t carry [the burden] alone anymore. Sometimes, if we were at a cast party or a charity event, he would pull me aside and be like, \u201cHow\u2019s the MS? Tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d But never at work and never in front of anybody. It shifted a lot of the energy for me [on set], just knowing that somebody knows my secret.<\/p>\n

You became very famous very young. How did that feel?<\/strong>
I didn\u2019t realize how ill-equipped I was for being catapulted [to fame] for my first big job. We did not know how to navigate that. It was also a time when people were really brutal within the industry. When the head of Wilhelmina Modeling Agency [wanted to] take me on as his client, he was like, \u201cYou look fat and bad, and you spoke poorly.\u201d But in hindsight, I\u2019m like, that was messed up. I was a child. I assumed I just kept making terrible decisions, as opposed to having any sort of compassion for how crazy and wild that was for this little girl from Long Island with a family that had no connections and no real support.<\/p>\n

What was the hardest adjustment?<\/strong>
Seeing myself on screen. I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t look like anyone on the shows that I watch.\u201d It was really hard<\/a>. I was at a tender age dealing with my first heartbreak and my body [was] changing, and it really sent me into a spiral.<\/p>\n

How did you stay grounded?<\/strong>
Growing up, I was building this career alongside staying in public school and having a bat mitzvah and going to the prom. I didn\u2019t want to miss out on any of that. [Sigler left NYU after freshman year to concentrate on acting.] I\u2019d still visit my friends at college \u2014 I needed those moments where I still felt like Jamie Sigler from Jericho, Long Island.<\/p>\n

Is there a role that got away?<\/strong>
One of the creators of How I Met Your Mother<\/em> did a pilot about a Jersey couple. [My character] sang and worked in a bar. I was put through a hundred screen tests, and there was this one person who was like, \u201cShe\u2019s Meadow, and she\u2019s not funny.\u201d That one really devastated me.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Jamie-Lynn Sigler<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In And So It Is<\/em>, you open up about fantasizing about your own death during your marriage to AJ. Was it hard to revisit that?<\/strong>
I hadn\u2019t relived that moment until I wrote it. It wasn\u2019t even really about suicide. It was a cry for help. I needed someone to know how terrified and overwhelmed I was.<\/p>\n

You write about the end of your marriage to AJ. Have you reconciled everything that went down with him?<\/strong>
A marriage at 20 is still a marriage. I needed a lot of proof to leave. When I went through his phone, I knew something shady was going on. All women feel that way. I wanted to share that not to bash him, but for other women. I felt like such a failure all the time, but I understood I was not going to survive much longer if I stayed in that marriage. I think he knew that, too.<\/p>\n

Looking back, do you see red flags?<\/strong>
I desperately needed him at that time, so I can\u2019t be like, \u201cWhat were you thinking?\u201d I know what I needed, and he provided a lot of that for me. Can I look back and see a young girl who was possibly being taken advantage of? Yes, but I also don\u2019t think that he really thought that was happening. I think we were both caught up in a ride, and I think our relationship was really toxic and complicated.<\/p>\n

You dated an anonymous boy bander before you met AJ. Can you give Us<\/em> any hints about who it was?<\/strong>
He\u2019s not in\u2019 NSync. That\u2019s probably all I can say. It was a six-month fling.<\/p>\n

It sounds like you manifested meeting Cutter.<\/strong>
I wanted somebody I could feel safe with and who excited me and who was fun. I don\u2019t think I wrote down \u201cathlete,\u201d but I was dating a lot of athletes at the time. When I met Cutter, I didn\u2019t think this was the guy \u2014 he was a 22-year-old minor league baseball player. But by two weeks in, [I knew it wasn\u2019t a fling]. I was going to do whatever I needed to do to make it work with him.<\/p>\n

You found out you were pregnant 10 months in.<\/strong>
As soon as I found out, it was very clear for both of us this is supposed to happen. I feel like that was God intervening and being like, \u201cThis is it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Christina<\/div>
ABC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James died<\/a> in 2013. Do you remember the last time you two spoke?<\/strong>
We were at a casino. I was happy to see him in a beautiful marriage and in a beautiful space in his life. We were both like, \u201cWe\u2019re good. Look at us.\u201d He asked if I needed help walking, and I said, \u201cI\u2019m OK,\u201d and he said, \u201cAlright, you tell me if you need help.\u201d I remember him being proud. It was a beautiful moment.<\/p>\n

You lost your brother in 2014. How did that change you?<\/strong>
When somebody dies, you do everything to honor them. Adam lived more in the moment and we try to live a little more like [that]. We\u2019ve all become a bit lighter.<\/p>\n

Why did you and Cutter decide to leave L.A. for Austin<\/a> in 2021?<\/strong>
We needed a change. When I moved here, I started using a cane once in a while because I didn\u2019t feel like I was being watched. Here, it was like, \u201cI\u2019m just Beau and Jack\u2019s mom at the baseball field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell Us<\/em> about your friendship with Christina Applegate.<\/strong>
I always say, at the open door of being honest and vulnerable, she kicked me in the ass and pushed me off the cliff. We\u2019re both teachers for each other.<\/p>\n

How do you deal with criticism at this point in your life?<\/strong>
The amount of comments that I get on my Instagram, being like, \u201cMan, she got old,\u201d and I\u2019m like, \u201cYou think? I\u2019m not 16. What did you think was gonna happen?\u201d The Four Agreements<\/em> by Don Miguel Ruiz<\/strong> has helped me \u2014 it\u2019s about never taking anything personally. Anything anybody has to say about you has to do with them.<\/p>\n

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