Published 16:29 22 Jun 2026 GMT
Actress Sarah Shahi has opened up about her time on The Sopranos, where she had a number of scenes opposite James Gandolfini.
Gandolfini won three Emmy awards for his portrayal of Tony Soprano in the six-season crime drama, which aired on HBO.
But for one episode in season six, Shahi played Christopher Moltisanti's mistress, who was a college student and stripper named Sonya Aragon.
The Sopranos may have been one of the most critically acclaimed series of the 2000s, but Shahi seems to remember it for one reason above all - her steamy scenes with Gandolfini.
She recently took to The Bossticks podcast, opening up about what it's like to shoot kissing and sex scenes, specifically with the man behind Tony Soprano.
Speaking about the one episode she guest-starred in, Shahi admitted that she and her co-star kept kissing even after the scene was done.
She explained in Thursday's episode (June 18): "I did a sex scene with Tony Soprano, that's a good one to check off."
She said of the kisses that they shared: “One of the best, I have to say, kisses I’ve ever had.”
Shahi wasn't sure if the actors could develop on-screen chemistry, admitting on the show: “We had this scene where he was so hot and … I remember thinking to myself, ‘How am I going to get turned on by this 47-year-old large, balding man?’
"There’s nothing … how is this going to work for me? Oh boy, did it work for me!”
Now 46, the actress said there was a scene where their characters started experimenting with hallucinogenic mushrooms.
“I don’t know if you remember the scene. And he’s a very method actor. So, he wanted props," she recalled.
"I think they actually had dehydrated mushrooms and he wanted them to put pepper on them or a lot of spice or just something, so when you put it in your mouth, there’s some kind of a reaction.”
For the scene in question, she sat on Gandolfini's lap, as their characters took mushrooms together, and they started kissing.
But they didn't stop there, as Shahi claimed: “There’s a scene where I’m sitting on his lap and we’re taking these mushrooms and then we have to kiss and when they called ‘cut,’ we were still kissing… we were still kissing.”
She added that they "did it three, four times," but the same thing kept happening.
"Every time they would call ‘cut’ and we’re still f***ing making out,” the actress said, before admitting that she had never told this story publicly before.
