Sarah Shahi Admits James Gandolfini Gave Her ‘One of the Best Kisses’ of Her Career

Sarah Shahi describes a kiss with James Gandolfini in an episode of The Sopranos, in which she guest-starred, as one of the best on-screen kisses she has ever performed. She also states that she and her co-star continued kissing after the director shouted, “cut.”

During her interview on The Bossticks, Shahi discussed shooting passionate kisses and sex scenes with Gandolfini, who portrayed Tony Soprano while she played Sonya, Christopher’s mistress.

“I did a sex scene with Tony Soprano,” Shahi said. “That’s a good one to check off.”

According to Shahi, she was initially doubtful whether the actors could develop on-screen chemistry, since she was unsure how to be attracted to an actor who was 47 at the time. However, referring to Gandolfini as a “large balding man,” she admits that his energy soon convinced her that everything would be alright.

“How am I gonna get turned on by this … large balding man?” Shahi said regarding her doubts. “Oh boy, did it work for me.”

The actress also admires the dedication of her co-star to the role: “He’s a method actor, and I loved the passion with which he approached his character. He asked for dehydrated mushrooms with pepper or spice to have a real reaction.”

As she stated, Shahi sat on Gandolfini’s lap, whose character was taking the mushrooms along with hers. After the shooting was over, they continued kissing.

“When they called cut, we were still kissing,” she said, adding that the scene was filmed three or four times with the same result each time.

Shahi adds that she has never told this story publicly before, not even on Jimmy Kimmel Live. She also states that Gandolfini is not in her book.