The Sopranos cast pranked James Gandolfini with a fart machine on set

Lorraine Bracco – Dr Jennifer Melfi – recently shared the fond behind-the-scenes anecdote

The Sopranos actor Lorraine Bracco revealed a prank she once pulled on James Gandolfini using a fart machine on set.

Bracco recalled the fond memory when she appeared on the Gangster Goddess Broad-cast yesterday (22 September). The weekly podcast is hosted by Drea De Matteo, who played Adriana La Cerva in The Sopranos.

The actor – who famously portrayed Dr Jennifer Melfi on the hit HBO show – shared some touching behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

Speaking about her therapy scenes with the late Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), Bracco explained how a crew member once helped tape a fart machine beneath her chair to prank her co-star.  

Bracco recalled: “I said to Jimmy, ‘Listen, I don’t feel good, I don’t know what I ate, I’m sweating’. So I set it up – my stomach is killing me, the whole thing. Then with Marchetti, I would [clench up], and he would press the button.”

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Gandolfini suspected a prank was being played on him and tried to find a whoopie cushion on Bracco’s chair.

The actor added: “Jimmy finally said, ‘You’re f***ing with me,’ and he grabs me and he takes my chair and he lifts up the cushion – but there’s nothing there!”

Gandolfini died aged 51 after a heart attack in 2013.