New interview with Drea de Matteo about her big scene (spoilers)

Are we allowed to put spoilers in the title, because the 'big scene' is when she was murdered. UK newspaper the Guardian interviewed various actors from various shows about being killed off. Drea de Matteo had this to say:

I found out Adriana was going to get whacked while sitting on a kerb with Sopranos showrunner David Chase. I was wearing a neck brace because I’d just filmed a car crash scene with James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano. David sat me down and said: “I’m going to shoot it two ways: one where you die, one where you get away. Nobody will know until it airs.” The Sopranos was such a boys’ club. Guys would get called into the office for meetings. I was pulled aside on the street.

People think filming the scene must have been hellish but it wasn’t. Because I had so little dialogue, it was a relief. I just had to sit in the car and cry. I know how to do that. Adriana is killed by Silvio, played by Steven Van Zandt, and I was more concerned about making Steven feel comfortable. He was upset that he had to pull me out of the car by my hair but I told him not to worry. He also objected to calling me a cunt but I was like: “It’s OK! I’ll call you a cunt first. Let’s fucking go!”

David insisted on not showing the moment of death. He told me he loved Adriana and didn’t want to see her actually get killed. So she crawls across the forest floor to get away, then you hear gunshots as the camera pans up. Some fans interpreted that as her soul going up to heaven. Stevie went on Jay Leno’s show and he asked: “Is she really dead?” Stevie said: “What the fuck do you think I was doing out there? Shooting squirrels?” That was confirmation for anyone clinging to the hope that she’d survived. My parents couldn’t watch it. Fans freaked out. I got messages saying: “I just cancelled HBO in protest.”

I won an Emmy for the role. I used to hide it away in the bathroom but during the pandemic, I put it on the mantelpiece to celebrate my past. We were the godfathers. We redefined what TV could do. Twenty years later, people are still being moved by Adriana’s death.

Quoted from here: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/feb/03/killed-off-tv-succession-sopranos-spooks-line-of-duty-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-cucumber

The part I find most interesting is when she says "The Sopranos was such a boys’ club. Guys would get called into the office for meetings. I was pulled aside on the street." Not unlike the world of the character being portrayed.