Sopranos vet Lorraine Bracco reveals the cruel insult from 6th grade that has 'stuck' with her 'for life'
Despite Lorraine Bracco's amazing career with multiple accolades, including an Oscar nomination, cruel words from childhood bullies have continued to haunt her.
The Sopranos star, 70, wrote about the incident that happened when she was in sixth grade in an essay for the Wall Street Journal.
She wrote: 'One day, kids on the school bus told me something that stuck with me for life. They said they had voted me the ugliest girl in sixth grade.'
Lorraine continued: 'Can you imagine? I was in shock. It was horrible and devastating - a deep wound.
'I went home and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.'
It was her father who offered words of comfort to the devastated tween.
Lorraine said he 'sat me on his lap, put his hands on my face and made me look in his eyes. He said, "I don't care about them. You're the most beautiful girl in the world to me."'
The Screen Actors Guild award winner said she found school 'challenging socially,' but her love of performing in school plays helped provide 'an expression and an outlet for me.'
After graduating high school, Lorraine was signed with Wilhelmina models and moved to Paris where she lived for a decade and was a favorite of designer Jean Paul Gaultier, according to her IMDB profile.
And even though she was booking modelling jobs, the words still remained in the back of her mind.
She wrote: 'As for that childhood insult, it stuck with me for a long time.
Lorraine continued: 'Early in my modeling career, when Revlon offered me a campaign, I said to myself, "I can't do this. I was the ugliest girl in sixth grade."'
After being cast in French films and television shows in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lorraine returned to the U.S., where she was cast in films such as the thriller Someone To Watch Over Me, and The Dream Team.
Her breakout role came as the wife of the late Ray Liotta's wife in the 1990 mob drama Goodfellas, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination. She later received Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her portrayal of therapist Dr Jennifer Melfi in The Sopranos.
The currently single Lorraine told AARP that after breaking up with her former partner Harvey Keitel, 85, after 11 years together, she 'lost a year of my life to depression.'
She added: 'My advice to anyone going through it is get a good doctor, get diagnosed, and know that pharmacology works - don't be afraid of it.
'The stigma of it stopped me at first. Stupid. And talk therapy is major. You're worth it, you're worth having a good day, every day.'
With her life in order and her new movie, Nonnas, doing well on Netflix, the star says she ready to raise the curtain on love again.
Lorraine said: 'I believe in love. What do I look for in a man? A sense of humor is extremely important. And I like a guy who's sure of himself. I'm sure of myself, so I want him to be rock steady.'
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