The Sopranos actress Drea de Matteo slams ‘money grab’ book delving into costar James Gandolfini’s al.leged s.u.bstance a.b.use s.-truggles

Drea de Matteo, who played the doomed Adriana on The Sopranos, is blasting a new book that details her costar James Gandolfini’s alleged struggles with drug abuse.

The 52-year-old actress — who launched an OnlyFans account last year — was reacting to Mark Kamine’s new memoir On Locations: Lessons Learned From My Life On Set With The Sopranos And In The Film Industry.

Kamine subsequently produced major films and TV shows including the Oscar winners Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle and the Emmy and Golden Globe–winning HBO series The White Lotus.

‘It’s just kind of a money grab for that guy,’ de Matteo said of Kamine’s book in an interview with Page Six.

She added that Kamine’s depiction of Gandolfini — who died in 2013 at age 51 of a heart attack while visiting Rome — and his alleged drug use was ‘not accurate.’

In one section of his book, Kamine recalls shooting a season five episode of The Sopranos that was thrown off after Gandolfini allegedly came to set late following a night of partying in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

He wrote that the actor was ‘cursing his way through his half-learned lines, doing take after take, drinking coffees and bottles of water, alternatively sheepish and churlish, the way he always is when he f***s up.

Kamin also claims that as Gandolfini became ‘increasingly unreliable,’ HBO added a clause during his next contract negotiation that would make him ‘responsible for shoot-day costs if he misses work due to excesses of consumption.’

De Matteo defended her late friend’s character and also struck out at Kamine for detailing alleged incidents that Gandolfini could no longer defend himself against.

The Sons Of Anarchy actress described the actor, who played series star Tony Soprano, as a ‘really incredible person’ and ‘so much more than whatever [Kamine] was writing about.’

‘Jim was an angel,’ she added, ‘and I guess because he was an angel, you know, he’s not here.’

She also noted that she was ‘really tight with Jim’s wife, his widow and his daughter.’

It’s unclear if de Matteo had read Kamine’s book — which was released on February 6 — before bashing it.

Kamine refrained from push back against his former colleague’s criticism in response to the publication.

‘Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, whether they read the book or not, I guess,’ he said.

De Matteo also complained about the timing of Kamine’s book, as it was released weeks after the show marked its 25th anniversary.

‘To go and cash in like [that] — like, the Italians don’t like that,’ she continued. ‘We don’t freaking like [that].’

The actress also bared her middle finger to emphasize her feelings during the interview, according to Page Six.

Last year, de Matteo revealed that she had launched a racy OnlyFans account, though she claimed that the only reason she started the online modeling was because her refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19 had cost her acting gigs.