Falco still an awkward Long Island kid

NEW YORK, June 7 (UPI) -- Actress Edie Falco says she still sees herself as an "awkward kid from Long Island" despite her fame from the U.S. TV series "The Sopranos."

Falco said she "fell into" her TV popularity by playing Carmela Soprano on the popular HBO drama, which ran from 1999 to 2007, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

"I'm an awkward kid from Long Island who had a dream about going to New York and becoming an actress. That's who I still am in my core," Falco told the Globe. "And I fell into this phenomenon. Huge. Huge. This doesn't happen to most people."

The 45-year-old actress, now the star of the new Showtime original series "Nurse Jackie," told the Globe she was never concerned about being stereotyped as a result of her "Sopranos" role.

"People can't stereotype me unless I let them," she said.

The actress also downplayed any chance she would undergo medical procedures to improve her looks.

"I'm lucky in that the way I look has never gotten me anything," she told the Globe.