Looking For A Change, Alyssa Milano Joins The Mob

It’s rare when an actor who has been in the business for nearly three decades is offered the chance to play a character different from any she has played before. Alyssa Milano, who broke into acting at age 7 when she joined a touring production of Annie, has found such a role in the original movie Wisegal, premiering March 15 on Lifetime. In the film, which is inspired by a true story, Milano plays Patty Montanari, a woman whose desperate times call for desperate measures.

“I sort of gravitate toward ‘girl power’ roles, and this is certainly that,” Milano says. “It’s about a woman who is widowed, left with two boys; and in order to make ends meet she does what she has to do and gets a job with the mob.”

While Milano’s motivation is somewhat different than Patty’s, the mob represents a unique employment opportunity for her, as well. Milano spent eight bewitching seasons on Charmed after starring in the sitcom Who’s the Boss? — not to mention the adolescent dreams of most boys — during her teen years. More recently, she has played a recurring character on another TV comedy, NBC’s My Name Is Earl. The chance to move her career in a different direction is what led her to Wisegal and to Patty.

“I’ve been so blessed and fortunate to have been on two very successful TV shows that have lent themselves toward me being financially secure enough to be more choosy now,” says Milano, who has proved that she is better at making the right choices than her character.

Patty’s ill-advised involvement with the mob goes beyond just a job when she begins having an affair with Frank Russo, a charismatic but dangerous captain in the crime family. Russo is played by Jason Gedrick (Desperate Housewives), who has spent 25 years of his own in acting after beginning his career in his teens.

“I think he’s an amazing talent and is aging very well.,” says Milano of Gedrick, hinting at the appeal of his volatile character. “He’s very handsome.”

By the time Patty’s work catches the eye of the family don, Sal Palmeri (played by mob-movie heavy James Caan, whom Milano calls a “pussycat” offscreen), Patty has ultimately put her life — and her family — at risk from all angles. It’s the kind of drama that most people would do anything to stay away from in real life, but probably would gravitate toward on television.

“It’s an underground culture,” says Milano, explaining the public’s attraction to mob-related entertainment choices such as The Sopranos, The Godfather and the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, which was based on the life of FBI agent and Wisegal executive producer Joe Pistone. “We’re all fascinated with things that we’re not necessarily familiar with but may be happening right next door.”

When she says next door, Milano’s not kidding. As a Brooklyn native, she grew up around the types of characters who inhabit Wisegal and was quickly able to immerse herself in her character. But while playing Patty gave Milano flashbacks to the big hair and accent of her youth, that was all that was familiar about the part.

“This role was something very different for me,” says the actress,. “I think that at this point of my life, being in my 30s, I’m trying to be more mindful of the roles that I choose and really trying to creatively be able to expand what I do.”

The irony is that, in expanding and doing something others might not expect from her, Milano has fulfilled a destiny she, as an Italian-American actress, has always known was coming.

“Well, considering my last name, I kind of felt that it was hard to avoid,” she laughs. “I figured that at some point in my career I would be playing either the wife of someone in the mob or some sort of mob-related character.”