Edie Falco explains why she avoids putting a lot of work into playing CBS' Tommy or any other role

Vox

"If there is some sort of process that I have, I am unaware of it," she tells Vox. "It happens on some sort of subconscious level. And oftentimes, the period of time from when I say yes to when we start shooting is very short, so there really isn’t a ton of time to do any preparation — which is not to say I would do it even if there was time. Whatever it is that happens, happens on a subconscious level. I read an interview recently with Anthony Hopkins, talking about The Two Popes, where he’s playing a real person. The interviewer asked, 'What kind of research do you do?' And he said, 'I did none.' And I almost jumped through my ceiling with joy because he knows what’s involved. He knows how to be a person! He knows what people believe in. I have some actor friends who kid me about the fact that I don’t really do research, that whatever research I do, I do in my day-to-day life just about being a human. What people do for a living is often one of the smaller parts of the stories that we tell. There are a million people who aren’t going to agree with me on that, but this is how it works for me."