Why Tonya Walsh On Big Sky Looks So Familiar
When Tonya Walsh appears on "Big Sky" in Season 2, Episode 2 ("Huckleberry"), she goes to the Dewell & Hoyt Private Investigations seeking help finding her missing boyfriend. She's wearing a nametag, which allows Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) to call her by her name, alarming her. While it could be anxiety and fear surrounding her boyfriend's disappearance, Tonya comes across as very unsure of herself and passive when we first meet her. But Tonya is a fast learner when it comes to survival, and is soon bargaining for a job with the cartel responsible for her boyfriend's disappearance.
By the end of Season 2, Tonya has proven her loyalty to Ren (Janina Gavankar) and the cartel, and has progressed from setting up drug shipments to murder. But when Ren decides she and the cartel are leaving town, Tonya apparently switches career paths yet again, with Season 3 beginning with Tonya now working as a realtor. After some hostile words to each other, Cassie and Tonya make a business deal, with Cassie buying Mountain Ranch from her.
With Tonya now a season regular and legitimate businesswoman, we are curious about the direction her character is now heading. If you're wondering where you've seen Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the actress who plays her, she has a resume that includes one of the most perfect TV shows ever made.
Sigler's first major role was in The Sopranos
When Jamie-Lynn Sigler was cast in "The Sopranos" as daughter Meadow Soprano, she only had one screen credit to her name. On Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa's podcast "Talking Sopranos," Sigler talked about how she ended up with the role. "I was 16, I had strictly only ever done musical theater," she told them. She had planned to go to a sleep-away camp with her friends, but a phone call changed everything. "I got a call about a 16-year-old Italian-looking girl for a show called "Sopranos," it was the only information I got, and then the sides were Meadow arguing with Carmela about wanting to go on a ski trip with Hunter."
She dealt with a lot of tumultuous and emotional moments during the show, not only getting married and divorced, but also finding out that she has multiple sclerosis in 2001. She finally started watching "The Sopranos" during the pandemic, and felt waiting until she was able to really enjoy it as a viewer was the best decision. "I got to be a part of this, this is so cool. I'm so proud, prouder than I have ever been, genuinely," she told the podcast. Sigler played the role of Meadow from 1999 until the show ended in 2007.
Sigler played a fictional version of herself in Entourage
After "The Sopranos" ended, Sigler had small parts in various shows, such as "How I Met Your Mother" and "Ugly Betty," but her most substantial role was playing a version of herself on HBO's "Entourage" from 2008 to 2009. Jamie was first introduced in Season 5, Episode 8 ("First Class Jerk"), in which she and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) have a sexual encounter on a flight. After blowing up at him and throwing a drink in his face for telling people about it, the two began dating.
In a case of life imitating art, Sigler and Ferrara began dating in real life after she began playing his on-screen girlfriend. Her character broke up with Turtle and left the show after going to New Zealand to shoot a film, and shortly after, Sigler and Ferrara also broke up (per People). In a Reddit AMA, Sigler admitted she was originally only supposed to make a cameo in "Entourage." "When I was asked to continue on in the show, it was more about playing someone that would work for the story and for Turtle's character than playing myself.. but I think they did try and keep in mind that I was doing some kind of representing, and so I think the writers were very respectful of that."
She's struggled to find a constant role since the Sopranos
After "Entourage," she entered back into the world of guest roles, playing Tina Howard in "Drop Dead Diva," Gabriella in "Last Man Standing," Sasha Boyd in "CSI: Cyber," and Toni in "Magnum P.I." Her most substantial television role was as Emily, the wife of Zach Cregger's Nick in the short-lived series "Guys with Kids," co-created by Jimmy Fallon. Co-starring "Law & Order's" Anthony Anderson and Jesse Bradford, the show focused on the dads navigating parenthood and everything that goes with it. While this is a supporting role for Sigler, she has some strong moments, such as when she is fighting with Nick over a night out in the first episode — something many parents can relate to.
"Guys with Kids" only lasted one season, and then Sigler was back to the guest-starring roles. She also co-starred in the films "Justice," "Gangster Land," "Mob Town" and other independent and lesser-known films. Though she hasn't found the level of success she had early in her career with "The Sopranos," she's never stopped acting.