I'm from NY, but I find her NY accent ridiculous. Normal people can turn it on and off; you'd certainly expect an actress to be able to. The casting of her as a psychiatrist was laughable - she's more like a slow Denny's waitress.
shareDeNiro, Hoffman, Pacino - 3 actors who rarely "turn off" their NY accents. I'm sure Bracco could disguise her accent if she had to. But she didn't have to. There's lots of docs in NY that sound like her.
shareI'm from NY as well OP. Not everyone sounds like the shows Friends or Sex and the City.... Manhattan is not the end all be all of NYC. A LOT of people talk like Dr. Melfi We don't know any of her backstory. For all we know, she could be from Staten Island, Brooklyn, The Bronx..... tbh These millennials and gen x-ers I constantly hear talking on the subways going to and from work sound "ridiculous". They sound like they take it up the ass. I understand girls' voices but, WHY do guys in the above age range, have HIGH PITCHED voices???? THEY sound "ridiculous".
shareNo, that's definitely a Long Island accent. For a masterful Bronx accent, see Meryl Streep in the film Doubt.
I once saw Christopher Walken do Coriolanus at the Public Theater. He was laughable with that accent.
On the other hand, he was the best damned Iago I've ever seen. With that accent.
My issue with Bracco is that she sounds like a low-rent slug who can't put two thoughts together.
I took her as a "professional Tony Soprano" in that she tried to be in the inner circle of people like the Cusamanos and the Kupferbergs but didn't belong as the Cusamanos and the Kupferbergs and their friends thought they were high society and shit on everyone else. Fine, Dr. Melfi had a "Long Island accent". So, what? Listen to Andrew Cuomo, Anthony Fauci, Rudy Giuliani..... I can go on forever. Successful, educated people that have various NY accents. What about them?
shareIT WORKS FOR ME.
shareFor me, her voice prevents her from ever 'disappearing' into a role. She's never the character, just Lorraine Bracco saying things.
shareI love how she pronounces her words when she tells Henry Hill that he isn't going out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlux6wPqXLs
"Nawt withowwt yar car keys yar nawwtt!"