Brooklyn-born actress Lorraine Bracco is far from home in her new HGTV series.
Last year, the raspy-voiced “Sopranos” star purchased a house in Sambuca di Sicilia in Italy for only 1 euro. The catch? She had to completely redo the 200-year-old casa, which didn’t have electricity or plumbing.
It wasn’t exactly a walk in the piazza.
The year-long renovation is chronicled in “My Big Italian Adventure,” which premieres Friday, Oct. 30, at 9 p.m.
Here, Bracco, 66, tells The Post about her foray into construction, what it was like getting yelled at by little old nonnas and why her experience was not like “Under the Tuscan Sun.”
What made you want to take on this project?
On my phone, the alert came out that said “Buy a 1-euro house in Sicily.” I clicked on [it], and I read the article, and I was intrigued. I’d never been to Sicily, even though I’ve been to Italy I don’t know how many times. The town [of Sambuca] is gorgeous. There are 25 churches. It’s old-school.
Your ancestors were from Sicily. Did you feel at home?
I felt like I belonged — I didn’t feel like an outsider. I gave a lot of work to the town. But there was this older woman, she was mad that the construction stopped the traffic in the street. She gets out of her car, she’s huffing and puffing. She starts to yell, she’s looking at the permit on the side of the house, and it says “Bracco, Lorraine.” And she was like, “A girl? No woman can do this, own the house.” That was incredible to me.
What was the design process like?
Mostly everything is from Sambuca: reclaimed wood, reclaimed doors. I got to keep these 200-year-old floors. I put windows in my bathroom, and the Italians were like, “What?” It’s something they don’t really do. And then upstairs I put french doors and they were like, “Oh, my God, she’s out of her mind.”
Did you ever regret taking the project on?
I cried when they had to take out things for structural reasons. That really pissed me off. It was a lot of work, it was 5,000 decisions. You gotta have a lot of balls to do this. As frustrating as times were and as difficult as it was 3,000 miles away, I really have to say it’s kind of a highlight of my life.
Did the coronavirus impact construction at all?
Because of corona, I’ve not been back. I’ve not slept there, which makes me very sad. I hear I have mice. But at least somebody’s enjoying it. When COVID dies, we’ll go back. It’s kind of exciting knowing it’s there for me.
When the show was announced, people on Twitter were comparing it to “Under the Tuscan Sun.” Have you seen the movie?
It’s adorable. Diane Lane found a gorgeous man at the end [of the movie]. I hope when I go back I’ll find him too.
