Entourage Cast Member Offers Hope

You've spoken publicly about your struggles with insomnia. When did your problems start?

As an actress in my 20s. After my role in Goodfellas and 10 years past that, I was working nonstop. I was jumping from one set to the next. A lot of times we shot at night. I had to be awake at night and a little bit in the day. It became jarring and difficult to do without sleep.

You obviously felt pretty strongly about that, since you decided to be one of the people heading up the "Sleepless Moms" campaign (www.sleeplessmoms.com, sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceuticals) to help the sleep-challenged and those with insomnia.

I was trying to make people aware there's something you can do about it, where you don't have to take a sedative.

Did any other factors contribute to your inability to sleep during this period of your life?

For women in their mid to late 20s and 30s, you start looking for love and start asking, "Am I going to find the right guy?" and "Will I be a mother?" You wonder if it's ever going to happen. Those kinds of thoughts kept me awake.

Why is there such an epidemic of women having problems sleeping?

The world has changed. Women are pretty much expected to work as much as men do, and the mother is sort of the CEO of the house. And the world moves very, very fast, so people are checking their emails at midnight. It's not like the old days, when you could just settle down with a good book and chat with your husband.

Were there physical consequences of your insomnia?

When I don't sleep, I tend to get sick.

What did you eventually do?

I sought a health care professional. My doctor prescribed me sedatives, which really helped me when I was shooting films at night. But I don't like the feeling of being groggy the next day. Now, as a parent, sedatives are not an option for me anymore.

Is there a trickle-down effect when moms are sleep deprived?

When the mother's suffering, the whole house generally tends to not be happy. I think mothers, at the end of the day, are so wound up. I know I create tension in my own home when I don't sleep. I'm agitated, I'm not focused.

Your husband's Italian and you spend time with him there. Do you sleep better in Italy?

I do. We live in Florence, three or four months in the year, five minutes into the hills. It's very relaxing for me and a very good escape. They have those fabulous shutters and walls made of stone. Once you close the shutters, it is so quiet. We're able to take siestas together.

So maybe women can create an Italy in their own minds.

I think it's very important for people to figure out a way to transport themselves. We can't all have the luxury of an Italian place to go to, or to take a vacation. If I hadn't married my husband and have my in-laws there, I would really have to search within myself to find some inner peace, putting daily life behind. I think it's very important for women to sleep, give themselves what they need, take a break, give back to themselves.