Television: She's the boss

You may not think of Alyssa Milano as a TV legend, but consider this: She's starred in three successful TV series -- "Who's the Boss?" "Melrose Place" and "Charmed" -- a string of 19 straight years on network TV that's nearly unprecedented for someone who's just 35. You could stretch that into 20 winning seasons if you count her recurring appearances on "My Name Is Earl," which returns April 3 with new episodes.

Now Milano is both star and producer of the new Lifetime cable movie, "Wisegal," based on the true story of Patty Montanari, whose efforts to feed her family led her into the New York Mafia. Not exactly sitcom fare. Milano, who also appears in the upcoming feature film "Pathology," chatted by phone recently about being married to the mob, giving advice to today's teenage stars and why she's wild about hockey.

Q Whenever you do something about the mob, you're instantly going to be compared to classics such as "The Godfather" and "The Sopranos." Did that worry you?

A I had trepidation before I read the script. Then I saw it was just about a single mother trying to make ends meet, and that's such a universal story. The mob family is just the backdrop. Besides, I knew at some point I was going to have to do a mob story. I'm from Bensonhurst [a Brooklyn neighborhood] and I'm Italian! I knew that when I did it, though, it had to be something special and raise the bar a little bit.

Q So the accent came naturally?

A Yes. My mom still talks that way. New York women have a certain sensibility, rhythm and mentality. They're tough cookies who are street smart and speak quickly.

Q Did you meet with the real Patty Montanari?

A I didn't. I was scared to. I felt like I had a really good grasp of who she was and what I wanted to convey. If I spoke to her, maybe that would have changed my perspective. Her son was one of the producers, so I talked to him a lot.

Q Is this the first time you played a living character?

A Well, I did one of the Amy Fisher movies in my late teens. That was very different. She was very much in the public eye, so I felt a lot of responsibility.

Q You emerged from those teen years relatively unscathed. How do you feel about those young people in the business that are having trouble?

A My agent says I should give some sort of seminar for young actors. It's hard to draw the line between what part of their behavior is the business and what they would normally struggle with. The business magnifies the negative and the positive. As far as personal decisions, I have an amazing family. My parents have been married for 40 years and they made me feel like I'd be successful no matter what I did. Their livelihood didn't depend on me.

Q So your mother didn't want to go clubbing with you?

A God, no. She cared about having dinner on the table and me wearing clean underwear. That was back in the day when people wore underwear.

Q You've built a career on doing light comedy. Is it difficult when you do a project like "Wisegal" and you can't reach into that bag of tricks?

A There's always that temptation because making someone laugh is the greatest thing ever. But I think comedy is much more challenging because everybody's sense of humor is so different. "My Name Is Earl" is very challenging. The scripts are so funny, you sort of have to do the material justice.

Q Are you eager to do another series full time?

A I probably wouldn't say eager, but I'm interested. The most interesting roles for women, where you're not playing the girlfriend or the damsel in distress, are on TV.

Q You've also have a reputation as a sports fanatic. How did you fall in love with hockey?

A That was actually Tony Danza that got me into it. When I was doing "Who's the Boss?" he had season tickets to the Kings and anytime he couldn't go, he would give them to me. This was before Wayne Gretzky was there. They were right on the glass. I was probably 13 or 14 at the time and my brother became obsessed with it. He went on to play for Shattuck-St. Mary's School [in Faribault, Minn.] and still plays four times a week. Sports may be the reason why I didn't get into trouble as a kid. Instead of going to clubs, I was going to games.

njustin@startribune.com • 612-673-7431