The Emmy award-winning actor, who starred as Ralph “Ralphie” Cifaretto in 21 episodes of the HBO drama “The Sopranos,” told Page Six<\/a> his tried and true recipe for optimal health while chatting at the 30-year “Bound” anniversary during the Tribeca Film Festival.<\/p>\n “You need three things \u2014 masturbation, medication and meditation,” Pantoliano confessed.<\/p>\n COUNTRY STAR ASHLEY COOKE SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RARE HEART CONDITION THAT COULD END HER LIFE AT ANY MOMENT<\/a><\/p>\n Joe Pantoliano revealed the three components he focuses on for peak mental health. (Gilbert Flores)<\/p>\n Pantoliano further indulged and said while he doesn’t meditate, he does take a “wonderful supplement,” and “my wife [Nancy Sheppard] takes care of [the masturbation].”<\/p>\n “You need three things \u2014 masturbation, medication and meditation.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Joe Pantoliano<\/p>\n The couple married in 1994 and share four children together.<\/p>\n HAYDEN PANETTIERE SAYS FILMING ‘NASHVILLE’ WAS LIKE LIVING THROUGH ADDICTION TWICE<\/a><\/p>\n In lieu of medication, Pantoliano followed doctor’s orders by stepping outside for a casual walk every day.<\/p>\n Joe Pantoliano and wife Nancy Sheppard have been married for 32 years. (Joy Malone)<\/p>\n “When I went to McLean Hospital, the brain hospital, they told me that a brisk 15-minute walk is equivalent to like 90 milligrams of Prozac, so I walk every day,” he told the outlet.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n The “Bad Boys” star also discussed his history with addiction<\/a>, and noted that “success” was once a vice before explaining “then sex and then alcohol.”<\/p>\n “Finding things that make this feeling go away,” he said. “I thought if I could become successful, then this feeling that was in the pit of my soul would go away.”<\/p>\n Joe Pantoliano, Edie Falco and James Gandolfini smile together at a New York event for TNT’s ‘Come Together.’ (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Pantoliano said that he instead “crashed and burned, didn\u2019t die, and I guess discovered my shortcomings; they weren\u2019t terrible defects, they were, you know, just mental illness<\/a>.”<\/p>\n CHARLIE SHEEN CALLS DRUGS AND BOOZE A ‘YOUNG PERSON’S GAME’ AFTER PIVOTAL MOMENT LED TO SOBRIETY<\/a><\/p>\n The “Matrix” actor has been candid about his struggles with depression and addiction over the years.<\/p>\n LIKE WHAT YOU\u2019RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n “You find something that fills the void \u2014 masturbation, meditation \u2014 it doesn\u2019t matter. You have a drink and you go, \u2018Ah, this is the feeling I\u2019ve been looking for.\u2019 You\u2019re trying to fill it,” he told Page Six<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n Joe Pantoliano earned an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for “The Sopranos” in 2003. (Chris Weeks\/FilmMagic)<\/p>\n His own challenges with depression inspired Pantoliano to establish the mental health<\/a> awareness charity No Kidding, Me Too!<\/p>\n![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/joe-pantoliano.jpeg\")
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