Joe Pantoliano, aka \u201cJoey Pants,\u201d has a marvelous mnemonic for mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need three things \u2014 masturbation, medication and meditation,\u201d he exclusively told Page Six at the Tribeca Festival<\/a> 30th anniversary premiere of \u201cBound.\u201d <\/p>\n The \u201cSopranos\u201d alum further explained that he takes a \u201cwonderful supplement,\u201d doesn\u2019t do meditation and \u201cmy wife [Nancy Sheppard] takes care of [the masturbation].\u201d<\/p>\n Joe Pantoliano spoke to Page Six at the 30th anniversary screening of \u201cBound\u201d at the Tribeca Festival on June 7. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival<\/p>\n The actor talked about his mental health. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival<\/p>\n Instead of medication, Pantoliano regularly takes walks, explaining that \u201cwhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Pantoliano added that for years he suffered from addictions.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccess,\u201d was one of his addictions, he explained, \u201cand then sex and then alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFinding things that make this feeling go away. I thought if I could become successful, then this feeling that was in the pit of my soul would go away.\u201d<\/p>\n Pantoliano, seen here in 2022, said \u201cmedication, meditation and masturbation\u201d were important for mental health. GC Images<\/p>\n The actor, who played Ralph Cifaretto in \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d has been open about his emotional struggles and addictions. Barry Wetcher\/Hbo\/Kobal \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n Instead, Pantoliano said that he \u201ccrashed and burned, didn\u2019t die, and I guess discovered my shortcomings; they weren\u2019t terrible defects, they were, you know, just mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cMatrix\u201d star, 74, has long been open about his mental health struggles.<\/p>\n Last year, he told Page Six that he suffered from depression for close to a decade before his diagnosis and would self-medicate with \u201cseven deadly symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant more celebrity and pop culture news?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with Page Six Daily.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Pantoliano, pictured with his wife in 2025, said \u201csuccess\u201d was one of his addictions, \u201cand then sex and then alcohol.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n The \u201cPower Book\u201d star, seen here in 2026, is married to Nancy Sheppard. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cAlcohol, what was available, women, you know, risky behavior, act first and then ask questions second,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Pantoliano, who was diagnosed with clinical depression in 2007 and has since written two books about his\u00a0mental health issues<\/a>, founded\u00a0an organization in 2009 called \u201cNo Kidding, Me Too!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which aims to remove the stigma surrounding mental health.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Emmy winner confessed to being slightly gobsmacked to be celebrating \u201cBound\u201d all these years after its release.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not expect to be alive,\u201d he admitted about how he felt while making \u201cBound.\u201d \u00a9Columbia Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n Pantoliano attended the screening along with the movie\u2019s other stars, Chris Meloni, Gina Gerhon and Jennifer Tilly. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival<\/p>\n \u201cI had no idea that I\u2019d be talking to anybody 30 years later. I did not expect to be alive, you know,\u201d he shared. \u201cThe fact that this movie is being celebrated. I had no idea that I would be lucky enough. <\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know how talented the Wachowskis were,\u201d he said, referring to writer\/director siblings Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski. \u201cYou know, it was a good part, and I wanted to have a good part in a movie, and I was hoping that it would be good, so it was very naive of me.\u201d<\/p>\n The noir thriller also stars Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly and Chris Meloni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Pantoliano, aka \u201cJoey Pants,\u201d has a marvelous mnemonic for mental health. \u201cYou need three things \u2014 masturbation,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,3172,91,88,186,259,33911,129281,92],"class_list":["post-703690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-interviews","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-exclusive","tag-mental-health","tag-the-sopranos","tag-tribeca-film-festival","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}