Doctor Feelgood

MOVING VIOLATION Bracco's Dr. Melfi injured her arm filming the controversial rape scene

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Even more challenging for the actress was last season's attention-grabbing twist: Melfi was brutally raped in a scene that horrified even the series' most fervent fans. But Bracco and the show's writers said that the real point of the episode was its ending, where Melfi refused to inflict vigilante justice on her rapist by revealing her plight to Tony.

''I think that whole rape episode was really fabulous for [establishing] Dr. Melfi and who she is as a human being,'' Bracco said. ''The fact was that she did not compromise. At the end of the day, it was her moral issue about whether she would cross that line.''

Originally, the episode was going to have a more predictable ending, with Tony discovering the rape and avenging it. ''It just wasn't as interesting a story that way,'' said exec producer Green. As it was, just shooting the scene proved painful -- Bracco injured her shoulder in the process, and many on the set wept between takes. ''It was a lot more violent than what we [ultimately] showed -- it was truly horrible,'' Green said.

In one of the seminar's lighter moments, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer had a burning question for Bracco: ''When are you going to sleep with Tony?'' the diminutive doctor asked from her front-row seat. Replied Bracco: ''Oh, Dr. Ruth, I'll have to come to you first! I really hope that doesn't happen... but in real life, I'll call you.''