Edie Falco's dog inspired her to adopt.
The 48-year-old actress never wanted biological kids but adopted daughter Macy, four, and son Anderson, seven, because of the bond she experienced with her beloved pooch Marley.
She explained: "I'm just not one of those people who thought having biological children was that important, to me it was more about wanting to raise a child.
"I have this dog named Marley, and it is a kind of love I had never known. I have a hard time believing Marley did not come from my body.
"I know that sounds insane, but I feel that connected to her. She made me realise I wanted to adopt children."
Edie's character in drama series 'Nurse Jackie', Jackie Peyton, is currently struggling with prescription drug abuse and the actress says her own battle with alcoholism has been helpful in inspiring her depiction of the problem.
She explained to TV talk show host Anderson Cooper: "I have enough distance from that in my real life to not actually worry that it's dangerous because it might be for someone else.
"It would be not far enough from the actual experience but I think it has really helped me because I certainly have known a lot of addicts.
"I've known a lot of people in the lives of addicts who are often saying, 'He had so much going for him why would he do this?'
"And I get it, I know exactly why he's doing it because you're addicted and it's completely irrational behaviour. And you lie and you cheat and you do whatever you need to do to get what you need. For the normal person it's impossible to understand. So it's helped my performance."
