'Scandal' star Katie Lowes recalls bringing her entire family to 'The Sopranos' set when she guest-starred: 'I had one line, like who cares?'

• Katie Lowes recalled guest-starring on "The Sopranos" while promoting her partnership with La Quinta.
• She also spoke about her relationship with Connie Britton after babysitting the actor's son.

Katie Lowes might be best-known for her role as Quinn Perkins on the Shondaland hit "Scandal," but early in her career, she had a small role on "The Sopranos" — and she had an absolute blast filming it.

While speaking with Insider to promote her new partnership with La Quinta by Wyndham for its "Thankful for Mom" virtual meetup events, Lowes opened up about her experience on the set of the hit HBO drama, describing herself as a "costar's costar" for one episode.

"I can't believe I even got to do that. It was so wild," she recalled, explaining that her scenes were filmed close to where she grew up on Long Island and her whole family came to watch her work. "And they were all so nice to my family. I had one line, like who cares?"

Lowes remembered the cast of the mob drama being close to each other behind the scenes."They were all just such a family. That was the vibe they had on set, which you could tell on the show," she said.

The actor, who will next star in Shonda Rhimes' upcoming Netflix series "Inventing Anna," based on the real-life story of "fake heiress" Anna Sorokin, also got a masterclass in her craft while working on "The Sopranos."

"I couldn't tell the difference between when they would start acting and them as people," Lowes admitted, calling everyone's acting "seamless."

She particularly remembers the interesting way star James Gandolfini would prepare before the cameras started rolling. "I remember him getting into character with the heavy breathing that he would do," she said, imitating the mobster's intense breaths. "He wasn't like that in real life. He would put on this breathing."

Katie Lowes worked as a nanny before becoming a TV star, and even babysat Connie Britton's son

Before her big break on "Scandal," Lowes was in Los Angeles, auditioning for acting jobs and earning money by nannying and babysitting her neighbors' kids. It's quite a nice gig when your neighbor is "Friday Night Lights" star Connie Britton.

Lowes said Britton didn't want her to be her son's nanny or a personal assistant because Britton believed she'd be successful as an actress. "I think you're really good. You're an actress. And you're going to book work. Let's not have you be my personal assistant," she recalled Britton telling her.

"The next week, I booked 'Scandal,'" Lowes continued. "And then she and I were on the red carpets together for years, because 'Nashville' was ABC and 'Scandal' was ABC. And now we're really good friends."

She admitted that her prior experience nannying for other people's kids did not prepare her for motherhood. "I traveled with everyone else's kids. You'd think it would prep me for my own. It didn't really," she said.

Part of the reason why she partnered with La Quinta for its virtual talks to empower mothers to travel with kids is that she knows how hard it can be. The event offers conversations like "Boss Mom 101" and "Making Time for Mom," to help mothers feel ready to take on holiday travel.

Lowes said that while traveling with her two young children can be hard, it's always worth it.

"I've never come home and been like, 'We shouldn't have done it.' I've always come home and been like, 'That was awesome. We all got stronger,'" she said.

La Quinta By Wyndham's "Thankful for Mom" event runs through November 17.