James Gandolfini was memorialized by his former cast members in The Sopranos documentary as they revisited the HBO show’s success in a two-part documentary titled Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.
Released via HBO on Saturday, September 7, the film shows director Alex Gibney sitting face-to-face with the show’s creator, David Chase, on a set that looks awfully similar to Dr. Jennifer Melfi’s (Lorraine Bracco) office. The pair discussed how the show, which premiered in 1999 and aired for six seasons until the controversial series finale in 2007, became a cultural phenomenon.
Amid scenes from the series and Chase’s anecdotes, those involved with The Sopranos spoke about their fearless leader, Gandolfini, who played mob boss Tony Soprano. The actor died from a heart attack in June 2013, six years after The Sopranos ended. Gandolfini was featured in the documentary through archived interview footage.
“He was very different than Tony Soprano, he was very laid back,” Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) said of the late star. “He wore Birkenstocks and liked Green Day and AC/DC. What’s funny is that a lot of fans look at Tony Soprano as kind of a role model — which is very scary in a lot of ways. He probably felt that: people thinking he’s Tony Soprano and he’s not.”
While the cast and crew had fond memories of working with whom Chase, 79, referred to as a “really complicated” but “good guy,” they recalled the low points of Gandolfini’s career as well.
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“You might say, and I’m not sure about this, maybe there was more Tony there than he wanted to admit. That it was too easy for him,” Chase speculated. “People say, ‘The show got darker.’ Well, he got darker.”
Keep scrolling to read The Sopranos cast and crew’s quotes about Gandolfini in the Wise Guy documentary:
Creating Tony Soprano
Chase said it was “pretty obvious” right off the bat that Gandolfini “was Tony” through and through — despite some drama with the actor’s audition.
“He left in the middle of the first audition,” Chase recalled. “But we thought he was great, so our casting directors got him to come to my house and he read the scene. It was like, you know … bang.”
When they started filming the show, Chase knew that Gandolfini “understood the character.” He added, “Jim had his own way of becoming Tony Soprano.”
Even though he played such a complicated character, Chase praised the late star for making everybody laugh on set. Former chairman and CEO of HBO Chris Albrecht even stated that Gandolfini was “magic.”
Perfecting Tony’s Dynamic With Dr. Melfi
“He would just, you know, f—k around. He would throw kisses at me and take his clothes off,” Bracco recalled. “I mean, he was just a lunatic.”
She was able to get back at him on set, however.
“Jim had never been in therapy,” the actress recalled. So that was kind of fun to lead him, push him, manipulate him in a way.”
Chase said that Gandolfini and Bracco “rehearsed for three days” before shooting the first scene of Tony in therapy. “For him it was like, ‘What’s your attitude in a psychiatrist’s office?’ There was a lot of things he wasn’t used to,” he added.
What Edie Falco Said
“It was always great from the beginning to the very end,” Falco gushed of her onscreen husband. “It always felt like playing with him.”
It was “easy and carefree” to become Tony and Carmela Soprano.
“He was incredibly invested in making that character believable,” she said elsewhere in the film. “Unless you’re really diligent, you can end up taking your work home. As an actor that’s not always a great idea. So, yeah, I think it may have taken a toll on him.”
The Story Behind the $30,000
Gandolfini famously received a massive pay raise from HBO, doubling his salary ahead of The Sopranos season 4. After the contracts were signed, he shared the wealth with his costars.
“When Jim got the deal, none of us even knew it was on the table,” Drea de Matteo (Adriana La Cerva) recalled. “We didn’t know to negotiate. I think he felt terrible about that. So, he called us all into his trailer one by one and gave everybody a check for $30,000.”
Falco appeared to be joking when discussing the money aspect, telling the documentary filmmakers she doesn’t “know anything about” the $30,000. “He was a very good-hearted, kind man. Looking out for his friends.”
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As for why the “generous” Gandolfini gave the money? Chase had an idea about that.
“I think he felt HBO had f—ked them. And he wanted to do something to make up for it, to help,” the creator explained. “I also think that there was maybe a shred of regret for the days he didn’t show up for work.”
Inside Gandolfini’s Struggles
As his fame continued to rise, Gandolfini suffered — quietly at first but then things started to become public. (Gandolfini struggled with substance abuse as his fame continued to rise.)
Costar Steven Van Zandt (Silvio Dante) said Gandolfini threatened to “quit the show every other day.” While the star would always return to set “a few times, he disappeared for a few days,” Van Zandt recalled. “It just got to him.”
Albrecht said that Gandolfini made a deal with the network to “dock him $100,000 a day for every day he didn’t show up.” While the show’s star skipping work cost money, it also created “the worry about what’s happening to him.” Eventually, the cast and crew tried to have an “intervention” with the actor.
“He walked in, he saw everybody sitting there, and he went, ‘Oh f—k this.’ And he walked out,” Albrecht recalled, noting that Gandolfini said, “Fire me.”
While they were aware of his hardships, some costars defended Gandolfini. Imperioli, for one, said the level of fame was “a little strange” for the late actor. “That eradication of privacy, he was really in the spotlight wherever he went. He didn’t blend into the crowd,” he added.
De Matteo said the whole cast “partied” together while they were filming. “We had a great f—king time,” she said. “Maybe there were some mornings where it just was a little harder to get out of bed for all of us. It wasn’t just Jim.”
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Chase, however, just thinks that “Jim didn’t know or expect” what it would be like to lead a series of this caliber.
“He felt that he had to go to places, he said, that were destructive to him. And painful for him,” the creator added.
His Reaction to the Finale
The Sopranos famously has a controversial ending scene — and Gandolfini thought so too.
“Jim said, ‘That’s it?’ … He couldn’t believe it,” Bracco recalled, noting they watched the last episode together. “I think he was in shock, like everybody else.”
Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos is available now on HBO and Max.
