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Why James Gandolfini ‘Drove’ Son Michael ‘Loopy’ on ‘The Sopranos’ Settheinsiderinsight

Michael Gandolfini might have grown up with a well-known father, however fame was by no means normalized in his family.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 25-year-old son of late Sopranos star James Gandolfini revealed why he was all the time compelled to look at his dad painting Tony Soprano from a distance as a child.

“Once I’d go to him on the Sopranos set, I might hand around in his trailer,” stated Michael. “I had my very own little drawer of toys and issues to maintain me occupied. My dad and mom didn’t need me outdoors on set, uncovered to the present’s violence and language.”

James Gandolfini on set together with his son Michael Gandolfini in October 2003.

Arnaldo Magnani/Getty


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For Michael, having an understanding of “the concept of filmmaking” solely made his want to be a part of it even stronger.

“Being excluded on set drove me loopy. My dad and mom have been protecting and needed me to get pleasure from being a child,” he stated. “From my father’s perspective, if I used to be going to comply with him into the enterprise, he needed me to find performing alone.”

The Sopranos ran for six seasons, from January 1999 till June 2007. Six years after its finish, James died of a coronary heart assault on the age of 51 in June 2013.

James Gandolfini on ‘The Sopranos’.

Anthony Neste/HBO


Michael would in the end go on to pursue performing, showing in initiatives like Daredevil: Born Once more and even taking part in a youthful model of Tony Soprano in the 2021 prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark.

The position was one thing he instructed The Wall Avenue Journal was “transformative” for extra causes than one.

“To play Tony as a teen, I needed to get a full sense of him, however I’d by no means watched an episode of The Sopranos. Going by way of the sequence to prep wasn’t like watching house films,” he stated.

Michael Gandolfini attends HBO’s ‘The Sopranos’ twenty fifth anniversary.

Dia Dipasupil/WireImage


“Tony was a task, and there have been many layers to what my dad was doing with the character,” continued Michael.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in February, Michael weighed in on the potential of a Sopranos prequel sequence.

Referencing present creator, David Chase, he stated, “Look, it is David’s universe. It is as much as David, in the end. I do know that David’s engaged on another issues, not Sopranos associated, which might be thrilling.”

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Whereas he stated that he would “love” to work with Chase, 79, once more, he confessed, “I feel Tony’s in all probability set to relaxation now for good,” additional including, “my guess could be, that character [has] now closed the e-book.”

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