2024-01-13 16:56:57
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the broadcast of the premiere episode of “The Sopranos”, and if you haven’t seen this masterpiece series yet, then leave everything you’re doing, lock yourself in the house and don’t go out until you’ve finished every frame of this immortal series. It is as important as “Sin and its Punishment”, like Picasso’s “Guernica”, like Mozart’s “Requiem”. It is simply a cultural obligation.
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“The Sopranos” made a complete revolution in television, so much so that every unforgettable series released since then surely learned something from it, and if you love television you owe it a lot. She broke ground with a power not seen since with her problematic hero, Tony Soprano, a tough mobster with post-traumatic stress and a complex and soft soul, and she told the updated and grim story of the mafia as it had never been shown on any screen, with all due respect to Scorsese and Coppola. With such baggage it only makes sense that branching myths of behind-the-scenes stories and trivia items that every culture member should know would develop around her.
“The Sopranos” (Photo: PR/HBO/Getty Images)
Mobsters love the Sopranos
When playing something that is based on a true story in one way or another, the people the content is based on don’t always appreciate the actor’s work. This was not the case with James Gandolfini, who drew many compliments from mobsters for the way he performed the role of the head of the family, Tony Soprano. In a recording from 1999 that was distributed in the American media, you can even hear the heads of the mafia in New Jersey talking about how much the events of the series remind them of their lives.
James Gandolfini paid a bonus to all the actors
The pay gap in Hollywood is a time-honored tradition. After the third season, the series was in danger of early elimination, since James Gandolfini fought like a lion in negotiations regarding the improvement of his salary conditions and threatened to leave the series, until the HBO network folded and was ready to pay him the amounts he demanded (about a million dollars per episode). Gandolfini, who put the careers of the huge cast in jeopardy, made sure to pay each of them a bonus of $33,000 out of his own pocket.
Dr. Melfi was supposed to play Carmela Soprano
Lorraine Bracco, the actress who plays Dr. Melfi, the psychologist Tony Soprano visits at the beginning of the series – was supposed to play Carmela Soprano, but due to the great similarity to her previous role in the movie “The Good Guys”, she chose to go for the role of Dr. Melfi that she thought would challenge her more. Wallach was right.
To be edgy, James Gandolfini puts stones in his shoes
It’s no secret that the late actor took the role he played very seriously, to the point of numerous personal crises and addictions. But I’m not sure you knew that in the scenes where he had to look nervous, there were stones in his shoes to feel physical discomfort. Also, before he would shoot scenes where he got out of bed, he wouldn’t sleep a whole night to look tired.
Tony Sirico agreed to play Foley only if there was no whistleblower
Like the creator of the series, many actors had one way or another connection to the mafia/ this is one of the reasons that Tony Sirico, who plays Polly Gutierrez and is responsible for some of the biggest punches in the history of the series, will never play an informer. He even said he refused to play Foley if he turned out to be a whistleblower at the end. Sirico explained this principle with a pretty clear quote: “I come from the streets, I’ve been in the army, I’ve been everywhere and I won’t play dumb even if you put a gun to my head, and if you’re going to do that, you better empty it.” ok ok then no.
Ray Liotta refused to appear on “The Sopranos” until he agreed
It’s hard to think of anyone other than James Gandolfini in the role of the violent and volatile mobster Tony Soprano, but it turns out he wasn’t the first HBO wanted for the role. Before Gandolfini, the role was offered to the actor Ray Liotta (“The Good Guys”), but he refused. Liotta refused to join the series once again when he was later offered to play Ralphie, but don’t worry – in the end he broke and you can see him in the prequel movie “Newark Saints”. insolent.
The role of Silvio was written because the actor refused the role of Tony
Not only Ray Liotta preceded Gandolfini. Series creator David Chase was a fan of Steven Van Zandt, who is among other things Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist, and wanted him to play Tony Soprano. Van Zandt, a musician by profession, is not an actor and chose to turn down the crazy offer to play one of the most influential gangster characters in history, in order not to take a role from a professional actor. Chase specifically wrote him the role of Silvio Dante in return, which was not part of the initial script. I wonder if there is a player who would have behaved this way if the situation was reversed.
The screenwriters really liked the word “puck”
It is known that this is a blatant series, one of the most blatant in history, but did you know that during its eighty-six episodes, the word “puck” is said 3,508 times? Only in the second season the word is said 715 times, of which Tony is the one who says the word 264 times. Lashes of liquid soap had to be distributed there on the set for them to wash their mouths with.
Under no circumstances are there any improvisations on set
The first law of “The Sopranos”: no improvisations in “The Sopranos”. The second law of “The Sopranos”: There are no improvisations in The Sopranos. The creator of the series David Chase wrote a very (very) meticulous script and even if one of the actors has a strong desire to say something that is not in the script or change the way it is planned to act in the scene, it has to go through the creator of the series. And the answer is no, thanks for asking.
There’s a reason the gun is in the logo
Today, there are few people who have not heard of “The Sopranos” at least once in their life, but when the series first came out, apparently no one knew what it would be about. That’s why the people with the suits at HBO were afraid that they would associate the name with the music field and not understand what the theme of the series is. What is the solution? Add a gun to the logo, of course. American guns understand.
Only one actor wrote episodes for the series. Among them is the worst episode
Michael Imperioli, who just recently flickered on our screens in the series “The White Lotus” is the only actor who received credit for five episodes he wrote for “The Sopranos” and although four of them are quite good, there is one that stands out negatively and is rated as the worst episode of the series on IMDB – “Christopher” “. We even wrote about it Here.
Tony Soprano is good for small business and not because of what you think
As part of trying to be as realistic as possible, the creators of the series used existing locations in New Jersey and New York. A pizzeria that appeared in the opening for a second and a half received thousands of phone calls from all over the US and a store with a sign announcing bankruptcy received so many customers that it had to re-advertise that it was still open.
In the fourth season there was a small change in the opening
In the first three seasons you can see the Twin Towers during the opening. After the September 11 attacks that scarred American society for years, it was decided to remove the Twin Towers from the opening.
David Chase admits that there is one very unreliable thing about the series
Although we have already established that the series accurately describes the life of mobsters in New Jersey, there is one detail that David Chase knows he screwed up: the story of Tony and Carmella’s divorce. The reason is that usually, even if it is very difficult for them to be together and even if they deserve to be alone, mobsters do not divorce.
“The Sopranos” could have been a movie
In the beginning “The Sopranos” was even planned to be a movie, but after David Chase showed the script to his manager, they decided together to turn it into a series. David Chase also thought at one point that if the pilot didn’t get picked up by any network, he would shoot some more extras and wrap up the story with a movie that ends with the scene where Tony tries to kill his mother with a pillow.
The creators of the series know how to launder money
In order to create credibility, the screenwriters learned how mobsters launder money and even consulted with the New York District Attorney on the matter. When the DA was asked how much money he thought Tony Soprano had accumulated, he replied that the amount ranged from five to six million dollars, but could also be less because of his gambling problem.
Steve Buscemi was supposed to appear in the series more
One of the favorite characters throughout the seasons of The Sopranos was the character of Tony Blendetto, played by the brilliant Steve Buscemi who even won an Emmy for the role. Buscemi was signed for two seasons, but David Chase felt that his story should be told in one season and Buscemi was given another chance to play an uninhibited mobster in “Empire of Crime”.
The Sopranos demonstrated an unexpected use of CGI
Today, CGI is standard in every action scene, but in “The Sopranos” they preferred realism and needed effects in a completely different case. After the actress Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) passed away, the creators of the series used rather poor CGI to paste the face of the deceased actress on body double If they were to stay with us for a few more years it could already be done with artificial intelligence or a simple face-swap app.
Never underestimate Tony Soprano
Apart from three characters, everyone who called Tony Soprano “Antony” at some point did not survive to the finale.
Tony Soprano mixes drugs and alcohol
Astute viewers must have noticed that Tony Soprano takes psychiatric and other medications throughout the series, but does not stop drinking alcohol, a mixture that the psychiatric community does not recommend and can explain his violent behavior and unexpected outbursts.
Vito appeared in the first season as an extra
One of the best things about “The Sopranos” is that a character can be mentioned in one episode in the first season and suddenly reappear in the last season. This is the case with the character of Vito who has been integrated into the plot in recent seasons. Actor Joseph Ganascoli appeared as an extra in the eighth episode of the first season, when Christopher Moltisanti kicks Gino out of the mafia.
Although Christopher is like Tony’s son, he is not far behind him in age
Many people think that Christopher is really younger than Tony, mainly because of his attitude towards him and also because he is his “nephew”, but in fact Christopher Moltisanti is not that much younger than him. At one point Phil Lautardo tells Christopher’s mother that his brother Billy was Christopher’s age. Later, Phil tells his family that it’s supposed to be Billy’s 47th birthday, which means that he and Tony are only eight years apart.
Jerry Stiller lost a role for a commercial
Our Jewish representation in the series is “Hesh”, who is played by Jerry Adler, but there was a completely different Jerry in the planning for the role – the late Jerry Stiller – father of Ben Stiller and father of George Costanza – who gave up participating in the series in favor of Commercial shots. But damn, what a commercial.
Going to a psychologist is life-threatening for mobsters
As we mentioned before, many mobsters in real life have seen the series and so did the head of the former crime family, Michael Franzese, said about the series: “If a mafia boss ever visits a psychiatrist, he will be in the trunk of a car by the end of the week with the psychiatrist.”
The end of “The Sopranos” is much clearer than it seems to you
The controversial ending of the series is considered by many to be pure genius, but many people argued that the end of everyone’s favorite mobster was a little too dull. There were those who accused the screenwriters of laziness, others simply expected a much bloodier ending, but those who pay attention to details can complete the puzzle themselves. Remember, the series ends when Tony is with his family in a restaurant, and someone looks at Tony and enters the bathroom. The main clue to what happened next appears in the episode “Johnny Cake”, where Tony’s son tells him that Tony’s favorite scene in “The Godfather” is when Michael Corleone kills his enemies when he walks into a restaurant, goes into the bathroom, and takes a gun that was hidden ahead of time in Niagara. It is very possible that this is how Tony meets his death. After all, David Chase confirmed that, at least for him, Tony died at the end. May Allah have mercy.
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