Early in 2020, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa premiered the Talking Sopranos podcast. Imperioli had played the impulsive young mobster Christopher Moltisanti on the gangster drama The Sopranos while Schirripa played the dull-witted but big hearted Bobby “Bacala.” With each installment of their podcast, Imperioli and Schirripa review The Sopranos one episode at a time, often interviewing fellow cast members and crew. The pair almost always ask their former co-workers if — during the making of the pilot episode — their guests could tell The Sopranos would become a cultural phenomenon. Some say yes, most say no, but whether they knew it or not, we know today The Sopranos has become one of the most well-remembered television series of all time.
As early as the second season, the show’s success was clear among celebrity circles. In the beginning, the cast was made up of relative unknowns with the exception of Oscar nominee Lorraine Bracco, known for her role in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 gangster epic Goodfellas. But by season 2 not only were other celebrities dying to get on the show, but a surprising number of them agreed to appear on the series as themselves. Some are wordless cameos while others are surprisingly surprising. For a sampling of both, keep reading to find out the celebrities who appeared on The Sopranos as themselves.
A quick warning for any Sopranos newbs — the following article contains multiple SPOILERS. We consider you warned.
Sandra Bernhard and Janeane Garofolo are busy with their death scenes on The Sopranos
Some of the celebrities who play themselves on The Sopranos show up in episodes focusing on Christopher’s Hollywood pursuits. For the entire series he continues to circle back around to his dream of leaving the gangster life behind to make the same kinds of movies he grew up watching. An early example of this is season 2’s “D-Girl” when a meeting with Christopher’s cousin’s fiancee Amy (Alicia Witt) gives him a front row seat to how movies are made.
Christopher not only gets to meet celebrities in “D-Girl,” he helps two of them with their jobs. As Amy escorts Christopher behind the scenes of a film in progress, Sandra Bernhard and Janeane Garofalo are filming their death scene. The pair are playing lovers and competing spies about to breathe their last, when Garofalo interrupts filming to complain about an insult her lover hurls at her that she “doesn’t find particularly interesting.” After the cast and crew — some of them more angry at the interruption than others — discuss options, it’s Christopher who offers the solution. He gives them an Italian insult he assures the crew anyone in Brooklyn would know, allowing things to keep rolling and boosting his ego.
Garofalo shows up again later in the episode, when Christopher’s star has fallen and he’s no longer allowed on set. While he’s not interested in helping her with dialogue, a few angry curses give her hints regardless.
Montel is moderating a debate on The Sopranos
By the time he appeared on The Sopranos, Montel Williams’ popularity as host of the often controversial The Montel Williams Show had already peaked and dipped. It was still on the air, however, and it was no doubt his familiar with navigating controversial topics that got him tapped to appear in the season 4 episode “Christopher.”
