In the new prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark (out in theaters and HBO Max Oct. 1), James Gandolfini’s son, Michael Gandolfini, takes on the role of a young Tony Soprano. James starred as the character on HBO’s The Sopranos for six seasons, and the new film will show Tony’s life as a teen. Preparing for his role was the first time Michael watched the acclaimed series, which makes sense. For one, he was born the same year The Sopranos premiered in 1999, meaning he was far too young to watch the violent show while it was airing. On top of that, James died in 2013, so you can understand that it might be too hard for a child to bring themselves to watch their late parent on screen.
But, when 22-year-old Michael was auditioning for the role of young Tony, he knew he needed to finally make it through the show. And in a new interview with WSJ. Magazine, Michael explained why watching The Sopranos for the first time made him feel “pissed off.”
Michael had to audition for the part.
Despite being the spitting image of his dad, Michael didn’t score the part automatically. He had to go through the audition process like other actors.
As he’s just beginning his acting career, Michael was likely greener than many actors going for the role. His other credits include appearing in the TV series The Deuce and the 2021 film Cherry. In a 2019 interview with Esquire, he said when he started taking acting classes after his father’s death, it helped him process the loss. “From the first day, I fell in love with it,” he said. “It actually started my grieving process with my dad.”
Watching the show was upsetting, but cathartic.
In the interview with WSJ. Magazine, Michael explained that just going after the role of Tony was difficult, because he had to watch The Sopranos for the first time.
“Once the audition process started, I started watching the show,” he said. “The audition process was the hardest part. Just watching for the first time. Seeing my dad and seeing how good my dad was—which pissed me off in some regard and made me feel so proud. I was so happy for him and also thinking back to growing up on the set. And then having to just clear all…the junk. All the crap…, laughing so hard and crying. It felt so good to get it all out.”
He accepts that his dad won’t see him in the role.
Describing the different ways in which he and his father took on the character of Tony, Michael said in the interview, “My dad has this beautiful vulnerability on the inside of Tony and this aggression on the outside. [The Sopranos creator] David [Chase]’s writing here kind of flipped that. I was like, All right. What if I make the vulnerability the surface and the rage slowly grows in him, right? Because of his parents. Then it was just about that.”
Michael continued, “I had known there isn’t a world where I’m going to make my dad proud—because I can’t. I understand that. But I wanted to make David proud, and I wanted to make my fellow actors proud and learn as much as I can—that was a goal I could set.”
Michael studied his dad in the part.
In the interview with Esquire, Michael also talked about watching the show for the first time. He explained that it was difficult, because he was simultaneously studying for a part and watching hours and hours of footage of his dad.
“It was an intense process,” he said. “Because, as an actor, I had to watch this guy who created the role, to look for mannerisms, voice, all those things I would have to echo. But then I’d also be seeing my father. I think what made it so hard was I had to do it alone. I was just sitting alone in my dark apartment, watching my dad all the time.”
The movie will explain how Tony got to where he is in the show.
When The Sopranos begins, Tony is already a powerful mobster at the center of his family and crime organization. In The Many Saints of Newark, Tony is a teenager, who is still in high school and observing older members of his family who are involved in the mob. Adding more tension, the film is set during the 1967 Newark riots, a period of deadly unrest regarding racial discrimination that took place in the New Jersey city.
