The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli has dismissed any chance of a reboot for HBO’s iconic series – but he believes there could be potential to explore his character Christopher Moltisanti in a spin-off feature.
The series, which debuted in 1999, followed Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a mobster who tries to balance his duties as the head of the Soprano crime family with his actual family.
After the sixth season of the celebrated drama wrapped up, series creator David Chase extended the story in a feature film format with The Many Saints of Newark, which explored Tony’s childhood.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Imperioli, 58, admitted that he would be interested to see a similar exploration of his character’s own upbringing since ‘he was a baby’ in the project.
‘Many Saints, when I saw it, it really made me think about why Christopher turned out the way he did because he didn’t have a father,’ he began.
‘I thought [his father] Dickie Moltisanti was a really interesting character. He was a mobster, but he might have been a really good father.
‘Maybe Christopher would have turned out differently if he had that influence in his life. Seeing him grow up could be really fascinating.’
The actor – who has executive produced the new documentary series, American Godfathers: The Five Families – famously starred in all six seasons of this hit series, and also helped to write five episodes of the show.
Though fans continue to long for a return to the world of the Soprano family, Michael stressed that, as of now, there are no plans.
‘I have not heard any story, or any rumblings, for another Soprano project,’ he said, adding: ‘Unfortunately.’
The Sopranos debuted January 10, 1999, which many credit as the start of the new ‘Golden Age’ of television.
The show also starred Lorraine Bracco as Tony’s therapist Jennifer Melfi, Drea De Matteo as Adriana La Cerva and Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante.
The hit series won 21 Emmys including two Outstanding Drama Series awards, which it was nominated for every season.
It was also the first ever cable series to be nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, and was named the greatest TV show of all time by the likes of Rolling Stone and TV Guide.
Imperioli has long been best known for his part in the drama as well as his turn as Spider in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, but he has enjoyed recent success in The White Lotus season two.
He starred as Dominic Di Grasso, a Hollywood producer on a family trip to Italy with his son and father.
And his celebrated performance landed him a nomination at the 2023 Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
However, he confirmed that he would not be checking in again for the third season, which has been filming in Thailand.
‘I hope there’s a season where I can return somewhere,’ the actor said. ‘I was hoping it would be season three, but it didn’t happen.’
The Basketball Diaries star expressed his excitement to watch along with fans to see what happens to the new batch of characters as he continued: ‘One of my favorite actors Parker Posey’s in it. Yeah, she’s awesome. It think that’s a great White Lotus. I’m sure it’s gonna be great.’
He said he had been surprised to see the impact his part in The White Lotus had on his fanbase, admitting that he now appears to have found popularity with a ‘younger generation.’
‘I get approached by a younger crowd,’ the star mused. ‘The fandom of White Lotus to me is majority women but a younger generation of people.’
Expressing his joy about the matter, he continued: ‘That’s very exciting, especially because it’s something I really loved and material was really rich and fun and suspenseful and strange and all those things.’
Now the star has somewhat returned to his TV roots after working as the executive producer and narrator of American Godfathers: The Five Families.
The three-part, six-hour documentary series explores the inception, rise, and fall of New York City’s five Mafia families who over a 50-plus-year period had a hand in every facet of organized crime in America from bootlegging and drug trafficking to extortion and gambling.
Based upon Selwyn Raab’s best-seller, Five Families: The Rise, Decline and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires, the investigation also uses archival images, footage, audio recordings, and recreation to give viewers an inside peek into the inner workings of the most powerful criminal organization of the twentieth century.
