“Sopranos” star Michael Imperioli’s first meeting with co-star James Gandolfini was not a smooth ride.
The actor, who played Christopher Moltisanti opposite Gandolfini’s head mobster Tony Soprano, told The New York Post his first day on set resulted in a little accident.
Imperioli’s character was driving Gandolfini, and had to maneuver the car backwards with extras walking around, all while delivering dialogue.
The only problem was Imperioli was not an experienced driver.
“And I didn’t know how to drive. I never had a license. I lived in New York City since I was a teenager, so I never got a license,” he told the outlet.
He continued: “But I didn’t tell them that, because I wanted the job … I figured, how hard could it be? It’s TV, they probably tow you….”
Imperioli accidentally slammed the car into a tree, “really hard, and really did a lot of damage,” setting off the airbags and causing smoke.
“I just thought they were gonna get rid of me. People run over, there’s a hush,” he recalled, “and then Jim just bursts out in hysterical laughter.”
Gandolfini’s laughter put Imperioli at ease.
“I thought, ‘Okay, this is going to be all right.’ [Gandolfini] kind of always liked when the wheels fell off. Like, when things would go awry, and go wrong. He had a really tremendous, goofy sense of humor.”
Gandolfini died in 2013 at the age of 51 from a heart attack while visiting Rome, Italy.
“[He was a] really good guy,” Imperioli said. “It’s still just heartbreaking that he’s gone. Always will be.”
“The Sopranos” won a total of 21 Emmy awards over the course of its run, including three in the outstanding actor category for Gandolfini, and one for Imperioli in the outstanding supporting actor category.
The show celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year.
“The reason ‘The Sopranos’ is so successful … is because it deals with children, it deals with parents, it deals with family. I mean, I think the older characters on ‘The Sopranos,’ especially in the beginning, I mean, you don’t see older characters written like that,” Gandolfini told “60 Minutes” in 2005. “I just think it’s so well written. The writers … I think they’re unbelievable. I sit there and read it and just go, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s so g—— smart.'”
