‘The Sopranos’ Alum Drea De Matteo Slams Book Detailing James Gandolfini’s Alleged Erratic Behavior: “Just Kind Of A Money Grab”

The Sopranos alum Drea de Matteo has some thoughts on the way her late co-star James Gandolfini was depicted in On Locations: Lessons Learned from My Life on Set with The Sopranos and in the Film Industry,

In the new novel penned by Mark Kamine, a location scout for the hit mob drama, Kamine claims that the actor behind Tony Soprano became “increasingly unreliable,” leading to HBO having to add a “clause making him responsible for shoot-day costs if he misses work due to excesses of consumption,” per Page Six.

A particular excerpt shared by the outlet highlights them filming Season 4’s “Pie-O-My” episode. Kamine writes that Gandolfini arrived four hours late after going to Atlantic City the night before, “cursing his way through his half-learned lines, doing take after take, drinking coffees and bottles of water, alternatively sheepish and churlish, the way he always is when he fucks up.”

In the book, he also recalls Gandolfini supposedly forgetting the name of the owner of the home where they shot the show while filming Season 5, which Kamine writes “[gave him] a glimpse into the extent of [Gandolfini’s] personal struggles.”

De Matteo, who said she is “really tight” with her late co-star’s wife, widow, and daughter, spoke with Page Six about Kamine’s book, deeming it “not accurate.”
“It’s just kind of a money grab for that guy,” she told the outlet, referring to Kamine.

She defended Gandolfini — who passed away from a heart attack at age 51 while traveling to Rome, per The New York Times — as a “really incredible person,” arguing that he was “so much more than whatever” Kamine suggests in his book.

She also expressed skepticism as to why the novel arrived only a couple weeks following the show’s 25th anniversary that took place on Jan. 10. She told Page Six, “To go and cash in like [that] — like, the Italians don’t like that.”
“Jim was an angel, and I guess because he was an angel, you know, he’s not here,” she said.

When reached by Page Six, Kamine said he had no comment, telling the outlet, “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, whether they read the book or not, I guess.”

Gandolfini was allegedly battling addiction, as HBO’s former CEO Jeff Bewkes said that Gandolfini would occasionally “go on a bender or a coke binge” in journalist James Andrew Miller’s 2021 book Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, per Business Insider.

Gandolfini’s work is still lauded by his co-stars, such as Steven Van Zandt who told 60 Minutes last November that when “you do a scene with James Gandolfini, you walk away a better actor.”