If things had gone differently, it could’ve been someone else leading the cast of “The Sopranos.” But luckily, series creator David Chase didn’t stick with his hasty first reaction to James Gandolfini.
In an excerpt from Jason Bailey’s book “Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend” (via Vulture), Chase worried that Gandolfini wasn’t “threatening enough,” before ultimately casting him in the career-defining role.
During the show’s development, Gandolfini’s manager, Nancy Sanders, told Chase, “I think I have Tony Soprano.” Chase wasn’t immediately convinced.
“All right, here’s the deal,” Chase told Sanders after checking out Gandolfini’s reel. “I think he’s brilliant. I have one concern, and that is, is he threatening enough?”
Sanders stood up for her client, quickly quieting Chase’s concerns, “If you said to me, ‘He’s a little chubby,’ or ‘He’s losing his hair,’ I could understand. But he’s threatening enough. This is your guy.”
“The Sopranos” casting directors, Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken, echoed Sanders’ enthusiasm. They remembered that Gandolfini “was really our favorite idea from the beginning.”
Gandolfini himself wasn’t confident that he would land the role of Tony Soprano. He recalled in the excerpt, “I think my exact words were, ‘I could kick this guy right in the ass, but I’ll never get cast. They’ll hire some fucking pretty boy.’ I thought they’d hire, you know, one of these Irish-looking guys who are all over TV now.”
He also worried that Chase would be “a pain in the ass” to work with. However, after the pair met for breakfast, all concerns melted away.
“When he finally settled down and really did a reading, it was just obvious,” Chase said.
“The Sopranos” is currently streaming on Max.
