James Gandolfini’s son Michael admits he was concerned about playing his father’s Sopranos character in prequel but had ‘unspoken trust’ in creator David Chase’s decision to cast him
He is set to portray his late father James Gandolfini’s character Tony Soprano in the highly-anticipated Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark.
And Michael Gandolfini discussed his initial reservations about taking the part with Vanity Fair on Wednesday last week, claiming he learned to have ‘unspoken trust’ in creator David Chase’s decision to cast him.
While he first felt he was unsuitable to play Tony, the actor, 21, said of the audition: ‘I had this unspoken trust that David wasn’t going to cast me if there was even a shred that this isn’t going to work.’
Candid: James Gandolfini’s son Michael admitted on Tuesday he had reservations about playing his father’s Sopranos character but had ‘unspoken trust’ in creator David Chase
Michael prepared for the role by watching The Sopranos’ first season for the first time, learning his father’s many monologues for the audition.
Of the process, he admitted: ‘It was really hard to watch my dad. I recorded four hours of his monologues with Melfi and walked around New York with them constantly, constantly, constantly playing in my ear.’
The prequel to the iconic HBO series The Sopranos focuses on the origins of its lead character, who eventually becomes a mob boss.
In his honour: Michael is set to portray a younger version of Tony Soprano in the highly-anticipated Sopranos prequel The Many Saints Of Newark (James Gandolfini in the role)
Meant to be: The actor (left) said of the audition: ‘I had this unspoken trust that David wasn’t going to cast me if there was even a shred that this isn’t going to work’
Michael said of the film’s premise: ‘The Tony Soprano we know has this beautiful vulnerability underneath and this rough exterior, but what if we flip that on its side and you watch a creative, hopeful, kind, curious kid get whittled down and formed into what he has to be?’
The Many Saints Of Newark will also explore the tension that existed between African-American and Italian people who lived in the titular New Jersey community amid the unrest of the 1967 Newark riots, which left 26 people dead and hundreds more injured.
Warner Bros/HBO Max released a sizzle reel of its upcoming 2021 slate last month, and in the very short from The Many Saints Of Newark, young Tony Soprano was seen staring at someone who says ‘Antonio Soprano’ before being attacked.
Process: Michael prepared for the role by watching The Sopranos’ first season for the first time, and he admitted ‘it was really hard to watch my dad’
The film’s release date was been pushed back from March 12 to a new premiere date of September 24 due to the coronavirus crisis.
It was written by the show’s creator Chase and Lawrence Konner, and is being released by Warner Bros. and produced by New Line Cinemas.
The movie is set to debut simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max in the USA amid changes in the film industry with massive closures and uncertainty amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Principle photography on the motion picture commenced in April of 2019, and the movie was wrapped prior to the March 2020 shutdown amid the spread of the virus.
A few scenes in the movie were re-shot this past September, and sources told Variety that the postponement is so the film will be better set for award season with a debut run on the festival circuit this autumn.
The cast of the prequel includes Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga, and Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltisanti, the father of Michael Imperioli’s original-series character Christopher Moltisanti.
The series – which famously ended on a cliffhanger – debuted in January 1999 and ran through May of 2007. The show and its stars piled up Emmy awards during its run and it’s considered a firebrand in the TV genre.
One to watch: The prequel to the iconic HBO series focuses on the origins of its lead character, who eventually becomes a mob boss, and is set to be released on September 24