James Gandolfinionly had a few minor film credits and only two television credits (one in a made-for-TV movie), before snagging the role of Tony Soprano inThe Sopranos. An actor with no major roles rarely hits the jackpot with a starring role on television. However, Gandolfini beat the odds and became one of the most recognizable faces on the small screen from 1999-2007. Yet, it took some convincing beforeThe Sopranoscreator,David Chase, knew he’d found the series' leading guy. It stands out that Chase acknowledged that the actor wasn’t lacking in the talent category; it was all about whether he was “threatening enough.”
When Gandolfini’s agent contacted the creator, he watchedthe actor’s reel, and called the agent back with one concern. Coming courtesy of Vulture, Chase said:
“I think he’s brilliant. I have one concern, and that is, ‘Is he threatening enough?'”
If you’ve watchedThe Sopranos, even just one episode, anyone would instantly reply, ‘YES!’ And that’s exactly what Nancy Sanders replied, though with more of an explanation than the simple three-letter word. She said, “David, if your only concern is ‘is he threatening enough,’ If you said to me, ‘He’s a little chubby,’ or ‘He’s losing his hair,’ I could understand. Buthe’sthreateningenough. This is your guy.”
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Questions still remain about what happened, and David Chase keeps adding to the confusion by both confirming and denying that Tony Soprano died.
This conversation comes from an excerpt recorded in the new book “Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend.” David Chase also revealed that he thought ofcasting another legendary actoras Tony Soprano, but no one could match Gandolfini’s energy. “In the movie version ofThe Sopranos, I thought about Robert De Niro. There was never anyone after that, seriously, who I thought could be Tony Soprano.” Finding someone who portrays all the traits of a leading character is no easy feat for casting directors.
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Chase brought on casting directors Georgianne Walken and Sheila Jaffe to assist with the search. They’ve worked with writer and director Melissa Painter on a previous project, and she also recommended Gandolfini. Jaffe thought the actor was great, but only saw him in heavy roles.
“We had only seen Jim Gandolfini play heavies, and this father was a hippie who was very different, but I thought he was a good actor. I’d seen him in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ with Aida Turturro. I always thought he was really good, interesting, but I had never seen him do this kind of thing. But it was a lab, and it was like, ‘Why not?’ He did it, and it was great.”
Being an actor can be overwhelming, and going to auditions is just as tough. Gandolfini had to audition forthe role of Tony Sopranotwice because he stopped his first one out of fear he wasn’t “doing it right.” He met with the show’s team and then HBO, and although David Chase thought he was remarkable, Gandolfini was his own toughest critic. “I’m not doing this right. I didn’t prepare for this right. I’m not doing it right. And I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to come back and do it for you again.”
And so he did. He made arrangements to come back the following week but called and said his mom had died (which happened months prior). When Gandolfini finally got the chance to prove that he could indeed be threatening, Chase knew that they had their guy, and there was no one better forthe role of Tony Soprano than James Gandolfini.
