When we talk about peak television, The Sopranos would definitely be among the top ten with its crime saga and psychological elements. Apart from the show, James Gandolfini’s portrayal of the mafia boss Tony Soprano is also widely regarded as one of the finest in the history of television. But behind this tough character was an actor who was deeply committed to playing the role to the best of his abilities.
However, one time Gandolfini messed up one scene intentionally just to see if the director noticed or not. To his surprise, his mess-up went unnoticed, and the director simply moved on to the next shot.
James Gandolfini intentionally messed up a scene in The Sopranos that went completely unnoticed
The list of awards that James Gandolfini has won for his acting contributions is a testament to why he’ll always be legendary. While he passed away in 2013, he left behind a plethora of cinematic masterpieces spread across different genres. But in this list, his portrayal of Tony Soprano in The Sopranos would definitely stand the tallest.
From him sacrificing his salary to give bonuses to his fellow co-stars to people always praising his kindness, he had a lot of qualities that people still talk about. But apart from his kind heart, he was also a big mischief on set and once pulled a prank that nobody could even spot that he actually messed up a scene, that too intentionally.
This was revealed by Emmy-winning director Phil Abraham, who had worked on 48 episodes of The Sopranos. Since he spent a lot of time on set, it was only natural that he had a good rapport with the cast, including Gandolfini.
During the Talking Sopranos podcast, he recalled the episode titled Pine Barrens and how, after filming the actor pulled him aside and confessed:
Listen, I need you to keep an eye on him (director) because I just tanked that last shot to see if this guy knew what he was doing. And he just printed it and moved on.
He performed badly on purpose just to see if the director would notice or not. To his surprise, the director went ahead, said cut, and moved on, approving the scene. This left the actor frustrated by the fact that the director wasn’t paying much attention to his performance. But for the fans, they would never know the scene in which he pulled this stunt.
Why did James Gandolfini dared HBO to fire him?
James Gandolfini gained an immense fan following, all thanks to his Tony Soprano role. But while he was thriving professionally, his personal life was marred with challenges, and he struggled to handle the immense pressure that came with this popularity.
Those who were close to him had known that he had a long history of alcohol and drug abuse, and at one time, things became so severe that HBO executives had to stage an intervention to get him the help he needed.
This was revealed by former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht in the Max docuseries Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos via Independent. He detailed that he had called the actor over to his apartment under the pretense of a one-on-one conversation. But when he actually arrived, he noticed his family members as well as some of his co-stars in what was clearly an intervention. He immediately said, “Aw, f**k this,” and walked out.
As people tried to stop him, he turned towards Albrecht and said, “Fire me.” This was not the first time that he had threatened to leave the show. His co-star Steven Van Zandt also added in the same docuseries that nearly every day, the actor used to say that he was done with the show. While these things happened, the actor continued to play Tony Soprano.
You can watch all the seasons of The Sopranos on Amazon Prime.
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