“The Sopranos” is 25 years old: the history of the actors, lost glory and the crime of the stars of the series

In early January 1999, The Sopranos premiered on HBO. No breakthroughs were expected from the series about a mafia mired in everyday life and “production” problems, and many producers actively dismissed the project at the stage of its creation. But after just a few episodes, it became clear that a show with a long historical footprint was released. It is noteworthy that the main stars of the project were less fortunate than the series itself.

Probably the funniest incident, confirming how successful The Sopranos became, was a conversation between real mafiosi, recorded by an FBI agent embedded in the gang, who was in the same car with the gangsters. This was in March 1999, when the fame of “The Sopranos” resembled an all-consuming tsunami. During the conversation about various robber affairs, the mafiosi suddenly switched to the series, one of the gangsters said that in each episode he recognized one of “ours” and paid a compliment to the actors. It’s probably quite difficult to come up with a more valuable review.

There are rumors that among the mafiosi they seriously said that the scriptwriters are being helped by someone who knows how everything really is. But the truth is much more prosaic: the main creator of the series, David Chase, in addition to his passion for gangster films, went to school with kids whose dads went to showdowns as if they were in the office, so at a very young age he absorbed all this flavor.

Chase was one of the writers who had a genuine disdain for television production, as was typical of people of his generation. Initially, the script about a mafioso who goes to a psychoanalyst to talk through his relationship with his mother was created with an eye to a full-fledged movie, but on the advice of colleagues, the author nevertheless decided to adapt it into a series. Soon a pilot episode appeared, which seemed not very promising to the producers of free TV channels, primarily because of the very complex, by serial standards of that time, main character. For HBO (where the pilot was marinated for about a year), The Sopranos became the second dramatic series after Oz, but after the premiere, a different era began in the world of television.

There is a lucky coincidence in the success of every hit. Probably “The Sopranos” came out at the best time for such a project. In the late nineties, gangster cinema was reduced to passable comedies, and the moment came in the television industry when the transformation of the multi-part format from entertainment for housewives into projects for the public with more complex needs seemed like a good idea.

“The Sopranos” gave the series a taste of real cinema in everything related to pictures, editing and non-obvious script moves. At the same time, heroes suddenly appeared on the television screen, who were difficult to divide into good and bad. Tony Soprano is torn between his gangster brutality and the need to be a family man. On the one hand there is gunfire and mistresses, on the other there is a wife and teenage children. At work he is a formidable Don, at home he is the son of an overbearing mother and a middle-aged man ready to have his depression treated by a psychoanalyst. In general, an ordinary and understandable family with a tangle of problems, but with a small peculiarity: dad goes to work for a crime clan.

The pilot, which left producers with difficult feelings, eventually turned into eighty-six episodes spread over six seasons. The image of a cynic with a gentle soul impressed so much, including industry figures, that the role model Tony Soprano was clearly used to create the images of the main characters of “House,” “Breaking Bad” and other high-profile projects. It’s not very often that TV series have a second wave of popularity, but during the pandemic, “The Sopranos” was watched as if it were the first time and almost everyone noted that decades later it looks just as cool.

Projects that generate such buzz often become something of a launch pad for acting careers, but that didn’t work out very well for the stars of The Sopranos.

James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano)

Mr. Gandolfini is what you might call a supporting king. After theatrical roles, he played in True Love, The O.C., All the King’s Men and other big film projects. Everywhere he was not in the leading roles, but his appearances on the screen are difficult to forget. For The Sopranos, Gandolfini received three Emmys and a Golden Globe. Then there was another leading role in the film “Enough Words” and many flattering reviews for it. The post-Soprano period promised to be very eventful for the actor, but in 2013 Gondolfini died of a heart attack.

Go Falco (Carmela Soprano)

The role of Tony Soprano’s wife became the pinnacle of Edie Falco’s acting career. Before the “clan,” there were independent films (“The Law of Inevitability” brought Ida a nomination for a local award, “The Price of Life” — an award from the American Film Institute) and unnoticeable roles in TV series like “Law and Order” and “Homicide.” After collecting a whole crop of awards for The Sopranos, Falco decided to switch to comedies and even received an Emmy nomination for the sitcom 30 Rock. The black comedy Nurse Jackie (2009) earned Falco an Emmy. Since then, there have been no special breakthroughs in the actress’s career. In the second and third parts of Avatar, the actress plays General Ardmore.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano)

“The Sopranos” became the second project for the actress, and the role of the daughter of the main character brought Jamie-Lynn great popularity. Sigler’s health greatly influenced her future career. In 2000, due to Lam’s illness, the girl was paralyzed from the waist down for several days. A year later, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. However, the actress regularly appeared on the set and played small roles in “Beauties,” “Love on an Island” and other TV series.

Robert Iler (AJ Soprano)

The actor who plays Tony Soprano’s son first appeared on screen in Marilyn Manson’s video for the song Dope Hat. Four years later, he received a role in The Sopranos, and in 2001, he received a suspended three-year prison sentence for the armed robbery of tourists from Brazil (about forty dollars in damage) and possession of marijuana. There is some irony in the fact that after these events, the actor played in several seasons of the TV series Law and Order. Since 2009, there has been silence in Ayler’s filmography.

However, Robert Iler’s problems with the law look very modest compared to what happened in the life of Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Galtieri in The Sopranos. Before he got into the movies, Tony was a real mafioso. Twenty-eight arrests and a whole bunch of charges. But after his role in the famous TV series, Tony behaves quite decently.

Dominic Chianese (Junior Soprano)

A true legend of the episode. He began filming in 1964; the most recent entry in his filmography is the TV series “The Village” (2019). Between them are “The Godfather”, “All the President’s Men” and other films from cinema textbooks. At 92 years old, Dominic is quite vigorous; in addition to filming, he performs in a cabaret, performing Italian songs.

Lorraine Bracco (Jennifer Melfi)

The psychologist to whom Tony Soprano goes has greatly excited the male audience of the series. In The Sopranos, Lorraine became a very famous actress. In 1990, she received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. True, then there were several not the most successful projects, but the role of Jennifer Melfi returned the actress to the circle of those to whom not only viewers, but also critics confess their love. It’s a pity that it won’t last long. After The Sopranos, the actress did not have any high-profile projects, which did not stop her from writing a book about self-development.

Steve Van Zandt (Silvio Dante)

Steve is probably the only member of The Sopranos who is still applauded in stadiums. Van Zandt is a key collaborator of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, and the musician has spent the past year on a super-successful world tour. Movies sometimes exploit his conspicuous appearance (he recently played a singer in Scorsese’s The Irishman), and it was his charisma that could secure him the role of Tony Soprano. At least David Chase was all for it, but the producers did not want to give the main role to a person without acting experience. Steve himself is not offended by this.