He’s remembered for playing one of television’s greatest characters who redefined the antihero.
But behind the scenes, James Gandolfini was spiraling, and at one point being fined $250,000 a day by HBO for repeatedly skipping out on filming The Sopranos to go on drug-fueled binges, a new book reveals.
The late actor struggled to cope with the ‘dark’ psychological toll of playing mob boss Tony Soprano and had felt the line between himself and the character was beginning to blur.
He would vanish for days on end and once turned up at a beauty salon after a four-day binge with no wallet and no phone,’ according to new biography, Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend’, by film journalist Jason Bailey.
The book, published April 29, reveals Gandolfini became ‘f***ed up’ by the success of the show and felt the role went from a ‘dream job into a life sentence’ that he needed to escape from.
Even when he was back on set, Gandolfini was a troubled perfectionist and used to pound walls with his fists in a rage when he fluffed lines, Bailey writes.
Though he’s credited for bringing one of TV’s greatest characters to life, James Gandolfini struggled to cope with the psychological weight of playing mob boss Tony Soprano, according to a new biography
The late actor, who died in 2013, was wrestling with demons that would nearly derail the show, which ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2007 and is rated as one of the best TV shows of all time
By season four of The Sopranos, Gandolfini’s absences from the set peaked: he would claim to be sick, not answer his door, and then turn up the next day full of apologies and gifts
Gandolfini, who died in 2013 at the age of 51, had said that he was ‘born to play Tony (Soprano)’ given he grew up in an Italian American family in New Jersey, where the show is set.
He felt an affinity for the mob characters and understood the character’s self-loathing because he suffered from it himself, Bailey writes.
But from the filming of the pilot onwards in August 1997, Gandolfini was wrestling with demons that would nearly derail the show, which ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2007 and is rated as one of the best TV shows of all time.
‘I can’t do this,’ Gandolfini told his longtime manager Mark Armstrong.
‘I’m not number one. I’m not the lead of the show. I want you to talk to David (Chase, the creator of the show) and see if this is working or not working’.
The violent scripts which featured multiple murders and other acts of brutality, quickly began to weigh on Gandolfini even as the show became an overnight success.
The violent scripts which often featured murders and other acts of brutality, quickly began to weigh on Gandolfini even as the show became an overnight success
Gandolfini’s ability to connect with the character’s self-loathing stemmed from his own suffering, the book claims
Gandolfini’s former talent agent believes all the attention from the success of the show ‘f***ed him up’ even more
Bailey writes that with each passing season ‘no matter how hard Jim worked to distance and compartmentalize he could feel the darkness of Tony Soprano seeping into his own soul’.
Actor Steve Buscemi, who directed some episodes of the show, said that Gandolfini had ‘so many lines and the character was so dark’.
‘He really struggled,’ Buscemi added.
Chase recalled that Gandolfini used to call him late on Friday nights pleading to tone down the violence.
Chase said that Gandolfini told him: ‘You’re f*****g killing me! I’ll give the money back, just make it stop!’
During nine months of shooting working until 2am or later each night, the show ‘began to feel less like a dream job than a life sentence’, Bailey writes.
The highly anticipated biography by film journalist Jason Bailey is set to hit shelves on April 29
Cinematographer Phil Abraham said he once witnessed Gandolfini lashing out on set.
He was ‘pounding a wall, like literally pounding a brick wall, cutting his knuckles up, and like, what the f****, Jim, stop!’ Abraham is quoted in the book.
Edie Falco, who starred as Tony Soprano’s wife Carmela, said she personally witnessed this too while others on the crew put it down to Gandolfini being a ‘perfectionist’.
The pressure increased again during season two when HBO added more than a million new subscribers off the back of the show and it became a cultural juggernaut.
Gandolfini became an unlikely sex symbol but the attention was an ‘anathema’ to him.
‘I’m a fat slob, not a sexy guy’, he once said.
Patty Woo, whose talent agency managed Gandolfini, tells Bailey that all the attention ‘f***** him up’ even more.
By season three, Gandolfini’s marriage to his wife Marcy was in trouble and he began skipping out on filming days.
According to Bailey, Gandolfini’s ‘confidence was starting to crater’ and his disappearances were a ‘cry for help’.
Gandolfini ‘needed a release’ from playing a murderous mobster and would often make an early start on his weekend of partying.
In her later divorce filings, Marcy would claim that every two weeks or so he would go off on a drug binge during which time he would have sex with ‘bimbos’.
In the book Abraham says: ‘At a certain point, HBO was fining him $250,000 a day. And he would say: ‘F*** it. I can’t come in to work’.
‘So we knew then, it’s not just him doing a lot of blow and drinking, and he’s not getting up because he doesn’t want to get up. No, it was deeper than that’.
The show’s creator David Chase (pictured) recalled that Gandolfini used to call him late on Friday nights begging him to tone down the violence
Actor Steve Buscemi, who also starred in the show, said Gandolfini ‘really struggled’ with his character’s dark lines
Gandolfini is seen with his Soprano costars on set. At times the actor would fail to show up, messing up the schedule and costing HBO millions, but he was then so contrite he managed to get away with it
Bailey writes that by season four of The Sopranos Gandolfini was ‘in trouble’ and his absences from the set peaked: he would claim to be sick, not answer his door and then turn up the next day full of apologies and gifts.
Things came to a head after the shooting of ‘Eloise’, the penultimate episode of the season, during an evening shoot at an airport in Westchester, New York.
The next day, Gandolfini was gone again, prompting panic from HBO.
Four days later, he walked into a beauty salon in Brooklyn with no phone or wallet and called in to the set, asking for a car to bring him home.
Susan Ashton, Gandolfini’s acting coach and close friend, says in the book there were ‘real struggles in his personal life that got in the way of his work’.
Script supervisor Christine Gee tells Bailey that Gandolfini ‘he had a golden heart but he had his demons’ which led to him drinking too much and doing cocaine.
Edie Falco, who starred as Tony Soprano’s wife Carmela, said she witnessed his outbursts on set, which others on the crew put it down to Gandolfini being a ‘perfectionist’
Falco recalled one scene when she feared for her safety because she realized Gandolfini had been drinking and, in character as Tony Soprano, tried to force her to dance with him
James Gandolfini is seen in January 2005, at a pre Golden Globes party hosted by HBO’s chairman Chris Albrecht at the Chateau Marmont hotel in LA. The following night he was supposed to host, but was too drunk before the show
‘And did he do these things to excess? Yes,’ she said.
During one scene near a steep dropoff, Gandolfini had to be tied in to ensure he didn’t fall when the crew realized he wasn’t sober.
Falco admits that she feared for her safety during one scene where Gandolfini, in character as Tony Soprano, tried to force her to dance with him.
When she realized he had been drinking, she was ‘nervous’ and several crew members came into the room to ensure the scene went OK.
Falco said: ‘He’s drinking and he’s a big man, and I’m a small woman and I’m afraid I’m going to get hurt’.
Gandolfini’s nadir was in 2002 when Marcy filed for divorce and told the New York Post he had cheated on her with Lora Somoza, an assistant on the 2001 film The Mexican, which he starred in.
Marcy claimed that their marriage – they had a son, Michael, together – was a ‘love hate relationship’ and that Gandolfini was ‘psychologically abusive’
According to Marcy, Gandolfini, who often praised her during public appearances, once told her: ‘If I stay with you one more day, I’ll die of unhappiness’.
Marcy claimed that at least 52 people knew that Gandolfini had substance abuse issues, including Falco and Julia Roberts, his co-star from The Mexican.
Gandolfini fired back in divorce papers claiming Marcy was ’emotionally unstable’ to the point where she was ‘unsafe to live with’ and had threatened to kill herself numerous times.
Amid the scandal, Gandolfini did an interview with the National Enquirer in which he said he hit ‘rock bottom’ in 1999, the year the Sopranos premiered.
‘It was a dark time for me’, he said and insisted he was clean and sober after going to rehab.
Even while filming, Gandolfini’s perfectionism could tip into self-destruction
Among the other anecdotes in the book is how Chase, who wrote and created the show, wasn’t initially convinced that Gandolfini was the right actor for the job
The divorce was finalized months later with Marcy keeping custody of their son, but Gandolfini would be a constant presence in his life.
Another major bump for Gandolfini was in 2003 when he sued HBO for higher pay for season five of The Sopranos.
Armstrong, Gandolfini’s manager, said the lawsuit ‘just rocked his world’.
At that point Gandolfini ‘wasn’t sure if he wanted the Sopranos to continue’, Bailey writes.
The ‘dark place’ he had to go to was ‘amplifying his considerable personal and psychological struggles’.
Walking away from the show would kill his career but it may have ‘saved his life’, as Bailey puts it.
Gandolfini’s nadir was in 2002 when Marcy filed for divorce and told the New York Post he had cheated on her with Lora Somoza, an assistant on the 2001 film The Mexican, which he starred in
Gandolfini married former model Deborah Lin (pictured together) in Hawaii in 2008 and welcomed their daughter Liliana in October 2012
In the end HBO agreed to pay Gandolfini $13million for the fifth season, a huge sum by the standards of the time.
Gandolfini thanked more than a dozen regular stars of the show by giving them a check for $36,000 each to show his appreciation for sticking with him – and the show continued for a sixth and final series.
Among the other anecdotes in the book is how Chase, who wrote and created the show, wasn’t initially convinced that Gandolfini was the right actor for the job.
In comments that look almost comical in hindsight, Chase told another producer: ‘He’s not menacing enough’ when he was first introduced to his future star.
Bailey writes that HBO didn’t think the show should be called The Sopranos because viewers might think it was about the opera.
They suggested ‘Family Man’ as an alternative but junked the idea when the comedy cartoon ‘Family Guy’ aired.
The casket of Gandolfini is escorted into the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine for funeral services in New York on June 27, 2013
Lorraine Bracco, who played Tony Soprano’s psychiatrist, recalled in the book how Gandolfini would try and distract her while she was filming her side of their interactions – he had usually already filmed his.
Bracco said that behind the camera, Gandolfini would do a ‘hula dance’ or put his bare butt between two screens.
‘Mooning occurred’, Bracco said. ‘He had an a** the size of Staten Island!’
According to Bailey, Gandolfini’s sleep apnea meant he sometimes came to work after just two or three hours of sleep, so he would take naps on the recliner in the Soprano family’s home on set, Bailey writes.
His appetite caused issues too and one time while rehearsing a scene in the Bada Bing strip club, one of the mob hangouts that featured frequently in the show, Gandolfini ate the steak and lobster that had been put out by the crew.
With no other food in the kitchen the producers had to scramble to get the food back to actually film the scene.
