Entertainment News

Home

Movies

Streaming

Music

Quizzes

Newsletter

Michael Gandolfini (left) and Alessandro Nivola attend the premiere of 'The Many Saints of Newark' at the Beacon Theater in New York, New York on Sept. 22, 2021. Sipa USA

Michael Gandolfini feels 'very proud of' dad James Gandolfini after process of making 'Many Saints of Newark'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 10/1/21

The story has been unraveled countless times in the rollout of The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel feature-length film of The Sopranos, which finally hit theaters and HBO Max on Friday.

Michael Gandolfini, 22, was only eight years old when HBO's seminal television series The Sopranos wrapped its iconic six-season run in 2007. He was 14 years old when his father, James Gandolfini, died of a heart attack in June 2013. James portrayed Tony Soprano, but Michael hadn't watched a single episode until the opportunity to play a young Tony Soprano in Many Saints was presented to him.

In a new installment of Entertainment Weekly's "Around the Table," Gandolfini summed up how he experienced taking on his father's legacy:

"The whole process was one of the most incredible things I've ever gotten to do in my life. First, becoming a fan of the show for the first time. I was a kid; I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it was about. Falling in love with the show was an incredible experience for me, and being very proud of my dad and proud of everyone that I've known for a long time. And then going through a very rigorous and complicated audition process, where, at first, I was conflicted on whether or not we should do it, or what is everyone going to say, and then slowly falling in love with [Sopranos creator] David [Chase]'s writing and then being scared that I wasn't going to get it. I have to get it. I hope I get it. At the end of the day, I got to work with these people here, which has been one of the greatest gifts. This is the first time I've ever gotten emotional. Everyone trusted me."

Gandolfini also made the rounds on late-night television this week, where he continued to open up about stepping into Tony's shoes:

Directed by Alan Taylor, Many Saints explores Tony's upbringing in New Jersey during riots in the 1960s between the Black and Italian communities. Tony is brought into mob life by Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), who is the father of Sopranos character Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).

While Chase told EW he felt "it was time" to revive The Sopranos in the form of a prequel, he previously lamented to Deadline how he never would have had he known the film would be released to HBO Max for streaming the same day as its theatrical release:

"Extremely angry, and I still am. I mean, I don’t know how much you go into this, you know, like…okay. If I was…one of those guys, if one of those executives was sitting here and I was to start pissing and moaning about it, they’d say, you know, there’s 17 other movies that have the same problem. What could we do? Covid! Well, I know, but those 16 other movies didn’t start out as a television show. They don’t have to shed that television image before you get people to the theater. But we do. And that’s where we’re at. People should go see it in a theater. It was designed to be a movie. It was…it’s beautiful as a movie. I never thought that it would be back on HBO. Never."

However you choose to watch, get a taste of what you're in for with the trailer below.