of The Sopranos and the unsought | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
celebrity it brought him. Before, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
during and after The Sopranos, he | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
remained defiantly a character actor, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
by all indications spared a leading | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
man’ s ego as he tackled roles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
that piqued his interest, not roles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
meant to guarantee the spotlight. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“ I’ m |
much |
more |
comfortable |
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doing smaller things,” he declared | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
not long ago. And in the past year, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
his |
film |
appearances |
included |
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supporting( or smaller) roles in | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Kathryn
Laden
|
Bigelow’ s manhunt |
Osama bin docudrama |
James Gandolfini |
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Zero |
Dark |
Thirty, |
Sopranos |
creator |
David |
delving |
into |
his |
acting |
process. |
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Chase’ s‘ 60s period drama Not Fade Away, and Andrew Dominick’ s crime flick Killing Them Softly. |
“ Oh, please! Who gives a crap!” he scoffed( though he didn’ t say“ crap”). Then he quickly apologised. |
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It |
was |
all |
part |
of |
one |
of |
the |
most |
“ I’ m sorry,” he said.“ I didn’ t mean to be abrupt.” |
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unlikely |
acting |
careers |
in |
television. |
Despite his formidable presence in person as on film, |
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How to account for the providential choice of Gandolfini to headline a high-profile HBO drama series playing an anguished mob boss and family man? Balding and beefy, he seemed the antithesis of an actor who could sustain viewers’ interest, amusing them, horrifying them and compelling them to love him in a way they had never loved a TV hero before. |
there was no confusing him with Tony Soprano. He was his own man, down-to-earth, accommodating- and nononsense when it counted. Once glimpsed by a reporter filming a scene on the set of the Soprano family’ s plush New Jersey home, he bobbled a line of dialogue, whereupon he let out a growl, not at anyone else but directed unsparingly at himself before the cameras rolled again. |
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Gandolfini made the character monstrous yet |
On |
the |
other |
hand, |
he |
clearly |
knew |
the |
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sympathetic, a man with a murderously chilling gaze yet |
difference |
between |
what |
was |
serious |
as |
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a mischievous smile. Thus did Tony Soprano become |
an |
actor |
- |
and |
what |
was |
deadly |
serious. |
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part of the culture, taking Gandolfini, reluctantly, with him. |
Marshalling |
his |
unbidden |
clout |
as |
a |
star, |
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By the end of the series’ run, Gandolfini was |
Gandolfini |
produced |
( though |
only |
sparingly |
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suitably grateful for the role he had embodied for six seasons. But he had lent such authenticity to Tony that the character by then weighed heavily upon him. |
appeared in) a pair of documentaries for HBO focused on a cause he held dear: Veterans affairs.
Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq( 2007) profiled
|
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Gandolfini |
said |
he |
struggled |
to |
like |
Tony. |
soldiers and Marines who continued to wage personal |
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“ Let’ s just say, it was a lot easier to like him in the beginning, than in the last few years,” he told AP few days before the series’ finale in June 2007. |
battles back at home. Four years later, Wartorn: 1861- 2010 charted victims of post-traumatic stress disorder from the US invasion of Iraq all the way back to the Civil War. |
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‘ I |
didn’ t |
mean |
to |
be |
abrupt’ |
“ Do I think a documentary is going to change |
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In that rare interview, famously press-shy ever since |
the |
world?” |
Gandolfini |
said |
about |
the |
latter |
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The Sopranos blindsided him with stardom, was as gracious as he was uncomfortable discussing himself. |
film.“ No, but I think there will be individuals who will learn things from it, so that’ s enough.” |
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There |
was |
one |
too |
many |
questions |
There |
were |
no |
grand |
pronouncements |
that |
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