1 week Ago By Risha Ganguly
James Gandolfini’s iconic turn as Tony Soprano is now cemented in television history — but according to The Sopranos creator David Chase, the actor almost didn’t land the role due to an unexpected concern at his end. James not 'threatening' enough! In a new excerpt from Jason Bailey’s book Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend (via Vulture), Chase admitted he initially worried that Gandolfini wasn’t “threatening enough” to convincingly portray the mob boss. During the show’s early development, Gandolfini’s manager, Nancy Sanders, approached Chase with a strong recommendation.
However, Chase had his reservations after reviewing Gandolfini’s reel. “All right, here’s the deal,” Chase told Sanders. “I think he’s brilliant.
I have one concern, and that is, is he threatening enough?” Sanders quickly reassured him, saying, “If you said to me, ‘He’s a little chubby,’ or ‘He’s losing his hair,’ I could understand. But he’s threatening enough. This is your guy.
” Casting directors Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken also backed Gandolfini wholeheartedly, recalling that he “was really our favourite idea from the beginning.” What was Gandolfini's doubt? Interestingly, Gandolfini himself wasn’t confident about getting the part. Reflecting on his audition, he said, “I think my exact words were, ‘I could kick this guy right in the ass, but I’ll never get cast.
They’ll hire some fucking pretty boy.’ I thought they’d hire, you know, one of these Irish-looking guys who are all over TV now.” Gandolfini also worried that Chase would be “a pain in the ass” to work with.
However, after a breakfast meeting between the two, all doubts faded away. “When he finally settled down and really did a reading, it was just obvious,” Chase said, sealing Gandolfini’s fate as one of television’s greatest antiheroes. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Web Series, Entertainment News and around the world.
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