The Sopranos creator and James Gandolfini distanced themselves for years after the 2007 Emmys, which rubbed the former the wrong way,
Throughout his Hollywood run, James Gandolfini preferred to stay out of the spotlight and wanted his acting roles to do the talk. But this isn’t to say everything was sunshine and roses on set, as the actor shared a tumultuous bond with The Sopranos creator David Chase, which only aggravated as the series progressed.
Although there wasn’t an exact beginning to their years-long rift, the filmmaker did point out one moment that made him hate Gandolfini for years after The Sopranos concluded.
David Chase and James Gandolfini’s feud reached the boiling point at the Emmys
While The Sopranos revolutionized the anti-hero genre and paved the way for more prestige TV shows, it came at the cost of James Gandolfini‘s psyche. Per reports, the late actor struggled with the brutality of his character in the latter seasons, which eventually translated into the real world and apparently made him more antagonizing against the crew, especially Chase (via The Original Podcast).
Playing Tony Soprano is what makes me an a**hole.
As for Chase, it was the 2007 Emmys that proved to be the last straw, as according to David Chase, he started despising Gandolfini after the latter ignored Chase’s wife at the Awards ceremony (Via Happy Sad Confused Podcast).
We’re sitting at a table, [James Gandolfini] went by with his food and my wife said ‘Hey! Jim, come sit over here,’” Chase recalled. “He just ignored her and sat someplace else. For my wife, I was infuriated. I suddenly said to myself, ‘I really hate that motherf*cker, I hate that guy.’ That’s what it had come to.
This contributed to their alienation after The Sopranos concluded, and it wasn’t until 2012 that Chase and Gandolfini finally made amends.
James Gandolfini was considered to play Tony Soprano again
When Chase and Gandolfini reunited back in 2012 to work on Not Fade Away, the duo never had to delve into their past issues to patch things up, and they continued to remain on good terms until his demise.
Interestingly, Gandolfini, who initially contemplated leaving The Sopranos, entertained the prospect of a potential return to the gig. He shared,
After the movie, I went to an Easter party at his house and someone was hocking me about doing the ‘Sopranos’ movie…I asked [Gandolfini] would you be interested in doing a ‘Sopranos’ movie, he goes [doing an unimpressed voice] ‘Well, I’d have to read a script.
The Sopranos creator’s vision for a Sopranos movie was eventually realized, which starred the late actor’s son in the shoes of his father.
