James Gandolfini’s struggles with addiction worried HBO, but he knew they couldn’t fire him as the show couldn’t survive without him.
James Gandolfini can easily be one of the most celebrated actors out there, with a slew of noteworthy projects to his name. But out of the lot, his portrayal of the mob boss Tony Soprano definitely stands the tallest. While it brought him immense fame and made him one of television’s greatest actors, behind the scenes, his lifestyle became a major concern for HBO executives.
The network came to the rescue of the show when all the major networks stepped back from running it on their platform.
While it brought them a lot of revenue, given its popularity, it also became a major point of concern as Gandolfini’s struggles started to have a bad impact on everyone. Plus, given that he was the heart of the show, they couldn’t even fire him—which even the actor knew himself.
James Gandolfini’s lifestyle habits that truly worried HBO executives
From giving bonuses to his co-stars to taking a fired writer out for dinner, actor James Gandolfini was one of the sweetest actors out there. He became a household name thanks to his Tony Soprano role in The Sopranos, but behind the scenes, things weren’t as simple as they looked. In fact, they were so bad that HBO executives were very concerned about his health, not only for him but also for the entire production.
In a tell-all book via Cheat Sheet by journalist James Andrew Miller, it was revealed that Gandolfini’s alcohol and drug abuse led to very costly delays on the show’s set. Not only him, but former HBO boss Jeff Bewkes also admitted “We were concerned about Gandolfini staying alive. Occasionally he would go on a bender or a coke binge. We had to stop production.”
This situation also created major challenges for the rest of the cast as well, as they had to constantly adjust their schedules around the actor. So, the executives had to do something to help him out and sort things for the production as well. To do this, they arranged an intervention at Chris Albrecht’s Manhattan apartment. They brought in some of his family members, such as his sister, as well as some of his co-stars.
The actor was called to the place based on the pretense of a one-on-one conversation. But as soon as he entered the room, he figured out what was happening, and instead of accepting their help, he lashed out completely. He started yelling at everyone present in the room, looked at Chris Albrecht, and dared him to fire him.
While they obviously couldn’t do this because he was the star of the show and without him, The Sopranos couldn’t possibly survive. Despite this intervention, the actor continued his role in the show until its end.
Was Ray Liotta asked to participate in The Sopranos?
For all The Sopranos fans, it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone other than James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. However, for several years, a rumor circulated that before him, Ray Liotta was offered the role of the mob boss. But according to the late actor himself, he was never in the running for the role.
While creator David Chase did approach him, it was for a different role. The actor was considered for the role of Ralph Cifaretto, but the opportunity ultimately went to Joe Pantoliano. While being a part of such a show would have been quite memorable, Liotta passed on the role as he didn’t want to be part of another mafia project.
At the time, he was busy working on Hannibal, and jumping into another similar story didn’t feel right.
Interestingly, while he said no to The Sopranos, Ray Liotta eventually found himself in The Sopranos universe when he participated in its prequel, The Many Saints of Newark. He played the father of Alessandro Nivola’s character, Dickie Moltisanti.
