Michael Gandolfini had never watched The Sopranos before prequel audition

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The Sopranos was not only one of HBO's best series, but one of the best TV shows of all-time. Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone has seen the series, and until recently, that included James Gandolfini's son, Michael. The HBO series came to an end over a decade ago, but will be making a return of sorts in the form of THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK, a prequel film which will be set in the era of the Newark riots in the 60s. It was a time when the African-Americans and the Italians of Newark were at each other’s throats, and among the gangsters of each group, those conflicts became especially lethal.

Michael Gandolfini is set to play Tony Soprano during the future mobster's teenage years, and for Michael, this meant watching The Sopranos for the very first time, an emotionally taxing prospect given his father's tragic death. The actor explained the process during a recent interview with Esquire.

The funny thing is, before the audition, I had never watched a minute of The Sopranos. I was just a kid when he was making it. I would go to the set and ask him what it was about, and he’d say, ‘Oh, it’s about this guy who’s in the mob and kind of goes to therapy.’ The hardest part of this whole process was watching the show for the first time. It was an intense process. Because, as an actor, I had to watch this guy who created the role, to look for mannerisms, voice, all those things I would have to echo. But then I’d also be seeing my father. I think what made it so hard was I had to do it alone. I was just sitting alone in my dark apartment, watching my dad all the time. I started having crazy dreams. I had one where I auditioned for David and I looked down at my hands, and they were my dad’s hands.

Written by series creator David Chase and Lawrence Konner and helmed by Alan Taylor, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK stars Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, Ray Liotta, and Michael Gandolfini. "I was interested in Newark and life in Newark at that time. I used to go to down there every Saturday night for dinner with my grandparents. But the thing that interested me most was Tony’s boyhood. I was interested in exploring that," Chase has previously said regarding the film. "The movie will deal with the tensions between the blacks and whites at the time, and Tony Soprano will be part of this, but as a kid." The Sopranos creator has also teased that THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK will show us the "good 'ol days" of the crime family. "It is going to depict when it was good," Chase said. "The mafia was very polished at that time, how they dressed and what they did. Those traditions were followed more loosely in the series. These weren’t guys who wore tracksuits, back then." THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK is slated for a September 25, 2020 release.