Michael Imperioli names “most brutal” moments of The Sopranos

The Sopranos saw a number of brutal and intense moments throughout its run, with some particularly graphic and shocking murders throughout its six-season run. Now, more than 16 years after Tony took his family out for onion rings and left the world wondering what happened when the screen went black, star Michael Imperioli – who played Christopher Moltisanti – is reflecting on The Sopranos scenes that gave him the toughest time.

While Michael Imperioli didn’t cite one specific scene from The Sopranos, he did point to his more intense moments – and there were a lot of them – with Drea de Matteo, who played Christopher’s girlfriend, Adriana. “The most brutal, difficult stuff for me is when Christopher had to be physically abusive with Adriana, for obvious reasons. On a technical level, you’re trying to be really careful so you don’t hurt the person. But having to get to that point of violence towards a woman, you have to go to some nasty places to get there…It’s one thing to choreograph and rehearse it, then when you act it full-tilt with all the emotion, it’s easy to not have as much control as in the rehearsal. So you really have to be quite careful.” He also said that he found it much easier “shooting a mobster or shooting heroin” than dealing with physical violence against his female co-star, who was whacked in the woods in season five.

As for his own murder – which is still one of the most shocking moments on The Sopranos, occurring in  – Michael Imperioli found that moment with James Gandolfini to be another cinch. “That wasn’t really brutal at all, I’ll be honest with you. When we shot it, it wasn’t my last day either because we shot out of sequence.” While Christopher would be suffocated by his uncle Tony in one of The Sopranos’ final episodes (“Kennedy and Heidi”), Michael Imperioli would reprise Christopher by narrating 2021’s prequel The Many Saints of Newark, a surprising treat for fans. The character even briefly appeared as a baby.

What do you think was the most brutal scene on The Sopranos? Give us your pick below.