It must be though to be Jim Gandolfini these days. He is so thoroughly identified in our minds with the “Tony Soprano” character that it is going to be hard to watch him as anybody else.
In a way he is victimized by his own stellar success. I think he already took his place in the TV history for playing one of the most memorable and powerful characters ever.
I am also aware that he is ready and actually is looking forward to moving on to new projects and new horizons – unlike most of the crestfallen Sopranos crew. He has his own production company and has starred in the upcoming Ernest Hemingway biopic (a fantastic casting coup, by the way).
However, when I watch some of his previous films, like The Last Castle (2001) (as “Col. Winter” against Robert Redford), or the “Bear” in Get Shorty (1995), it is almost embarrassing to see him in such inconsequential roles. Not that he is not good at playing them. On the contrary. He is as good as ever. But the characters themselves are so thin and shallow compared to the massive “Tony Soprano” that they fall utterly short by comparison. In such movies it is like JG is an “impostor,” trying to mimic and recapture his better artistic self but can't quite bring himself to do so when David Chase is not around.
Just like one cannot imagine Marlon Brando in any other role after the “Godfather,” it is equally difficult for me to imagine JG from now on in any other role. He will really need a lot of artistic firepower to get himself rid of Tony Soprano’s dark patina and fully-developed persona.
Others will not probably have the same problem. And the luckiest among them is Steve Van Zandt, who plays the iconic “Silvio Dante” character in The Sopranos. Van Zandt is going back to his E-Street Band full time (to serve yet another “Boss”) as a top-notch rocker. This was his first screen gig and apparently will also be his last.
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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a senior writer and web content consultant with 20 years of experience.
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