‘The Sopranos’ Turns 25: David Chase Sets Record Straight on Tony’s Final Scene
If HBO had gotten its way, we’d be celebrating the 25th anniversary of a show called Family Man. “They didn’t want the title The Sopranos. They said it’s going to be confusing and awkward, because it didn’t sound like it’s about a tough guy, a mobster,” says David Chase, the creator of the multi-award-winning series that redefined prestige TV. “When Family Guy came on the air, that screwed their plan.”
There was no confusion when The Sopranos premiered on January 10, 1999. Buoyed by its complex, violent antihero, New Jersey crime boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), the boundary-breaking series was beloved from the start, and it still attracts new viewers today, almost 17 years after its conclusion.
Here, Chase shares his thoughts about one of TV’s most seminal shows.
When did you realize how influential this show was for viewers and the TV business?
David Chase: HBO would say, “You know, you’ve changed television!” Toward the end of the run, I believed it.
What inspired you to make Tony’s therapy sessions with Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) central to the series?
I was in therapy because of my mother. I used to dine out on stories about her all the time, because they were hysterically funny or outrageous. My wife would tell me, “You’ve got to write about her!” But who cares about a producer and his mother? That sounds more like a sitcom. But if the guy was more dynamic and had more angles and was tough, maybe that would work. How about a mob boss in therapy?
HBO/Everett Collection
Why cast the patrician actress Nancy Marchand as Tony’s vengeful Italian mom, Livia?
I tried to hire Italian Americans from the [New York and New Jersey] area, and good actresses read for the role, but they would do this [stereotypical] crazy Italian mamma. With Nancy, it was as if my mother was in the room. She really got that particular kind of insanity and was absolutely essential to the show’s success.
Did James Gandolfini, a not-so-well-known character actor at the time, impress you in his audition?
Sure, but it wasn’t easy. He showed up, then he left; he was supposed to come in again, but he didn’t make it. Finally we brought him to Santa Monica and taped him in my garage and he was great. During production, Jim would [sometimes] rage, “I suck, I suck!” But it was obvious how great he was. He allowed the drama and the comedy to come forth in such a way that you go anywhere with it.
Was there instant chemistry between Gandolfini and Edie Falco, who played his morally compromising wife, Carmela?
They were phenomenal together, right from the beginning when Tony tells Carmela, “I’ve been seeing a therapist,” and she thinks he’s confessing to having another mistress!
The Sopranos broke a lot of TV traditions. Did HBO push back the first time Tony murdered someone and we realized that he was a killer as well as a thief and an adulterer?
Yes! In the [Season 1] episode “College,” he was visiting schools with his daughter and he killed a guy who was an informant. We got a lot of pushback.
Though Tony had a so-called crime family, only Tony’s wife and kids got free passes if they wronged him. In Season 6, he personally smothered Carmela’s cousin Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), whom he called his nephew.
Actually, the writers and I thought that, because of Christopher’s heroin use, Tony should have taken care of him a season or two earlier. But Tony had a great deal of paternal affection for him, even though he wasn’t really family.
Timothy Van Patten, James Gandolfini, David Chase on set of The Sopranos (HBO/Everett Collection)
The series’ final scene in the diner left viewers wondering whether Tony would get whacked in the next moment. You implied a few years back that he would be fatally shot there. You didn’t want to show it?
No. I wanted to imply that he could die in that diner, not that he did die.
What was your reaction when many fans expressed disappointment, even anger, about that inconclusive ending?
I was pretty amazed at how much they loved Tony but wanted to see his face in a bowl of linguine. It’s almost like, “You love my son and now you want him killed!”
How important was it that fans loved Tony despite his many sins?
I don’t think we could have gone as deep into an exploration of human life if they weren’t going to follow him not just in the mob killings but in the existential and quasi-religious feelings that he had—even the ghosts and the dreams. You wouldn’t have gone there with him unless you care about him.
Do you have any more Sopranos projects percolating after the 2021 movie prequel, The Many Saints of Newark?
No. The prequel was it.
Three Sopranos Episodes David Chase Loves
HBO/Everett Collection
“Amour Fou” Season 3, Episode 12
Tony’s unstable mistress, car saleswoman Gloria (Annabella Sciorra, above, with Gandolfini), threatens to tell Carmela and daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) about the affair after he breaks up with her. “Gloria was his mother all over again,” says Chase. “Those two actors together were fascinating, and the [onscreen] couple was interesting to me. They were so much like my Italian family when they yelled at each other louder and louder.”
“Long Term Parking” Season 5, Episode 12
Many fans were heartbroken when Tony’s consigliere Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) killed—offscreen—a begging-for-her-life Adriana (Drea De Matteo), after she confessed to fiancé Christopher (Imperioli) that she’d been forced to become an FBI informant. Not so Chase, who calls the tragic scene in the woods “one of my favorite decisions,” stressing the power of De Matteo’s acting, which earned her an Emmy.
HBO/Everett Collection
“Soprano Home Movies” Season 6, Episode 13
Tony’s sister Janice (Aida Turturro) and her husband, Bobby (Steven R. Schirripa), host a weekend at their lake house for Tony’s birthday. The visit devolves into a drunken brawl between the guys. When the boss loses, he vengefully sends Bobby to make his first kill. While Tony watches old family movies, Bobby comes home after the hit and clings to his young daughter. The Emmy-winning episode made Chase cry.
The Sopranos, Available Now, Max
This is an excerpt from TV Insider’s January 2024 issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage on Vanderpump Rules, The Sopranos‘ Anniversary, and more streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the issue, currently on newsstands, or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.
