People¶
Who they were before, what they did here, and what it cost or bought them.
Twenty-seven actors appear in both Goodfellas and The Sopranos. Including three series regulars
The author¶
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Twenty-five years in network television he mostly hated, then the show that ended network television's monopoly on quality.
The Sopranos¶
- James Gandolfini — three Emmys, and the performance that changed the medium
- Edie Falco — three Emmys for Carmela, a fourth for something else entirely
- Lorraine Bracco — offered Carmela, asked for Melfi
- Michael Imperioli — Emmy winner, and wrote five episodes
- Dominic Chianese — Johnny Ola in Godfather II, Junior here
- Tony Sirico — a real record, and one condition on taking the part
- Steven Van Zandt — had never acted; Chase wrote him a character
- Drea de Matteo — Emmy for the death nobody recovered from
- Nancy Marchand — a patrician stage actress cast against everything
- Aida Turturro — knew Gandolfini from Broadway in 1992
- Joe Pantoliano — won an Emmy for a character killed in episode nine
- Vincent Pastore — the boat
- Iler & Sigler — the two who grew up on camera
- Supporting Cast — Schirripa, Curatola, Vincent, Adler, Proval, Buscemi, and the rest
Behind the camera¶
- The Writers' Room — Chase, Green & Burgess, Terence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Renzulli
- The Directors — Van Patten, Patterson, Coulter, Taylor, and the guests
The Emmy ledger¶
Twenty-one wins from 111 nominations. Who actually took one home:
| Person | Award | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Edie Falco | Lead Actress | 1999 |
| James Gandolfini | Lead Actor | 2000 |
| James Gandolfini | Lead Actor | 2001 |
| Edie Falco | Lead Actress | 2001 |
| James Gandolfini | Lead Actor | 2003 |
| Edie Falco | Lead Actress | 2003 |
| Joe Pantoliano | Supporting Actor | 2003 |
| Michael Imperioli | Supporting Actor | 2004 |
| Drea de Matteo | Supporting Actress | 2004 |
| David Chase | Writing | ×3, incl. "College" and "Made in America" |
| Alan Taylor, John Patterson | Directing | — |
| The series | Outstanding Drama Series | 2004, 2007 |
Full tables, plus Globes, Peabodys, SAG and guild awards: Awards.
Never won for the show: Lorraine Bracco (4 nominations), Aida Turturro (2), Steve Buscemi, Dominic Chianese, Tony Sirico, and Steven Van Zandt.
The Goodfellas overlap¶
Twenty-seven actors appear in both Martin Scorsese's 1990 film and this series — three of them as Sopranos regulars.
The most significant: Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill → Dr. Melfi), Michael Imperioli (Spider, who gets shot in the foot → Christopher, who shoots someone in the foot), Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore, Frank Vincent (Billy Batts → Phil Leotardo), and Frank Sivero.
It isn't a coincidence or a budget decision. Casting directors Georgianne Walken and Sheila Jaffe were drawing from the same New York/New Jersey pool, and Chase was deliberately building on the audience's memory of those faces. See Mob Movies & Self-Awareness.
Who we've lost¶
Nancy Marchand (2000, during the run) · James Gandolfini (2013, aged 51) · Frank Vincent (2017) · Joseph Siravo (2021) · Ray Liotta (2022, after Many Saints) · Tony Sirico (2022) · Denise Borino-Quinn (2010) · Tony Lip (2013) · John Costelloe (2008)
See After The Sopranos.