Night Falls on Manhattan (1997) .... Joey Allegretto
She's So Lovely (1997) .... Kiefer
The Juror (1996) .... Eddie
Get Shorty (1995) .... Bear
Crimson Tide (1995) .... Lt. Bobby Dougherty
Le Nouveau Monde (1995) .... Will
Terminal Velocity (1994) .... Ben Pinkwater
Angie (1994) .... Vinnie
True Romance (1993) .... Virgil
Money for Nothing (1993) .... Billy Coyle
Mr. Wonderful (1993) .... Mike
A Stranger Among Us (1992) .... Tony Baldessari
Tony Soprano has nothing on James Gandolfini when it comes to protecting his privacy. What's his love life like? Out of the question, says Gandolfini. Okay, how many siblings does he have? "Forget about that. Okay, I have two sisters. No, don't print that! Okay, go ahead. I have two sisters."
And, dare we mention, one Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series as the neurotic Mafia kingpin of HBO's surprise hit The Sopranos. Gandolfini, who lives in Manhattan digs, had better get used to the attention. Recently, he recalls, "some homeless guy yells, 'Hey Tony!' and I wondered, 'How does this guy know who I am? Does he have HBO or what?'"
It's just another example of how Gandolfini has made a splash bigger than that of the ducks in Tony Soprano's swimming pool -- despite being the most unlikely leading man ever to seat himself on a casting couch. Though he stood out in supporting roles in True Romance and Get Shorty, it's his part as a Prozac-tamed capo that made him a star. "On the one hand, [Tony's] very affectionate, but on the other, he's brutal," says the show's creator and executive producer, David Chase. "Jim shows those conflicts so amazingly well."
The 37-year-old Gandolfini studied communications at Rutgers University ("Just say I come from a nice Italian family from New Jersey") and spent time as a nightclub manager. He also drove trucks for a company called Gimme Seltzer. Acting, which he began at 25, presented a different challenge. "Getting up in front of people was frightening," he recalls, "and it made me angry that I was frightened. So I stayed." Now the press-shy Gandolfini has a more rapacious group to deal with: the media. "I do a job," he says with a sigh. "A carpenter does a job. He doesn't have to do an interview about the job he did."
-- Sophfronia Scott Gregory
-- Sue Miller in New York City
Profile from People Online.
