James Gandolfini

King of The Sopranos

The first time I saw Jimmy, he was on Broadway doing A Streetcar Named Desire with Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. I remember flipping back through the Playbill to see who that actor was who played Steve. I ran my finger across his name and said it out loud: "James Gan-dol-fi-ni. Ooh, he's Italian!"

Years later, when I found out he was going to be Tony Soprano to my Dr. Melfi, I was thrilled and excited beyond words. What I didn't realize was that I was going to be sparring with the Muhammad Ali of actors. What an enormous giant of...

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