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- Rolling.
- Rolling.
2
00:00:17,310 --> 00:00:18,436
And action.
3
00:00:36,704 --> 00:00:37,622
Mr. Soprano?
4
00:00:39,123 --> 00:00:40,208
Yeah.
5
00:00:50,968 --> 00:00:51,928
Have a seat.
6
00:00:54,972 --> 00:00:55,848
Okay.
7
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Can you recall what
your first memory was?
8
00:01:07,944 --> 00:01:09,737
Your actual first memory?
9
00:01:10,321 --> 00:01:12,532
My actual first memory is a dream.
10
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I guess my mother had these.
11
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It's like a metal kind of a thing
with a curlicue.
12
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The hand comes out from the wall
and you can hang a plant from it.
13
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I was swinging from that thing.
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That is my first memory, actually.
15
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It really impressed me.
16
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Maybe it was the first time
I remember a dream
17
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and I was going, "Wow, what was that?
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What the hell's going on in my head?"
19
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You know, it's funny
how much I've forgotten.
20
00:01:45,565 --> 00:01:47,483
When people remind me of things.
21
00:01:48,151 --> 00:01:50,278
That make me laugh.
Like, I don't remember.
22
00:01:50,278 --> 00:01:54,991
I don't remember doing that,
or I don't remember... but yeah.
23
00:02:02,707 --> 00:02:03,541
Cut!
24
00:02:05,043 --> 00:02:07,920
I was born in Mount Vernon, New York,
right near the Bronx.
25
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,506
Then we moved to Jersey
when I was four.
26
00:02:10,506 --> 00:02:12,091
My mother's family was from Jersey.
27
00:02:12,091 --> 00:02:14,135
We moved to my
aunt's house in Boonton,
28
00:02:14,135 --> 00:02:15,553
Revolutionary War town.
29
00:02:15,553 --> 00:02:17,180
You can still see where
the furnaces were.
30
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They made musket balls.
There's a river that goes through it.
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That's the town we used
32
00:02:20,391 --> 00:02:22,435
when the character Vito
went to New Hampshire.
33
00:02:22,435 --> 00:02:24,979
And I loved that town.
It was so mysterious.
34
00:02:27,899 --> 00:02:29,692
I loved going into New York
at Christmas.
35
00:02:29,692 --> 00:02:33,196
Rockefeller Center, the tree,
the whole thing blew my mind.
36
00:02:33,196 --> 00:02:35,573
Huge toy department. Santa. Trains.
37
00:02:35,573 --> 00:02:38,076
- You were on my lap five minutes ago.
- No, I wasn't.
38
00:02:38,076 --> 00:02:39,410
Yes, you were.
39
00:02:39,410 --> 00:02:41,537
Now you're going on Santa's List
and getting nothing!
40
00:02:41,537 --> 00:02:43,247
Fuck you, Santa!
41
00:02:45,583 --> 00:02:47,710
My father, I started begging him,
42
00:02:47,710 --> 00:02:50,713
could we please go home down
the West Side Highway?
43
00:02:50,713 --> 00:02:52,924
Because to the Lincoln Tunnel,
there were ships in the harbor
44
00:02:52,924 --> 00:02:56,052
that the prow of the ship
was, like, over the road.
45
00:02:56,052 --> 00:02:58,054
I couldn't get over it.
I wanted to see that.
46
00:02:58,054 --> 00:02:59,639
I loved going through
the Meadowlands.
47
00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,600
There's all these legends
that Jimmy Hoffa is buried out there.
48
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:04,936
Pennsylvania Station,
all that rubble was out there.
49
00:03:04,936 --> 00:03:07,980
That's where The Sopranos,
we shot a lot of it there.
50
00:03:07,980 --> 00:03:10,441
But anyway, we moved out
of my aunt's house
51
00:03:10,441 --> 00:03:12,318
to Clifton, New Jersey,
kind of working-class,
52
00:03:12,318 --> 00:03:15,530
larger kind of semi-city,
then moved to West Essex.
53
00:03:15,530 --> 00:03:18,199
My father got this idea
to open a hardware store.
54
00:03:18,199 --> 00:03:19,659
Next door was a Chinese restaurant.
55
00:03:19,659 --> 00:03:22,412
See these Chinese guys
plucking chickens down there.
56
00:03:22,412 --> 00:03:24,497
My parents weren't that fond
of the whole deal.
57
00:03:24,497 --> 00:03:26,833
They liked Chinese food,
but didn't like being close
58
00:03:26,833 --> 00:03:28,126
to the Chinese restaurant.
59
00:03:28,126 --> 00:03:29,877
They sold that hardware store
and they bought
60
00:03:29,877 --> 00:03:32,255
a Main Street hardware store
in a small town.
61
00:03:32,255 --> 00:03:34,507
My father worked really hard
62
00:03:34,507 --> 00:03:36,759
and they never got out
from behind the eight ball.
63
00:03:36,759 --> 00:03:39,429
They were in business
for 35, 40 years.
64
00:03:39,429 --> 00:03:41,472
It was killing them,
but they kept going.
65
00:03:41,472 --> 00:03:42,515
They kept going.
66
00:03:42,515 --> 00:03:45,768
Until my father was sick
and the whole thing sold
67
00:03:45,768 --> 00:03:48,187
for $1,300 at a sheriff's auction.
68
00:03:48,771 --> 00:03:50,565
Whole life.
69
00:03:50,565 --> 00:03:52,650
They just were not happy people.
70
00:03:54,277 --> 00:03:56,904
My mother was very difficult,
but she functioned.
71
00:03:56,904 --> 00:03:59,031
She worked, came home,
made us dinner,
72
00:03:59,031 --> 00:04:01,826
but she was terrified
and angry at everybody.
73
00:04:01,826 --> 00:04:04,871
You know, somebody
called here last night.
74
00:04:04,871 --> 00:04:06,372
After dark.
75
00:04:06,372 --> 00:04:07,498
Who?
76
00:04:07,498 --> 00:04:09,333
You think I'd answer?
It was dark out.
77
00:04:09,459 --> 00:04:12,295
And she was given to having
screaming nightmares.
78
00:04:13,212 --> 00:04:15,048
Her family had ten girls
and two boys.
79
00:04:15,048 --> 00:04:16,924
Parents had come over from Italy,
lived in Newark,
80
00:04:16,924 --> 00:04:19,844
which was a big Italian,
big immigrant community.
81
00:04:19,844 --> 00:04:22,221
We used to go down every
Saturday night for dinner.
82
00:04:22,221 --> 00:04:23,222
They spoke no English.
83
00:04:23,222 --> 00:04:26,309
And her father, my grandfather,
Vito Bucco,
84
00:04:26,309 --> 00:04:28,561
he never learned English. He refused.
85
00:04:28,561 --> 00:04:29,771
Not a nice guy.
86
00:04:30,521 --> 00:04:32,148
Did you feel unappreciated by her?
87
00:04:32,148 --> 00:04:33,357
- My mother?
- Yeah.
88
00:04:33,357 --> 00:04:36,652
She had so many negative things
to say about me.
89
00:04:36,652 --> 00:04:38,613
Very complex. My father too.
90
00:04:38,613 --> 00:04:39,864
It was very strange.
91
00:04:39,864 --> 00:04:41,115
I mean, appreciated...
92
00:04:41,908 --> 00:04:43,951
One time we were in the car
with my mother and father
93
00:04:43,951 --> 00:04:46,704
and my cousin Johnny.
I forget what song was playing,
94
00:04:46,704 --> 00:04:48,539
but I was tapping along with it.
95
00:04:48,539 --> 00:04:50,500
He said, "He should be
playing the drums.
96
00:04:50,500 --> 00:04:51,918
He's got a good sense
of rhythm."
97
00:04:51,918 --> 00:04:53,669
She said, "Over my dead body.
98
00:04:53,669 --> 00:04:55,838
That Gene Krupa was a drug addict!"
99
00:04:55,838 --> 00:04:58,299
Speaking of crystal meth,
look at this wayo.
100
00:04:58,299 --> 00:04:59,926
I did not feel appreciated,
101
00:04:59,926 --> 00:05:02,303
that would never have
come into my mind.
102
00:05:02,303 --> 00:05:03,304
Were you scared of her?
103
00:05:03,304 --> 00:05:05,515
Were you scared
that she would explode?
104
00:05:05,515 --> 00:05:08,684
Stop telling me how to live my life.
You just shut up.
105
00:05:08,684 --> 00:05:11,896
I am nervous.
As a kid, I was fearful.
106
00:05:11,896 --> 00:05:13,272
And then I became kind of a punk.
107
00:05:16,275 --> 00:05:18,444
And that saved my life in a way.
108
00:05:18,444 --> 00:05:20,071
I fell in with this group of guys.
109
00:05:20,071 --> 00:05:21,197
Holy shit.
110
00:05:21,197 --> 00:05:23,074
Bullies, wiseguys.
111
00:05:24,283 --> 00:05:27,453
We got into switchblades,
leather armbands, cigarettes.
112
00:05:27,453 --> 00:05:28,788
We got our driver's licenses,
113
00:05:28,788 --> 00:05:31,541
it was all about cars
and girls and alcohol.
114
00:05:32,625 --> 00:05:35,420
The drinking age in New York was 18,
Jersey was 21.
115
00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:36,963
So we were constantly going there.
116
00:05:36,963 --> 00:05:39,841
Upper East Side was kind of hip then,
and then the Village.
117
00:05:40,299 --> 00:05:42,760
I remember coming back
from Manhattan,
118
00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:44,846
and it was a car full of greasers
next to us,
119
00:05:44,846 --> 00:05:47,765
and we started cursing at each other
and somehow scaling plates.
120
00:05:47,765 --> 00:05:49,892
Somebody's mother's plates, I guess.
You know...
121
00:05:50,643 --> 00:05:53,229
This is in the Lincoln Tunnel.
All of us were drunk.
122
00:05:55,022 --> 00:05:57,734
1964, I go to college down South,
123
00:05:57,734 --> 00:05:59,861
Wake Forest in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina.
124
00:05:59,861 --> 00:06:01,195
- Hated it.
- Why?
125
00:06:01,195 --> 00:06:02,280
You're going to cut this.
126
00:06:03,281 --> 00:06:04,657
Yeah, it was the South.
127
00:06:04,657 --> 00:06:07,160
The Klan was really active
around where we were.
128
00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,496
The big fraternity on campus
was inspired by Robert E. Lee.
129
00:06:10,496 --> 00:06:12,623
It was a Baptist school.
Had to go to chapel twice a week.
130
00:06:12,623 --> 00:06:14,876
No drinking, no dancing,
no card playing.
131
00:06:14,876 --> 00:06:17,795
So why did I go there?
I got rejected at Princeton.
132
00:06:17,795 --> 00:06:19,338
I got rejected at Dartmouth.
133
00:06:19,338 --> 00:06:21,132
My best friend was going
to Wake Forest.
134
00:06:21,132 --> 00:06:23,384
Because he was going there,
I went there.
135
00:06:23,384 --> 00:06:24,719
And we both were miserable.
136
00:06:24,719 --> 00:06:28,264
But fortunately, someone started
foreign film night.
137
00:06:30,099 --> 00:06:32,769
That's where I saw Godard, Bergman,
138
00:06:32,769 --> 00:06:34,562
Fellini, La Dolce Vita...
139
00:06:34,562 --> 00:06:37,190
Marcello, come here!
140
00:06:37,774 --> 00:06:38,941
Hurry up.
141
00:06:43,112 --> 00:06:46,032
8 1/2, just, I don't even think
I understood it.
142
00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,873
I don't even think I knew
what a film director was.
143
00:06:53,873 --> 00:06:55,875
But it just blew my mind.
144
00:06:57,919 --> 00:06:59,670
A whole new universe.
145
00:07:02,340 --> 00:07:04,258
I left Wake Forest and went to NYU,
146
00:07:04,258 --> 00:07:07,053
and I saw Cul-de-sac
by Roman Polanski.
147
00:07:09,889 --> 00:07:11,724
That's when I started thinking,
148
00:07:12,350 --> 00:07:13,810
"Maybe I could do that."
149
00:07:14,435 --> 00:07:17,146
It was the art of it
that was so engaging.
150
00:07:17,146 --> 00:07:18,147
That's it.
151
00:07:18,147 --> 00:07:22,610
October of 1965, my friend was
going to Bard College.
152
00:07:22,610 --> 00:07:25,238
I went up there to take acid.
That was my first time.
153
00:07:25,238 --> 00:07:27,657
I remember being on the banks
of the Hudson River,
154
00:07:27,657 --> 00:07:29,867
two o'clock in the morning,
and I started saying,
155
00:07:29,867 --> 00:07:31,452
"I want to make movies."
156
00:07:31,452 --> 00:07:34,247
That was when the idea
first occurred to me, like,
157
00:07:34,247 --> 00:07:36,499
actually pursue this somehow.
158
00:07:39,544 --> 00:07:41,462
- Take your mark.
- And action.
159
00:07:41,462 --> 00:07:42,714
Hey, Tony.
160
00:07:43,923 --> 00:07:45,341
- You okay?
- How are you doing?
161
00:07:45,341 --> 00:07:46,843
- Are you okay, David?
- Yeah.
162
00:07:46,843 --> 00:07:48,928
Yeah, I'm just talking
my fucking head off.
163
00:07:48,928 --> 00:07:50,346
I can't believe it.
164
00:07:50,972 --> 00:07:52,181
Just talking too much.
165
00:07:52,181 --> 00:07:54,225
- No, man. It's good.
- No, it's not.
166
00:07:54,809 --> 00:07:58,521
I really regret the amount of
fucking verbiage from this morning.
167
00:07:59,772 --> 00:08:02,608
Seriously, I don't know about this.
Who gives a shit?
168
00:08:02,608 --> 00:08:05,445
- All these personal questions.
- People will give a shit.
169
00:08:05,445 --> 00:08:07,363
It's like, as Tony says...
170
00:08:07,363 --> 00:08:10,032
Remember when is
the lowest form of conversation.
171
00:08:11,451 --> 00:08:12,994
And I would leave now,
172
00:08:13,745 --> 00:08:15,872
but I see what you've done,
all this stuff.
173
00:08:17,665 --> 00:08:19,709
And, yeah, it was a round office.
174
00:08:19,709 --> 00:08:21,335
It looks a lot like it.
175
00:08:23,254 --> 00:08:24,756
I did say I'd do this.
176
00:08:24,756 --> 00:08:26,007
But what I said was,
177
00:08:26,007 --> 00:08:29,218
"Yeah, I'll be part of this
Sopranos documentary."
178
00:08:29,218 --> 00:08:32,013
But I didn't realize it was
going to be about me.
179
00:10:08,276 --> 00:10:10,194
Let me explain a little bit,
which is that
180
00:10:10,903 --> 00:10:13,698
part of what interests me
about The Sopranos
181
00:10:13,698 --> 00:10:17,952
was how it was personal to you.
182
00:10:17,952 --> 00:10:19,704
That you had an idea,
183
00:10:20,288 --> 00:10:23,374
which was an amalgam
of a lot of things
184
00:10:23,374 --> 00:10:25,918
that you had lived through,
thought about.
185
00:10:25,918 --> 00:10:28,671
Well, for years, everybody told me
186
00:10:28,671 --> 00:10:31,174
that I had to write something
about my mother.
187
00:10:31,174 --> 00:10:33,551
She was so out there and so funny.
188
00:10:34,469 --> 00:10:38,097
My wife, Denise,
was the first one to say that.
189
00:10:38,097 --> 00:10:40,183
And then everybody was saying,
190
00:10:40,183 --> 00:10:42,101
"You gotta write something
about your mother."
191
00:10:44,270 --> 00:10:47,065
In like '88, I was looking for a job,
192
00:10:47,065 --> 00:10:50,151
and David Chase had a new show.
193
00:10:50,151 --> 00:10:53,571
It was called Almost Grown,
and he wanted to meet writers.
194
00:10:53,571 --> 00:10:56,657
So I met with David
on Ventura Boulevard,
195
00:10:56,657 --> 00:10:58,034
some restaurant.
196
00:10:58,034 --> 00:11:01,829
I got there first, of course,
and I see him coming in the door.
197
00:11:01,829 --> 00:11:04,707
I think, "Fuck."
He just looked so dour.
198
00:11:04,707 --> 00:11:06,793
You know what I mean?
He looked so miserable.
199
00:11:06,793 --> 00:11:11,631
And he sat down,
and in probably ten minutes,
200
00:11:11,631 --> 00:11:14,467
we were just laughing with tears
coming down our faces
201
00:11:14,467 --> 00:11:16,677
because we were talking
about our mothers.
202
00:11:16,677 --> 00:11:20,056
And so we became friends.
It was like that, you know?
203
00:11:20,056 --> 00:11:23,726
And I said to him, "Here you are,
the most powerful man."
204
00:11:23,726 --> 00:11:26,938
He, like, had the suits at Universal,
205
00:11:26,938 --> 00:11:30,274
you know, crying and upset.
206
00:11:30,274 --> 00:11:32,610
And you're this powerful man,
207
00:11:32,610 --> 00:11:34,987
and your mother
makes you into a little
208
00:11:34,987 --> 00:11:36,989
screaming gerbil or something.
209
00:11:36,989 --> 00:11:40,451
And I said, "This is what
you should write about."
210
00:11:40,451 --> 00:11:43,413
Robin said, "You should write a show
about your mother
211
00:11:43,413 --> 00:11:45,206
and a TV producer."
212
00:11:45,748 --> 00:11:48,042
And I thought,
"Who's going to watch that?"
213
00:11:48,918 --> 00:11:52,797
But maybe if he was like
a really badass guy,
214
00:11:52,797 --> 00:11:54,298
maybe that would work.
215
00:11:54,298 --> 00:11:56,551
Was the bad guy already a mobster?
216
00:11:56,551 --> 00:11:57,844
Yeah.
217
00:11:57,844 --> 00:12:00,430
I wanted to get De Niro
and Anne Bancroft.
218
00:12:01,305 --> 00:12:03,558
At first, I thought of it
as a feature.
219
00:12:03,558 --> 00:12:05,727
It was the story that was
the first season.
220
00:12:05,727 --> 00:12:08,771
It was about a mobster
who goes to a shrink
221
00:12:08,771 --> 00:12:10,648
after having panic attacks.
222
00:12:10,648 --> 00:12:13,901
Any thoughts at all
on why you blacked out?
223
00:12:13,901 --> 00:12:15,111
I don't know.
224
00:12:15,111 --> 00:12:16,320
Stress, maybe.
225
00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:17,655
About what?
226
00:12:17,655 --> 00:12:21,075
He's having problems with his uncle,
a feud of some kind.
227
00:12:21,075 --> 00:12:23,619
You may run North Jersey,
but you don't run your Uncle Junior.
228
00:12:23,619 --> 00:12:25,496
He puts his mother in a nursing home.
229
00:12:25,496 --> 00:12:28,040
I don't see you tryin' to mix
with the other ladies,
230
00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:30,585
or talk to the nice gents
I see walking around.
231
00:12:30,585 --> 00:12:32,420
You're not making the most
of your opportunities.
232
00:12:32,420 --> 00:12:34,255
What do you care?
233
00:12:34,255 --> 00:12:36,007
Out of sight, out of mind.
234
00:12:36,007 --> 00:12:39,010
His mother sides with his uncle
in this gang war.
235
00:12:39,010 --> 00:12:41,429
Three of my capos have
their mothers in this place?
236
00:12:41,429 --> 00:12:43,681
Instead of living in normal homes
237
00:12:43,681 --> 00:12:45,641
with their sons
238
00:12:45,641 --> 00:12:47,185
like human beings.
239
00:12:47,185 --> 00:12:49,312
This must be some kind of
fucking end move.
240
00:12:49,312 --> 00:12:52,774
His mother conspires with
his uncle to have him killed.
241
00:12:52,774 --> 00:12:55,276
...a gangland execution gone awry.
242
00:12:55,276 --> 00:12:58,654
And his shrink is the one
who helps him to understand that.
243
00:12:58,654 --> 00:13:00,323
On the day before the shooting,
244
00:13:00,323 --> 00:13:02,950
you said to me that
she kept going on, yet again,
245
00:13:02,950 --> 00:13:07,789
about news stories of mothers
throwing their babies out of windows.
246
00:13:07,789 --> 00:13:10,208
In the end, he suffocates her.
247
00:13:10,208 --> 00:13:13,169
Ma, I know what you did.
Your only son.
248
00:13:13,795 --> 00:13:16,839
But then I thought,
"That would work as a TV show."
249
00:13:21,010 --> 00:13:22,887
We took it around
to all the networks:
250
00:13:22,887 --> 00:13:27,266
Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
251
00:13:27,266 --> 00:13:28,768
Nobody wanted it.
252
00:13:28,768 --> 00:13:32,230
Les Moonves said,
"Script's very good, very funny."
253
00:13:32,230 --> 00:13:34,774
"But he's going to see
a psychiatrist?
254
00:13:34,774 --> 00:13:37,068
Are you married
to him taking Prozac?"
255
00:13:40,488 --> 00:13:43,116
So I said, "Yeah, I guess you'd say
I'm married to it."
256
00:13:43,116 --> 00:13:45,451
He said, "Well, then... no."
257
00:13:46,744 --> 00:13:47,662
So it was dead.
258
00:13:49,455 --> 00:13:52,583
But then I started saying,
"Can't we go to HBO?"
259
00:13:52,583 --> 00:13:55,086
Simply the best choice on TV.
260
00:13:56,295 --> 00:13:59,674
We were finding our way
from the time I got there in '85.
261
00:14:00,383 --> 00:14:02,093
Television, you know, was still,
262
00:14:02,093 --> 00:14:04,095
at that time, the Big Three,
263
00:14:04,095 --> 00:14:06,514
and four, if you count Fox.
264
00:14:06,514 --> 00:14:10,059
We didn't look at them
so much as competition
265
00:14:10,059 --> 00:14:14,689
as a mark for us to compare
ourselves against,
266
00:14:14,689 --> 00:14:16,899
...and we knew we needed
to be different.
267
00:14:16,899 --> 00:14:19,068
What HBO was trying to do
268
00:14:19,068 --> 00:14:22,321
was make a name for itself.
269
00:14:22,321 --> 00:14:25,992
Boxing and movies was really
what HBO was known for.
270
00:14:27,785 --> 00:14:30,413
The change moment
became The Sanders Show.
271
00:14:30,413 --> 00:14:33,916
- Someone's been sitting in my chair.
- Maybe it's Mama Bear.
272
00:14:35,293 --> 00:14:36,586
Talentless fat fuck.
273
00:14:36,586 --> 00:14:40,423
Just worry about the couch
and trying not to fuck up.
274
00:14:40,423 --> 00:14:43,551
It set a mark down that HBO
could do something different,
275
00:14:43,551 --> 00:14:46,721
maybe better, than what's on
the broadcast networks.
276
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:51,476
We started trying to figure out,
can we get into the series business?
277
00:14:51,476 --> 00:14:52,727
Oh, boy.
278
00:14:53,519 --> 00:14:54,645
Schillinger's home.
279
00:14:55,646 --> 00:14:57,565
We developed Oz.
280
00:14:57,565 --> 00:14:59,442
He's not such a bad guy, Diane.
281
00:15:00,651 --> 00:15:02,278
What drugs are you on?
282
00:15:03,029 --> 00:15:04,405
And Sex and the City.
283
00:15:06,282 --> 00:15:08,326
Basically, it was a style of working,
284
00:15:08,326 --> 00:15:11,496
which was, like, let's find
really great storytellers
285
00:15:11,496 --> 00:15:13,039
and let them do their thing.
286
00:15:13,956 --> 00:15:17,168
So David came in
and I knew his résumé.
287
00:15:17,168 --> 00:15:19,337
He was a real TV veteran
288
00:15:19,337 --> 00:15:21,506
and had worked on some good things,
289
00:15:21,506 --> 00:15:23,800
but hadn't really had success
with his own.
290
00:15:36,896 --> 00:15:39,232
Denise and I, we got married.
291
00:15:39,232 --> 00:15:40,900
This is 1968.
292
00:15:42,735 --> 00:15:44,821
A couple of my uncles
took me aside and said,
293
00:15:44,821 --> 00:15:46,322
"You have to get out of here.
294
00:15:46,322 --> 00:15:49,075
You're not going to stay married
if you stay here."
295
00:15:49,075 --> 00:15:51,828
Because they knew
what my parents were like,
296
00:15:51,828 --> 00:15:54,080
and they really were talking
about my mother.
297
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,211
My wife wouldn't have
been able to take it.
298
00:16:02,463 --> 00:16:03,965
My mother was just nuts.
299
00:16:08,636 --> 00:16:10,763
So we left the night of our wedding
300
00:16:11,806 --> 00:16:13,683
and started for California.
301
00:16:22,984 --> 00:16:25,778
We cross the country,
and I get the word
302
00:16:25,778 --> 00:16:28,072
that I get a fellowship
to film school.
303
00:16:28,072 --> 00:16:29,449
Stanford University.
304
00:16:32,243 --> 00:16:33,661
I remember somebody telling me
305
00:16:33,661 --> 00:16:35,705
that the short version
of American history is,
306
00:16:35,705 --> 00:16:37,623
the scum floats west.
307
00:16:40,418 --> 00:16:42,378
When I got here,
I sort of understood it.
308
00:16:43,379 --> 00:16:44,422
Alcatraz.
309
00:16:45,256 --> 00:16:47,258
Some of the biggest boys
did time there.
310
00:16:47,967 --> 00:16:49,469
Even Capone.
311
00:16:49,469 --> 00:16:50,678
Got him for tax evasion
312
00:16:50,678 --> 00:16:52,680
'cause they couldn't get him
for anything else.
313
00:16:53,181 --> 00:16:56,642
Did 11 years and died
of the big S in 1947.
314
00:16:58,144 --> 00:17:00,354
Of course, that was a long time ago.
315
00:17:01,022 --> 00:17:02,523
I went to Stanford for two years.
316
00:17:03,441 --> 00:17:06,027
I did a narrative for my thesis film,
317
00:17:06,027 --> 00:17:08,279
The Rise and Fall of Bug Manousos.
318
00:17:09,322 --> 00:17:11,157
We thought we were doing Godard.
319
00:17:12,784 --> 00:17:15,244
I don't know what we thought
Godard was doing,
320
00:17:16,412 --> 00:17:17,747
but we weren't doing it.
321
00:17:22,543 --> 00:17:24,087
My name is Manousos.
322
00:17:24,087 --> 00:17:26,923
I'm Greek, or of Greek descent.
However you want it.
323
00:17:44,148 --> 00:17:47,652
Ma, the greatest little lady
that ever lived.
324
00:17:50,071 --> 00:17:52,281
Let's dump this stiff
and get it over with.
325
00:17:53,199 --> 00:17:55,576
Take that smile off your face,
sweetie pie.
326
00:17:55,576 --> 00:17:58,079
You son of a bitch!
327
00:18:11,467 --> 00:18:14,846
Ma, they got me in the back.
328
00:18:17,014 --> 00:18:19,767
After the two-year graduate program
and I was graduating,
329
00:18:20,768 --> 00:18:22,687
a friend of mine and I
wrote a script.
330
00:18:22,687 --> 00:18:26,149
And the writing teacher
sent it to this guy,
331
00:18:26,149 --> 00:18:29,193
Roy Huggins,
who was a big TV producer.
332
00:18:29,193 --> 00:18:31,154
But we kind of forgot about it.
333
00:18:35,450 --> 00:18:37,410
Denise and I moved to LA,
334
00:18:37,410 --> 00:18:39,203
rented an apartment,
335
00:18:39,203 --> 00:18:42,206
and Denise got a job at a law firm.
336
00:18:42,206 --> 00:18:46,377
And I started looking for work,
but I just couldn't get a job.
337
00:18:47,253 --> 00:18:49,130
Finally, I did get a job
338
00:18:49,130 --> 00:18:52,300
working for this outfit
called Clover Films.
339
00:18:53,134 --> 00:18:54,177
These movies...
340
00:18:55,928 --> 00:18:59,348
Not ten kilometers from here,
there's a golf course
341
00:18:59,348 --> 00:19:01,559
and a country club
surrounded by German guards.
342
00:19:01,559 --> 00:19:05,730
Every German son-of-a-bitch soldier
is to be killed.
343
00:19:08,649 --> 00:19:12,111
One of the movies, we shot it
at a burned-out apartment complex
344
00:19:12,111 --> 00:19:14,197
in Las Virgenes Canyon.
345
00:19:15,531 --> 00:19:18,576
It was a German fort or something,
346
00:19:18,576 --> 00:19:22,246
inhabited only now by these
German prostitutes.
347
00:19:25,249 --> 00:19:26,918
I had a very small part,
348
00:19:27,710 --> 00:19:30,588
and I was supposed to be
the first assistant director,
349
00:19:30,588 --> 00:19:32,715
but I had no idea what I was doing.
350
00:19:37,637 --> 00:19:38,930
And the movie itself,
351
00:19:38,930 --> 00:19:41,724
it was mostly soft-core
fucking and sucking.
352
00:19:47,522 --> 00:19:49,941
I did write a feature
for Clover Films
353
00:19:49,941 --> 00:19:51,901
called Grave of the Vampire.
354
00:19:52,819 --> 00:19:55,696
No! No!
355
00:20:07,125 --> 00:20:08,376
Who are you?
356
00:20:09,419 --> 00:20:10,294
I'm your son!
357
00:20:10,294 --> 00:20:13,005
Your son conceived in a grave!
358
00:20:14,132 --> 00:20:15,299
Yes.
359
00:20:16,384 --> 00:20:17,510
It was insane.
360
00:20:17,510 --> 00:20:18,928
Yes!
361
00:20:18,928 --> 00:20:22,223
While I was there,
I heard that Roy Huggins,
362
00:20:22,223 --> 00:20:24,392
who had read that script
from two years ago,
363
00:20:24,392 --> 00:20:27,311
wanted to hire me
to write an episode.
364
00:20:27,311 --> 00:20:29,605
So I got my first job in TV,
365
00:20:29,605 --> 00:20:32,984
a series that was called
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers.
366
00:20:34,861 --> 00:20:39,991
Everybody back east-- There it was.
There was my name on television.
367
00:20:39,991 --> 00:20:43,870
But I didn't set my mind
to learning how to direct,
368
00:20:43,870 --> 00:20:46,289
even though I wanted to be
a movie director.
369
00:20:46,289 --> 00:20:47,331
Right.
370
00:20:47,331 --> 00:20:49,792
I did not-- Maybe I was
too embarrassed
371
00:20:49,792 --> 00:20:52,003
to, like, ask the DP,
"How do you do that?"
372
00:20:52,003 --> 00:20:53,546
"How do you do this?"
373
00:20:54,213 --> 00:20:59,218
I kept trying to write features
for years after that,
374
00:20:59,218 --> 00:21:01,345
and none of them got made.
375
00:21:05,850 --> 00:21:08,019
I believe it was 1973.
376
00:21:08,019 --> 00:21:10,021
Writers Guild went on strike,
377
00:21:10,021 --> 00:21:12,565
and I had to go on picket duty
at Paramount Studios
378
00:21:12,565 --> 00:21:14,192
right in front of the DeMille Gate.
379
00:21:16,277 --> 00:21:18,654
And that was great.
I mean, just to be there.
380
00:21:18,654 --> 00:21:21,949
It was like, these were all
professional writers
381
00:21:21,949 --> 00:21:23,659
that I was on picket duty with.
382
00:21:23,659 --> 00:21:25,870
And I got to really look forward
to picket duty
383
00:21:25,870 --> 00:21:29,499
because it was starting to feel like
I really am in Hollywood.
384
00:21:30,958 --> 00:21:33,753
And I met a guy named Paul Playdon,
385
00:21:33,753 --> 00:21:36,381
the story editor
of Mission: Impossible.
386
00:21:37,131 --> 00:21:39,592
I had no agent,
so Paul got me an agent.
387
00:21:39,592 --> 00:21:41,427
I signed with his agency.
388
00:21:41,427 --> 00:21:43,262
And when the strike was over,
389
00:21:43,262 --> 00:21:46,307
there was a show called
The Magician with Bill Bixby,
390
00:21:46,307 --> 00:21:50,228
and Bixby played a magician
who solved crimes
391
00:21:50,228 --> 00:21:54,941
and defeated the bad guys
with scarves and hats.
392
00:21:58,694 --> 00:21:59,987
Get back!
393
00:21:59,987 --> 00:22:02,615
They brought me on as story editor.
394
00:22:04,617 --> 00:22:06,494
And then I got on
to The Rockford Files.
395
00:22:08,579 --> 00:22:10,581
I did I'll Fly Away.
396
00:22:10,581 --> 00:22:12,667
And then I was on Northern Exposure.
397
00:22:14,627 --> 00:22:16,629
So I was in the TV business.
398
00:22:16,629 --> 00:22:20,049
The problem was,
you knew what the limits were,
399
00:22:20,049 --> 00:22:23,720
but you were always testing them
and you would always fail.
400
00:22:25,888 --> 00:22:27,807
It was the meetings
that were terrible,
401
00:22:27,807 --> 00:22:29,809
the network meetings, what they...
402
00:22:29,809 --> 00:22:31,811
They had this unerring sense
403
00:22:33,813 --> 00:22:35,690
that the reason
you were writing this,
404
00:22:35,690 --> 00:22:38,067
the thing you love most about this,
405
00:22:38,067 --> 00:22:39,819
was what they were going to go for.
406
00:22:40,319 --> 00:22:43,990
So because I was used to network TV,
407
00:22:43,990 --> 00:22:47,452
Sopranos was a mob show
where nobody got killed.
408
00:22:47,452 --> 00:22:49,579
Because I thought they
wouldn't want that.
409
00:22:52,498 --> 00:22:56,627
Then I realized all those
Jimmy Cagney gangster movies...
410
00:23:00,631 --> 00:23:02,675
The Godfather? Nobody got killed?
411
00:23:06,345 --> 00:23:07,889
Why would you ever leave that out?
412
00:23:10,892 --> 00:23:13,269
So I rewrote it to include a murder.
413
00:23:14,395 --> 00:23:17,273
That's when HBO got really
interested in the show.
414
00:23:19,025 --> 00:23:21,444
It wasn't just,
you got to put in a murder.
415
00:23:21,444 --> 00:23:23,154
That had to be part of the story.
416
00:23:23,154 --> 00:23:26,532
That had to be integral
to the narrative and to the culture.
417
00:23:27,450 --> 00:23:29,452
We had a big meeting with David.
418
00:23:29,452 --> 00:23:34,082
My impression was, okay,
this is a network guy,
419
00:23:34,082 --> 00:23:37,585
but he's already showed us
in his writing
420
00:23:37,585 --> 00:23:41,172
that he doesn't think
only like a traditional network guy.
421
00:23:41,172 --> 00:23:44,842
And his take on the world,
422
00:23:44,842 --> 00:23:48,096
you could tell immediately,
these characters,
423
00:23:48,096 --> 00:23:51,307
it was like a second skin to him.
424
00:23:51,933 --> 00:23:54,519
That was an easy yes
to make that pilot.
425
00:24:00,316 --> 00:24:02,402
You want to take it from here or...
426
00:24:03,194 --> 00:24:06,030
In casting,
I don't react much at all.
427
00:24:06,030 --> 00:24:07,782
I say, "Oh, that's very good."
428
00:24:07,782 --> 00:24:09,826
- Really good.
- Thanks, guys.
429
00:24:09,826 --> 00:24:11,786
"Thank you very much,"
and people leave.
430
00:24:13,162 --> 00:24:14,956
Casting is a long process.
431
00:24:14,956 --> 00:24:17,208
- Just begin?
- Whenever you're ready.
432
00:24:17,875 --> 00:24:20,545
Next, I had a breakfast meeting.
I was called in to consult
433
00:24:20,545 --> 00:24:22,797
by a garbage hauling
company I represent.
434
00:24:23,506 --> 00:24:26,008
Big, what's the story
with Triboro Towers?
435
00:24:26,008 --> 00:24:28,720
The site manager wants
to renew his contract.
436
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,013
Site manager wants to renew
his contract with Dick.
437
00:24:31,013 --> 00:24:34,767
The site manager wants to renew
his contract with Dick.
438
00:24:34,767 --> 00:24:38,062
The site manager, he wants to
renew his contract with Dick.
439
00:24:38,062 --> 00:24:40,064
But these Kolar brothers.
440
00:24:40,064 --> 00:24:42,108
Let's try again.
Let me pick the energy up.
441
00:24:42,108 --> 00:24:43,776
I'm very tired.
442
00:24:43,776 --> 00:24:45,069
Yeah. The Kolar brothers.
443
00:24:45,069 --> 00:24:47,238
They're some kind of
Czechoslovakian immigrants
444
00:24:47,238 --> 00:24:48,364
or some shit.
445
00:24:48,364 --> 00:24:50,783
They can save close to
a million a year
446
00:24:50,783 --> 00:24:53,202
if the Kolars haul the trash
and not Dick.
447
00:24:53,703 --> 00:24:56,164
They pay us 40 times the monthly
for stealing your stop.
448
00:24:56,164 --> 00:24:57,707
That's the thing, they won't.
449
00:24:57,707 --> 00:25:00,418
They said that if they can tell
those commie bosses
450
00:25:00,418 --> 00:25:02,754
back in Czechoslovakia
to go fuck themselves,
451
00:25:02,754 --> 00:25:04,464
he could fucking tell us.
452
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,009
In Czech Republic too, we love pork.
453
00:25:09,135 --> 00:25:11,012
You ever have our sausages?
454
00:25:11,888 --> 00:25:18,102
I thought the only sausages
were Italian and Jimmy Dean.
455
00:25:18,102 --> 00:25:20,521
You see what you learn when
you cross cultures?
456
00:25:20,521 --> 00:25:23,107
My Uncle Uvzen doesn't know I came.
457
00:25:23,107 --> 00:25:26,152
But if we make any progress,
I'll have to tell him.
458
00:25:26,152 --> 00:25:28,404
Oh, we gotta make progress, "Email."
459
00:25:28,404 --> 00:25:31,115
I mean, you know, we must
stop the madness.
460
00:25:32,450 --> 00:25:34,619
The garbage business is changing.
461
00:25:34,619 --> 00:25:38,122
We're the younger generation.
We have issues in common.
462
00:25:38,122 --> 00:25:40,416
Garbage business is changing,
you know?
463
00:25:40,416 --> 00:25:43,211
Younger generation.
We have issues in common.
464
00:25:45,213 --> 00:25:46,130
Emil.
465
00:25:47,006 --> 00:25:48,758
Where'd you go to high school?
Poland?
466
00:25:49,550 --> 00:25:50,718
I'm not Polish.
467
00:25:50,718 --> 00:25:52,512
What's Czechoslovakia? Isn't that...
468
00:25:52,512 --> 00:25:53,888
That's a type of Polack?
469
00:25:53,888 --> 00:25:56,057
We came to this country
when I was nine.
470
00:25:56,057 --> 00:25:57,517
I went to West Essex.
471
00:25:57,517 --> 00:26:00,061
Yo, you used to play
my cousin Gregory in football.
472
00:26:00,061 --> 00:26:02,021
- He went to Boonton.
- Where's the stuff?
473
00:26:02,021 --> 00:26:03,898
Ah, yes.
474
00:26:06,317 --> 00:26:08,027
The reason for the visit.
475
00:26:08,027 --> 00:26:09,946
Got it all deployed for you.
476
00:26:11,614 --> 00:26:13,616
Taste the wares, "Email."
477
00:26:14,367 --> 00:26:15,410
Emil.
478
00:26:36,597 --> 00:26:38,224
Cut! Yeah, we're good.
479
00:26:38,933 --> 00:26:41,519
You know, the idea of
a series on HBO.
480
00:26:41,519 --> 00:26:44,647
Back then, there was no prestige
attached to that.
481
00:26:46,315 --> 00:26:48,067
To be really frank,
482
00:26:48,067 --> 00:26:50,361
it was kind of
the bargain basement of TV.
483
00:26:50,361 --> 00:26:51,571
It really was.
484
00:26:52,488 --> 00:26:54,073
But I loved the character.
485
00:26:54,073 --> 00:26:55,742
I thought the character
was really fun.
486
00:26:55,742 --> 00:26:58,411
His name was Dean Moltisanti
when I first read the script.
487
00:27:00,246 --> 00:27:02,665
I didn't know who David Chase was,
I'll be honest.
488
00:27:02,665 --> 00:27:06,210
And I didn't know he was Italian
when I saw his name on the script,
489
00:27:06,210 --> 00:27:09,047
which kind of made me think,
"Who's this guy?
490
00:27:09,047 --> 00:27:11,007
Making a show about Italians
And he's not..."
491
00:27:11,007 --> 00:27:14,135
You know, Scorsese and Coppola
were Italian American.
492
00:27:14,761 --> 00:27:17,555
But I worked really hard on it
and went in for David.
493
00:27:17,555 --> 00:27:20,767
You know, David's very--
he's poker-faced.
494
00:27:20,767 --> 00:27:24,896
Michael came in and he was great,
but I played it completely straight.
495
00:27:24,896 --> 00:27:25,855
Very good.
496
00:27:25,855 --> 00:27:28,024
I walked out thinking,
"This ain't gonna happen.
497
00:27:28,024 --> 00:27:31,194
Who cares? He's not even Italian.
What does he know?"
498
00:27:31,194 --> 00:27:35,114
"Who the fuck is this guy?
He's not even Italian. Fuck him."
499
00:27:35,114 --> 00:27:36,115
But...
500
00:27:41,662 --> 00:27:44,624
- Who's there?
- You locked the door?
501
00:27:44,624 --> 00:27:47,043
Seemed to me like we read
a hundred actresses.
502
00:27:47,043 --> 00:27:48,419
This is a nursing home.
503
00:27:48,419 --> 00:27:51,631
They all came in and they did
their crazy Italian mama thing.
504
00:27:51,631 --> 00:27:53,925
You're not putting me in
a nursing home.
505
00:27:53,925 --> 00:27:56,677
I've seen these women
in these nursing homes
506
00:27:56,677 --> 00:27:58,679
babbling like idiots.
507
00:27:58,679 --> 00:28:00,056
And it wasn't even close.
508
00:28:00,890 --> 00:28:02,433
And because it was based
on my mother,
509
00:28:02,433 --> 00:28:03,893
I knew how far away it was.
510
00:28:04,894 --> 00:28:07,230
But then Nancy Marchand came in.
511
00:28:07,230 --> 00:28:09,565
I knew her as Mrs. Pynchon,
512
00:28:09,565 --> 00:28:11,984
the newspaper publisher in Lou Grant.
513
00:28:11,984 --> 00:28:15,905
May I remind you, Mr. Grant,
this is not the New York Times.
514
00:28:15,905 --> 00:28:17,949
I'm reminded of it
every time I pick it up.
515
00:28:17,949 --> 00:28:20,660
So am I, sir, and I wish
we had their resources.
516
00:28:20,660 --> 00:28:22,245
But the simple fact is, we don't.
517
00:28:22,245 --> 00:28:23,871
If you want me to back off, I will.
518
00:28:23,871 --> 00:28:26,457
Now, I didn't say that.
519
00:28:28,626 --> 00:28:31,003
But I need you gentlemen to tell me
520
00:28:31,003 --> 00:28:33,548
that we can win if we go to court.
521
00:28:34,966 --> 00:28:37,135
- Should I slate it and all that?
- No.
522
00:28:37,135 --> 00:28:39,554
Just thought, "This is crazy.
This isn't going to work."
523
00:28:39,554 --> 00:28:42,765
But she opened her mouth and... boom.
524
00:28:42,765 --> 00:28:44,767
You're with active seniors
your own age.
525
00:28:44,767 --> 00:28:46,853
They do things, they go places,
they go dancing.
526
00:28:46,853 --> 00:28:50,648
I've seen these women
in these nursing homes
527
00:28:50,648 --> 00:28:52,191
babbling like idiots.
528
00:28:53,317 --> 00:28:54,694
Just eat your eggplant.
529
00:28:55,653 --> 00:28:58,072
It was like-- And she just had it.
530
00:28:58,072 --> 00:29:00,825
If your uncle has business
with Arthur,
531
00:29:02,076 --> 00:29:04,829
and I don't even
want to know what it is,
532
00:29:04,829 --> 00:29:06,748
then he knows what he's doing.
533
00:29:07,790 --> 00:29:08,791
And I don't?
534
00:29:10,835 --> 00:29:13,129
Well, all I know is
535
00:29:13,796 --> 00:29:17,008
daughters are better at taking care
of their mothers than sons.
536
00:29:17,008 --> 00:29:19,052
And I bought CDs
for a broken record.
537
00:29:19,052 --> 00:29:22,180
Everybody always told me there
was no one like my mother.
538
00:29:22,180 --> 00:29:25,475
But when all of my relatives
started watching the show,
539
00:29:25,475 --> 00:29:27,435
they said, "My God,
that's Aunt Norma.
540
00:29:27,435 --> 00:29:30,313
That's your mother."
I said, "No shit."
541
00:29:30,313 --> 00:29:31,898
It was like she was channeling her.
542
00:29:31,898 --> 00:29:33,983
I expect to see you tonight
at Anthony Junior's
543
00:29:33,983 --> 00:29:35,818
birthday party with your baked ziti.
544
00:29:35,818 --> 00:29:38,988
Only if I'm picked up
and I'm brought back home.
545
00:29:38,988 --> 00:29:42,492
I don't drive
when they're predicting rain.
546
00:29:42,492 --> 00:29:46,245
All of my career,
pretty much in my career,
547
00:29:46,245 --> 00:29:48,247
I have played the tasteful lady.
548
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:54,295
And I really appreciate playing
549
00:29:55,004 --> 00:29:56,589
this kind of harridan
550
00:29:57,298 --> 00:29:59,967
because I never get a chance
to do that.
551
00:29:59,967 --> 00:30:01,302
It's good for you to drive.
552
00:30:01,302 --> 00:30:03,137
Use it or lose it.
I got to go to work.
553
00:30:03,846 --> 00:30:04,764
Sure.
554
00:30:05,723 --> 00:30:06,808
Run off.
555
00:30:10,436 --> 00:30:11,270
I don't have...
556
00:30:11,270 --> 00:30:12,814
When I went in initially,
557
00:30:12,814 --> 00:30:15,191
I was auditioning for about
five different roles.
558
00:30:15,191 --> 00:30:17,360
Who was that woman tonight?
559
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,987
I read for Tony Soprano's mistress.
560
00:30:19,987 --> 00:30:22,740
What, you were redoing
the garbage dump?
561
00:30:22,740 --> 00:30:24,325
So don't treat me like a child.
562
00:30:24,325 --> 00:30:26,244
I know there's something
more intimate.
563
00:30:26,828 --> 00:30:29,247
Who was that woman
tonight at the restaurant?
564
00:30:29,247 --> 00:30:31,582
You better not be
messing with that hat.
565
00:30:31,582 --> 00:30:34,168
In the end,
they went with someone else.
566
00:30:35,503 --> 00:30:36,462
Very good.
567
00:30:36,462 --> 00:30:38,214
But David liked me.
568
00:30:38,214 --> 00:30:40,591
I think he just liked the fact
that I was Italian,
569
00:30:40,591 --> 00:30:41,759
and maybe I was cute.
570
00:30:41,759 --> 00:30:44,721
But I didn't know that it had
anything to do with being Italian.
571
00:30:44,721 --> 00:30:46,180
I thought it was about opera singers.
572
00:30:46,180 --> 00:30:47,765
This is unacceptable.
573
00:30:47,765 --> 00:30:50,393
I had an 8:00 reservation
I made two weeks ago.
574
00:30:50,393 --> 00:30:52,979
As I explained,
people are not leaving their tables.
575
00:30:52,979 --> 00:30:54,981
There are five parties ahead of you.
576
00:30:54,981 --> 00:30:57,024
I don't think I read
for the hostess part.
577
00:30:57,024 --> 00:30:58,443
That was a phone call,
578
00:30:58,443 --> 00:31:01,654
"Would you want to play this part?"
And I said, "Sure."
579
00:31:01,654 --> 00:31:04,991
But I couldn't say
my one fucking line.
580
00:31:04,991 --> 00:31:07,368
Mr. Borglund, they're setting up
your table right now.
581
00:31:07,368 --> 00:31:10,204
Because I was so nervous
to be around Lorraine
582
00:31:10,204 --> 00:31:11,497
after Goodfellas.
583
00:31:11,497 --> 00:31:13,541
Karen. So I was with Karen!
584
00:31:13,541 --> 00:31:15,376
I was dying!
585
00:31:15,376 --> 00:31:18,755
Look, he started to touch me.
He started to grab me.
586
00:31:18,755 --> 00:31:21,507
I told him to stop. He didn't stop.
587
00:31:21,507 --> 00:31:25,386
I hit him back, and then
he got really angry.
588
00:31:29,057 --> 00:31:32,435
Lorraine was the only thing we had
that resembled a star
589
00:31:32,435 --> 00:31:34,395
because of Goodfellas
and a couple other movies.
590
00:31:34,395 --> 00:31:38,775
But at first, the casting people
brought her in for Carmela.
591
00:31:39,734 --> 00:31:43,404
Carmela was definitely
something that HBO
592
00:31:43,404 --> 00:31:44,906
and him had discussed,
593
00:31:46,115 --> 00:31:49,452
but I went in wanting Dr. Melfi.
594
00:31:49,452 --> 00:31:53,164
And David was a little taken back.
595
00:31:53,706 --> 00:31:55,708
"Why do you want to play Melfi?"
596
00:31:55,708 --> 00:31:58,044
I said, "Well, because
I'm a different woman
597
00:31:58,044 --> 00:32:00,046
than I was years ago
598
00:32:00,046 --> 00:32:02,882
when I was Karen Hill
in Goodfellas.
599
00:32:02,882 --> 00:32:05,426
I don't really want to play
that part again.
600
00:32:05,426 --> 00:32:08,346
Dr. Melfi intrigues me.
I've been in therapy."
601
00:32:09,222 --> 00:32:11,557
- You had been in therapy?
- Absolutely.
602
00:32:11,557 --> 00:32:14,936
And so David and I talked
a lot about therapy,
603
00:32:14,936 --> 00:32:19,440
and I think that we've never seen
an Italian educated woman.
604
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,234
That pleases me.
605
00:32:22,026 --> 00:32:26,239
And I don't think Tony would talk
to anybody that's not Italian.
606
00:32:27,365 --> 00:32:28,825
So with that,
607
00:32:29,826 --> 00:32:31,369
Dr. Melfi.
608
00:32:32,995 --> 00:32:35,957
I said, "Okay, but you're
going to have to sit still
609
00:32:35,957 --> 00:32:37,458
with your hands in your lap.
610
00:32:38,918 --> 00:32:40,211
Keep your voice down."
611
00:32:43,798 --> 00:32:45,216
- Okay, David?
- Yeah.
612
00:32:45,216 --> 00:32:46,968
Okay. I got it.
613
00:32:46,968 --> 00:32:48,094
Great. Good.
614
00:32:48,845 --> 00:32:51,681
You know, I would always
have to work on
615
00:32:51,681 --> 00:32:54,559
tamping down all my lightness.
616
00:32:55,268 --> 00:32:57,979
And I would try to bury Lorraine
617
00:32:57,979 --> 00:32:59,772
so that Melfi would come out
618
00:32:59,772 --> 00:33:03,234
in a very different way
than who I am.
619
00:33:03,234 --> 00:33:04,652
It was very far from me.
620
00:33:05,153 --> 00:33:07,822
I'm not Melfi at all anywhere.
621
00:33:09,073 --> 00:33:12,535
Anxiety attacks are legitimate
psychiatric emergencies.
622
00:33:12,535 --> 00:33:15,913
- Suppose you were driving a car.
- Let me tell you something.
623
00:33:16,664 --> 00:33:20,418
Today everybody goes
to shrinks and counselors.
624
00:33:20,543 --> 00:33:22,670
They're getting on
Sally Jessy Raphael,
625
00:33:22,670 --> 00:33:24,088
talking about their problems.
626
00:33:24,088 --> 00:33:26,924
What happened to Gary Cooper?
627
00:33:26,924 --> 00:33:28,801
The strong, silent type?
628
00:33:28,801 --> 00:33:30,053
He was an American.
629
00:33:30,053 --> 00:33:32,305
This guy wasn't in touch
with his feelings.
630
00:33:32,305 --> 00:33:33,890
He just did what he had to do.
631
00:33:33,890 --> 00:33:35,933
We were casting Tony.
632
00:33:35,933 --> 00:33:38,352
We started in Los Angeles,
then moved to New York.
633
00:33:38,352 --> 00:33:41,314
We read a whole lot of people,
and it just wasn't happening.
634
00:33:41,314 --> 00:33:42,982
Vaffanculo, eh?
635
00:33:42,982 --> 00:33:47,653
But then I had asked Steven Van Zandt
to read for Tony.
636
00:33:47,653 --> 00:33:50,740
There he was, a rock and roll star.
637
00:33:51,407 --> 00:33:53,451
This carried a lot of shit with me.
638
00:34:02,668 --> 00:34:04,379
I used to play those
Springsteen albums
639
00:34:04,379 --> 00:34:07,173
and look at this
little Italian guy and say,
640
00:34:07,173 --> 00:34:10,134
"Who is that?
Kind of looks like Pacino."
641
00:34:13,346 --> 00:34:15,056
For the record, tonight,
642
00:34:15,056 --> 00:34:18,101
I want to say that there was
absolutely nothing
643
00:34:18,851 --> 00:34:21,646
unusual about the way
The Rascals dressed.
644
00:34:21,646 --> 00:34:24,607
But what happened was,
right before casting,
645
00:34:24,607 --> 00:34:27,735
my wife and I were watching
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
646
00:34:27,735 --> 00:34:31,489
and there's Steven Van Zandt
inducting The Rascals.
647
00:34:31,489 --> 00:34:33,241
Nothing strange about that.
648
00:34:33,241 --> 00:34:35,243
Dressed in a Rascals costume.
649
00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:37,745
The first time I saw The Rascals
650
00:34:37,745 --> 00:34:41,082
was the Keyport Roller Drome
in Keyport, New Jersey.
651
00:34:42,291 --> 00:34:43,292
That's right.
652
00:34:43,292 --> 00:34:44,836
No, it was no Fillmores.
653
00:34:44,836 --> 00:34:47,380
There was no arenas in those days.
654
00:34:47,380 --> 00:34:50,299
Rock and roll played skating rinks
where it belonged.
655
00:34:51,134 --> 00:34:53,553
I said to her, "This guy
has got to be in the show."
656
00:34:53,553 --> 00:34:54,971
And the way rock is selling,
657
00:34:54,971 --> 00:34:57,140
we may be back in
skating rinks next year,
658
00:34:57,140 --> 00:34:58,558
I don't know, but...
659
00:34:59,267 --> 00:35:01,644
I get a lot of scripts for music,
not for acting.
660
00:35:01,644 --> 00:35:03,396
I wasn't an actor.
661
00:35:03,396 --> 00:35:05,898
And David Chase calls, you know.
662
00:35:05,898 --> 00:35:07,525
I get on the phone.
663
00:35:08,192 --> 00:35:09,861
What was that first
conversation like?
664
00:35:09,861 --> 00:35:12,113
Well, it was a little weird
because he says,
665
00:35:12,113 --> 00:35:13,406
"What do you think?"
666
00:35:13,406 --> 00:35:15,533
I said, "Well, I think
it's great script.
667
00:35:15,533 --> 00:35:17,201
What kind of music
are you thinking of?"
668
00:35:17,201 --> 00:35:19,287
He says, "No, we want
you to be in it."
669
00:35:19,287 --> 00:35:22,039
I said, "I'm not an actor."
670
00:35:22,039 --> 00:35:24,667
I mean, I thought,
isn't that kind of a prerequisite
671
00:35:24,667 --> 00:35:27,170
for this whole TV thing? You know?
672
00:35:29,047 --> 00:35:31,007
And he says, "Yes, you are an actor.
673
00:35:31,007 --> 00:35:33,468
You just don't know it yet."
You know?
674
00:35:33,468 --> 00:35:35,344
So I said, "All right, well,
675
00:35:35,845 --> 00:35:38,598
maybe destiny is speaking here."
676
00:35:38,598 --> 00:35:41,059
Ah, let me tell you something.
677
00:35:41,059 --> 00:35:45,521
Everybody these days is going
to shrinks and counselors.
678
00:35:46,230 --> 00:35:49,358
They're all on Sally Jessy Raphael
telling everybody their problems.
679
00:35:50,068 --> 00:35:51,736
Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?
680
00:35:52,695 --> 00:35:54,614
You know, the strong, silent type.
681
00:35:55,364 --> 00:35:56,866
That was an American.
682
00:35:56,866 --> 00:36:00,161
He wasn't in touch with his feelings.
He did what he had to do.
683
00:36:01,662 --> 00:36:03,331
And those people knew
684
00:36:03,331 --> 00:36:05,875
once they got Gary Cooper
in touch with his feelings,
685
00:36:05,875 --> 00:36:08,086
they would never
be able to shut him up.
686
00:36:08,086 --> 00:36:10,254
Dysfunction this, dysfunction that,
687
00:36:10,254 --> 00:36:12,590
dysfunction vaffanculo.
688
00:36:12,590 --> 00:36:14,634
His reading was good.
689
00:36:14,634 --> 00:36:17,011
I'd never seen anything
like that, really.
690
00:36:17,011 --> 00:36:19,847
And I thought, "Well, yeah,
that could be Tony Soprano."
691
00:36:20,556 --> 00:36:22,642
But in the end,
I guess HBO tells David,
692
00:36:22,642 --> 00:36:24,185
"Look, he's okay.
693
00:36:24,185 --> 00:36:27,438
But we're not going to depend on
some guy who never acted before."
694
00:36:28,147 --> 00:36:31,192
He says, "All right,
well, in that case,
695
00:36:31,192 --> 00:36:34,195
I'll write you in a part
that doesn't exist."
696
00:36:36,364 --> 00:36:39,283
I'm like, wow, this guy's crazy.
697
00:36:39,283 --> 00:36:41,244
- This guy's really...
- And action.
698
00:36:42,453 --> 00:36:43,454
Sandrine.
699
00:36:43,454 --> 00:36:46,082
This table drinks on the house
all night.
700
00:36:46,082 --> 00:36:50,962
But he didn't write in
an underboss specifically,
701
00:36:50,962 --> 00:36:52,338
or a consigliere.
702
00:36:52,338 --> 00:36:55,466
I was just more or less a club owner
at that first moment.
703
00:36:56,217 --> 00:36:57,719
Let's do that one more time.
704
00:36:58,469 --> 00:37:01,264
It was very difficult
to find a guy for Tony.
705
00:37:01,264 --> 00:37:03,683
Let me tell you something.
706
00:37:03,683 --> 00:37:06,686
Today everybody goes
to shrinks and counselors.
707
00:37:06,686 --> 00:37:10,231
They go on Sally Jessy Raphael
and they talk about their problems.
708
00:37:11,107 --> 00:37:12,859
Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?
709
00:37:13,735 --> 00:37:16,529
The strong, silent type.
That was an American.
710
00:37:16,529 --> 00:37:19,532
He wasn't in touch with his feelings.
He just did what he had to do.
711
00:37:20,074 --> 00:37:21,409
What they didn't know
was once they got
712
00:37:21,409 --> 00:37:22,952
Gary Cooper
in touch with his feelings,
713
00:37:22,952 --> 00:37:24,162
they wouldn't be able to shut him up.
714
00:37:24,162 --> 00:37:27,457
Dysfunction this, dysfunction that,
dysfunction vaffanculo.
715
00:37:27,457 --> 00:37:29,500
Another guy who came close
was Michael Rispoli.
716
00:37:29,500 --> 00:37:30,585
That was excellent.
717
00:37:30,585 --> 00:37:33,713
But then, finally, we found Jim.
718
00:37:34,380 --> 00:37:35,465
I got a call.
719
00:37:35,465 --> 00:37:38,342
David Chase wanted to meet
at 8:30 in the morning.
720
00:37:38,342 --> 00:37:39,427
I was like, oh.
721
00:37:39,427 --> 00:37:41,763
Just his choice of having
a breakfast instead of...
722
00:37:41,763 --> 00:37:43,598
put me off right away.
I don't know why.
723
00:37:43,598 --> 00:37:44,849
But we had a good time.
724
00:37:44,849 --> 00:37:46,934
We laughed about our families
and our mothers.
725
00:37:46,934 --> 00:37:48,478
So, then I auditioned.
726
00:37:49,312 --> 00:37:52,857
And the first audition, I stopped
halfway through and I said,
727
00:37:52,857 --> 00:37:55,735
"This sucks.
I'm not doing it right.
728
00:37:55,735 --> 00:37:57,612
If you want me to come back,
I'll come back
729
00:37:57,612 --> 00:37:59,113
and do it differently."
730
00:37:59,113 --> 00:38:01,657
He left in the middle
of the first audition.
731
00:38:02,700 --> 00:38:03,785
Walked out.
732
00:38:03,785 --> 00:38:05,745
Doing his Van Morrison thing.
733
00:38:05,745 --> 00:38:08,539
"This is shit.
I'm not doing this right, " and left.
734
00:38:09,123 --> 00:38:11,459
But we thought he was great.
735
00:38:11,459 --> 00:38:15,088
So our casting directors
got him to come to my house,
736
00:38:15,088 --> 00:38:17,882
and he read the scene
and it was like, you know...
737
00:38:18,633 --> 00:38:19,467
Bang.
738
00:38:19,467 --> 00:38:21,135
Let me tell you something.
739
00:38:21,135 --> 00:38:24,514
Nowadays, everybody's gotta
go to shrinks and counselors,
740
00:38:24,514 --> 00:38:27,433
and go on Sally Jessy Raphael
and talk about their problems.
741
00:38:28,226 --> 00:38:30,603
Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?
742
00:38:31,145 --> 00:38:32,939
The strong, silent type.
743
00:38:33,648 --> 00:38:35,066
That was an American.
744
00:38:35,066 --> 00:38:38,694
He didn't worry about his feelings,
he just did what he had to do.
745
00:38:40,071 --> 00:38:41,030
What they didn't know
746
00:38:41,030 --> 00:38:42,532
was if they got Gary Cooper
to talk about his feelings,
747
00:38:42,532 --> 00:38:43,908
they wouldn't be able to shut him up.
748
00:38:43,908 --> 00:38:45,952
‘Cause dysfunction this,
dysfunction that,
749
00:38:45,952 --> 00:38:47,578
and dysfunction vaffanculo.
750
00:38:50,248 --> 00:38:52,834
It was just pretty obvious
when Jim did it,
751
00:38:53,543 --> 00:38:54,919
he was Tony.
752
00:38:58,172 --> 00:38:59,507
You know, sometimes...
753
00:39:01,342 --> 00:39:02,468
life is good.
754
00:39:02,468 --> 00:39:03,970
Life is often good.
755
00:39:06,013 --> 00:39:08,182
Regaleali, for example.
756
00:39:09,517 --> 00:39:11,519
We had cast everybody,
757
00:39:11,519 --> 00:39:13,396
but we didn't have a Carmela yet.
758
00:39:13,396 --> 00:39:14,480
Carmela...
759
00:39:16,107 --> 00:39:17,442
Something I got to confess.
760
00:39:17,442 --> 00:39:20,695
Edie, we did the audition
right before shooting.
761
00:39:21,654 --> 00:39:22,488
What are you doing?
762
00:39:22,488 --> 00:39:25,450
Getting my wine in position
to throw in your damn face.
763
00:39:25,450 --> 00:39:26,951
You're always with the drama.
764
00:39:26,951 --> 00:39:29,579
Go ahead and confess already.
Get it over with.
765
00:39:29,579 --> 00:39:31,748
She did the scene from the pilot
766
00:39:31,748 --> 00:39:34,041
where he tells her
that he's taking Prozac.
767
00:39:34,751 --> 00:39:36,085
I'm on Prozac.
768
00:39:37,670 --> 00:39:38,880
Oh, my God.
769
00:39:39,797 --> 00:39:41,507
I've been seeing a therapist.
770
00:39:41,507 --> 00:39:42,633
Oh, my God.
771
00:39:42,633 --> 00:39:44,761
I think that's great.
772
00:39:44,761 --> 00:39:47,764
I think that's so wonderful.
I think that's so gutsy.
773
00:39:47,764 --> 00:39:50,808
- It was like, wow, this is it.
- I think that's very wonderful.
774
00:39:50,808 --> 00:39:53,603
Did you think I was
Hannibal Lecture before?
775
00:39:53,603 --> 00:39:55,772
It's great.
Psychology doesn't address the soul.
776
00:39:55,772 --> 00:39:57,440
That's something else.
But this is a start.
777
00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,567
This is something.
I'm gonna shut up.
778
00:40:00,359 --> 00:40:01,694
I'll shut up now.
779
00:40:01,694 --> 00:40:03,529
I definitely knew who this woman was.
780
00:40:03,529 --> 00:40:06,491
And I was sure
I would never get cast because
781
00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,869
my experience up to that point
had been that,
782
00:40:09,869 --> 00:40:13,247
you know, if you're being cast
as an Italian American,
783
00:40:13,247 --> 00:40:14,832
you've got to look a certain way.
784
00:40:14,832 --> 00:40:17,210
And I felt like there were
other women
785
00:40:17,210 --> 00:40:18,753
that looked more that way
786
00:40:18,753 --> 00:40:21,589
and were cast
more often that way.
787
00:40:21,589 --> 00:40:23,132
But I went and auditioned,
788
00:40:23,132 --> 00:40:26,386
and the next day they called
and said, "You got the part."
789
00:40:26,386 --> 00:40:29,430
And I thought, "It's one of
these fly-by-night productions."
790
00:40:29,430 --> 00:40:31,724
You know? Cast it, shoot it.
791
00:40:35,728 --> 00:40:36,813
Mark.
792
00:40:37,772 --> 00:40:38,940
Mark.
793
00:40:40,608 --> 00:40:42,443
Somebody gonna say action or what?
794
00:40:42,443 --> 00:40:43,611
And action.
795
00:40:45,154 --> 00:40:47,698
You know, Grandma,
this place is pretty neat.
796
00:40:47,698 --> 00:40:49,492
What goes on behind there?
797
00:40:50,326 --> 00:40:51,202
Very good!
798
00:40:53,162 --> 00:40:55,039
Did you call that guy
at Tribeca Towers?
799
00:40:56,457 --> 00:40:58,251
DAVID CHASE: Wait until I give you
the cue for the line.
800
00:40:58,251 --> 00:40:59,168
Action.
801
00:40:59,168 --> 00:41:02,505
Girls, you gotta have more than
just cranberry juice for breakfast.
802
00:41:02,505 --> 00:41:03,589
Cut. Good.
803
00:41:05,466 --> 00:41:06,551
DAVID CHASE: Action.
804
00:41:06,551 --> 00:41:08,052
What the hell's the name
of the place?
805
00:41:08,052 --> 00:41:09,387
DAVID CHASE: Triboro Towers.
806
00:41:09,387 --> 00:41:10,430
Jesus.
807
00:41:11,013 --> 00:41:12,014
Action.
808
00:41:13,307 --> 00:41:14,142
Look...
809
00:41:16,227 --> 00:41:17,603
Anybody for ice cream?
810
00:41:19,230 --> 00:41:20,064
DAVID CHASE: Line.
811
00:41:20,940 --> 00:41:22,608
Did you call that guy
down at Triboro Towers
812
00:41:22,608 --> 00:41:23,901
about the hauling contract?
813
00:41:23,901 --> 00:41:25,528
Cut. Let's go again right away.
814
00:41:25,528 --> 00:41:28,614
Right out of the gate, did he say
he wanted to direct it?
815
00:41:28,614 --> 00:41:30,324
Yes. That was the next big decision.
816
00:41:30,324 --> 00:41:33,786
We didn't know a lot about
what we were doing,
817
00:41:33,786 --> 00:41:37,206
so we didn't want to give
anybody that much control.
818
00:41:37,206 --> 00:41:40,293
He was going to be the
showrunner-writer-producer,
819
00:41:40,293 --> 00:41:42,045
but if he was going to direct it,
820
00:41:42,045 --> 00:41:44,630
then it was really
going to be his vision.
821
00:41:44,630 --> 00:41:48,593
But it was clear when David
was talking about it
822
00:41:48,593 --> 00:41:52,013
that it lived so much
in his heart and soul
823
00:41:52,013 --> 00:41:53,431
and in his head
824
00:41:53,431 --> 00:41:56,059
that we were like, "We gotta."
825
00:41:57,185 --> 00:41:58,227
Let's let him direct it.
826
00:41:58,227 --> 00:41:59,479
Action.
827
00:41:59,479 --> 00:42:04,025
Every year on this date
since you were itty-bitty,
828
00:42:04,025 --> 00:42:06,027
Mom and Meadow get all dolled up,
829
00:42:06,027 --> 00:42:09,072
drive into New York Plaza Hotel
for tea...
830
00:42:09,072 --> 00:42:12,325
The scene where Carmela goes
to get her daughter
831
00:42:12,325 --> 00:42:13,701
to bring her to the Plaza.
832
00:42:13,701 --> 00:42:15,119
I have too much homework.
833
00:42:15,119 --> 00:42:17,497
Meadow, it's our little tradition.
834
00:42:17,497 --> 00:42:19,123
We always have so much fun.
835
00:42:19,123 --> 00:42:20,416
Tell you the truth,
836
00:42:20,416 --> 00:42:22,835
I've felt it was dumb
since I was eight.
837
00:42:22,835 --> 00:42:25,213
I just go because you like it.
838
00:42:25,213 --> 00:42:28,758
I remember something about
David's directing of that scene...
839
00:42:28,758 --> 00:42:29,759
Cut. Good.
840
00:42:29,759 --> 00:42:32,470
...that made me realize
this is personal to him.
841
00:42:32,470 --> 00:42:35,056
He's speaking about something
that may have really happened...
842
00:42:35,056 --> 00:42:36,015
Action.
843
00:42:36,015 --> 00:42:38,059
...or something he was really
going through
844
00:42:38,059 --> 00:42:40,061
with his wife and daughter
at that time.
845
00:42:41,229 --> 00:42:44,065
But I remember thinking,
"Oh, this isn't just a director.
846
00:42:44,065 --> 00:42:45,691
This is personal."
847
00:42:45,691 --> 00:42:47,902
You have something
you want to say to me?
848
00:42:49,112 --> 00:42:51,364
Mom, do you have any idea
how much it means
849
00:42:51,364 --> 00:42:53,408
to actually go skiing in Aspen?
850
00:42:53,408 --> 00:42:56,035
I mean, do you think that's
going to happen every year?
851
00:42:56,035 --> 00:42:59,789
Like lame tea and scones
at the Plaza Hotel?
852
00:43:02,166 --> 00:43:03,042
Goodbye.
853
00:43:03,042 --> 00:43:04,794
Close my door, please.
854
00:43:05,503 --> 00:43:07,088
And cut.
855
00:43:07,088 --> 00:43:09,090
- Cut.
- Good.
856
00:43:09,090 --> 00:43:11,509
Were you nervous about
shooting the pilot?
857
00:43:11,509 --> 00:43:14,762
Thinking, this is my opportunity now
to be a director?
858
00:43:15,722 --> 00:43:17,765
Yeah. Sure, I was nervous, yeah.
859
00:43:19,016 --> 00:43:21,477
I mean, I had directed
some before that,
860
00:43:21,477 --> 00:43:23,438
but, yeah, I was very nervous.
861
00:43:23,438 --> 00:43:27,066
I depended on
Alik Sakharov a lot, DP.
862
00:43:27,900 --> 00:43:31,654
I remember it was the first
or second week of prep on the pilot.
863
00:43:31,654 --> 00:43:34,240
David would walk into the office,
put his feet up,
864
00:43:34,240 --> 00:43:35,658
look out the window,
865
00:43:35,658 --> 00:43:37,118
and just like gray mood.
866
00:43:37,827 --> 00:43:39,203
You were like, "Dave, what's up?"
867
00:43:40,246 --> 00:43:42,749
"I don't know who's going
to fucking watch this shit."
868
00:43:45,585 --> 00:43:48,671
It's a good script, bro.
You know? It's a good script.
869
00:43:50,882 --> 00:43:52,341
I distinctly remember, he said
870
00:43:52,341 --> 00:43:54,552
we don't want to do
another television project.
871
00:43:54,552 --> 00:43:56,345
Let's just break all the rules.
872
00:43:57,305 --> 00:43:59,098
I didn't want TV coverage.
873
00:43:59,098 --> 00:44:02,351
Coverage is the most boring
fucking thing in the world.
874
00:44:02,351 --> 00:44:04,854
Typically, it would be a master,
875
00:44:04,854 --> 00:44:06,898
two overs, and two close-ups.
876
00:44:06,898 --> 00:44:10,068
So basically you fracture the scene
into smithereens.
877
00:44:10,068 --> 00:44:11,903
It wasn't cinematic at all.
878
00:44:12,528 --> 00:44:15,948
We talked about Bertolucci.
We talked about Coppola up the wazoo.
879
00:44:15,948 --> 00:44:18,493
You know, Godfather.
We talked about Martin Scorsese.
880
00:44:18,493 --> 00:44:19,869
We talked about Polanski.
881
00:44:24,582 --> 00:44:26,834
With Chinatown, the language of it
882
00:44:26,834 --> 00:44:30,713
was very close to how we wanted
to present Sopranos.
883
00:44:31,255 --> 00:44:33,299
The scene where Jake Gittes
884
00:44:33,299 --> 00:44:35,676
drives his car through
the orange orchard...
885
00:44:39,514 --> 00:44:40,848
Hold it right there!
886
00:44:40,848 --> 00:44:44,435
That was the model for a scene
where Tony and Chris
887
00:44:44,435 --> 00:44:46,687
chase this guy
in front of this office building.
888
00:44:53,236 --> 00:44:54,153
Asshole!
889
00:44:58,574 --> 00:44:59,659
Tony!
890
00:45:00,243 --> 00:45:01,285
Wait up!
891
00:45:06,416 --> 00:45:09,752
Then I said, "Okay, I want to take
the camera inside."
892
00:45:09,752 --> 00:45:12,714
Two guys are working in there
when this goes by them,
893
00:45:12,714 --> 00:45:14,006
and they jump.
894
00:45:15,258 --> 00:45:16,300
People were like,
895
00:45:17,093 --> 00:45:19,637
"What's that got to do with it?"
But it worked well.
896
00:45:19,637 --> 00:45:22,890
And then it just basically
breaks into handheld mode
897
00:45:22,890 --> 00:45:25,768
when Tony is out of the car
and he just pummels this guy.
898
00:45:25,768 --> 00:45:28,104
- You all right?
- My leg is broken.
899
00:45:28,104 --> 00:45:30,648
So in it, there's a lot of Chinatown.
900
00:45:30,648 --> 00:45:32,483
I'll give you a fucking bone,
you prick.
901
00:45:32,483 --> 00:45:34,110
Where's my fucking money?
902
00:45:34,861 --> 00:45:36,279
- Cut.
- That was my fault.
903
00:45:36,279 --> 00:45:38,740
- I didn't wait long enough.
- Let's do one more.
904
00:45:38,740 --> 00:45:40,032
When you're doing TV,
905
00:45:40,032 --> 00:45:42,118
it's one scene
right after another one.
906
00:45:42,118 --> 00:45:44,996
So you have to learn
to prepare very quickly.
907
00:45:44,996 --> 00:45:47,665
- In one scene, you'll be...
- Hey, old man. Happy birthday.
908
00:45:47,665 --> 00:45:48,875
...talking to your son,
909
00:45:48,875 --> 00:45:51,502
the next scene
you'll be beating somebody up,
910
00:45:51,502 --> 00:45:54,172
and the next scene you'll be
making love to your wife.
911
00:45:54,172 --> 00:45:56,215
And so it's this constant
change of emotions
912
00:45:56,215 --> 00:45:57,508
all through the day,
913
00:45:57,508 --> 00:45:59,385
and you have to be able
to shift quickly.
914
00:45:59,385 --> 00:46:01,763
What are you talking about?
We discussed this.
915
00:46:01,763 --> 00:46:03,139
Mr. Soprano?
916
00:46:05,266 --> 00:46:06,726
Lorraine and Jim.
917
00:46:06,726 --> 00:46:11,022
We rehearsed for three days
right before we shot.
918
00:46:11,773 --> 00:46:13,941
But look, this shit I'm telling you?
919
00:46:14,567 --> 00:46:15,777
It will all blow over.
920
00:46:16,486 --> 00:46:17,653
Just stop for a second.
921
00:46:18,404 --> 00:46:19,447
For him, it was like,
922
00:46:19,447 --> 00:46:22,241
what's your attitude
in a psychiatrist's office?
923
00:46:22,241 --> 00:46:24,118
There was a lot of things
he wasn't used to.
924
00:46:24,118 --> 00:46:26,329
It's okay. It's not a big deal.
It's just me.
925
00:46:26,329 --> 00:46:27,663
Should we cut?
926
00:46:27,663 --> 00:46:29,415
And I'm not-- It's my fault.
927
00:46:29,415 --> 00:46:30,792
My concentration.
928
00:46:31,417 --> 00:46:33,419
I shouldn't say that. Hi.
929
00:46:33,419 --> 00:46:36,798
Have you ever had any personal
experience with psychoanalysis?
930
00:46:36,798 --> 00:46:37,965
Yeah.
931
00:46:39,342 --> 00:46:41,177
In other words,
you're not just making it up.
932
00:46:41,177 --> 00:46:42,845
You know what it feels like.
933
00:46:42,845 --> 00:46:45,556
I've been in some of those rooms,
not for long periods, but...
934
00:46:45,556 --> 00:46:47,517
But you know what it feels like.
935
00:46:47,517 --> 00:46:49,519
Yes, but, you know,
936
00:46:51,020 --> 00:46:52,980
I don't think when I started
the series I did.
937
00:46:52,980 --> 00:46:55,233
I think that led me right into it.
938
00:46:56,567 --> 00:46:58,945
- That pushed you into it?
- Yeah. Oh, definitely.
939
00:46:58,945 --> 00:47:00,947
Was it research or was it real?
940
00:47:01,614 --> 00:47:03,991
- No, it was real.
- It was real.
941
00:47:03,991 --> 00:47:05,535
It was a cry for help.
942
00:47:05,535 --> 00:47:06,869
No, it was...
943
00:47:09,664 --> 00:47:11,624
Ah, yeah. Uh-huh, sure.
944
00:47:15,503 --> 00:47:16,754
Yeah, hose him down.
945
00:47:19,757 --> 00:47:22,009
- Would you like a Kleenex?
- Nah, fuck that.
946
00:47:23,636 --> 00:47:25,430
You're getting me
hot and sweaty, doc.
947
00:47:25,430 --> 00:47:27,223
Jim had never been in therapy.
948
00:47:27,223 --> 00:47:28,141
Action.
949
00:47:28,141 --> 00:47:32,603
So that was fun to kind of lead him,
push him,
950
00:47:32,603 --> 00:47:35,148
manipulate him, in a way.
951
00:47:35,940 --> 00:47:37,400
There are some very intimate moments.
952
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:39,485
Yes, which is why I loved it.
953
00:47:39,485 --> 00:47:41,696
Which is why I wanted Melfi.
954
00:47:41,696 --> 00:47:46,242
I thought he was more intimate
with me than with anybody.
955
00:47:47,201 --> 00:47:48,453
And I loved that.
956
00:47:49,704 --> 00:47:50,663
Mark.
957
00:47:52,123 --> 00:47:54,125
You have strong feelings about this.
958
00:47:54,250 --> 00:47:55,543
Let me tell you something.
959
00:47:55,668 --> 00:47:57,462
I have a semester and a half
of college,
960
00:47:57,462 --> 00:47:59,297
so I understand Freud.
961
00:47:59,297 --> 00:48:03,384
I understand therapy as a concept,
but in my world, it does not go down.
962
00:48:04,635 --> 00:48:06,345
Could I be happier? Yeah.
963
00:48:06,345 --> 00:48:07,722
Yeah. Who couldn't?
964
00:48:08,765 --> 00:48:09,599
Cut.
965
00:48:10,641 --> 00:48:11,642
Action!
966
00:48:14,187 --> 00:48:17,065
Jim had his own way
of becoming Tony Soprano.
967
00:48:17,565 --> 00:48:19,442
He understood the character.
968
00:48:20,735 --> 00:48:23,154
There was a scene where Chris
was off sulking,
969
00:48:23,154 --> 00:48:24,864
so Tony goes up to him and says...
970
00:48:24,864 --> 00:48:26,699
Enough of this shit,
what's wrong with you?
971
00:48:26,699 --> 00:48:28,659
In the script, what I had written in
972
00:48:28,659 --> 00:48:30,536
or had imagined was,
is Tony going, "Hey!"
973
00:48:31,579 --> 00:48:32,955
That was what I was picturing.
974
00:48:34,248 --> 00:48:35,249
I'll fucking kill you.
975
00:48:35,249 --> 00:48:38,127
But Gandolfini yanked him
out of his chair.
976
00:48:38,127 --> 00:48:40,171
That came out of nowhere.
That wasn't in the script.
977
00:48:40,171 --> 00:48:41,839
And cut. Fucking great.
978
00:48:42,548 --> 00:48:45,385
But it was mostly,
I would give direction,
979
00:48:45,385 --> 00:48:46,761
and he'd say, "Well, you do it."
980
00:48:46,761 --> 00:48:47,887
Action.
981
00:48:47,887 --> 00:48:49,889
I would do some stupid fucking thing.
982
00:48:50,807 --> 00:48:54,227
And he later told my wife, he said,
"You know that pilot?
983
00:48:54,227 --> 00:48:56,145
I just copied the way David behaves."
984
00:48:56,145 --> 00:48:57,230
Cut.
985
00:48:57,230 --> 00:48:59,982
In the beginning, I do remember
Jimmy would say, like,
986
00:48:59,982 --> 00:49:02,402
"How does David know
so much about me?"
987
00:49:02,402 --> 00:49:04,612
Maybe there were similarities
in the cultural upbringing.
988
00:49:04,612 --> 00:49:06,406
David grew up in New Jersey,
989
00:49:06,406 --> 00:49:07,907
Jimmy grew up in New Jersey.
990
00:49:07,907 --> 00:49:10,910
Italian households, you know,
just a lot of similarities.
991
00:49:11,911 --> 00:49:14,414
It just fit.
Everything seemed to fit, you know?
992
00:49:15,081 --> 00:49:16,791
David grew up in New Jersey,
993
00:49:16,791 --> 00:49:18,918
so he can take a lot of things
from real life,
994
00:49:19,544 --> 00:49:21,421
which you would never think
would work,
995
00:49:21,421 --> 00:49:22,922
but he makes them work.
996
00:49:24,716 --> 00:49:27,385
It was not, like, slam dunk.
997
00:49:27,385 --> 00:49:30,805
I mean, it was a very strange pilot.
998
00:49:31,389 --> 00:49:33,766
Blatantly uncommercial, frankly.
999
00:49:33,766 --> 00:49:35,351
Hey, kids. Come here!
1000
00:49:35,351 --> 00:49:36,728
They're trying to fly!
1001
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,272
The babies, they're trying to fly!
1002
00:49:39,272 --> 00:49:41,774
- The basic premise...
- Look, they're trying to fly.
1003
00:49:41,774 --> 00:49:44,527
A bunch of ducks come
into a boss's pool.
1004
00:49:44,527 --> 00:49:46,446
The ducks leave.
He has a nervous breakdown.
1005
00:49:46,446 --> 00:49:48,114
Do you feel depressed?
1006
00:49:50,074 --> 00:49:51,409
Since the ducks left,
1007
00:49:53,327 --> 00:49:54,495
I guess.
1008
00:49:55,204 --> 00:49:58,458
The ducks that preceded
your losing consciousness.
1009
00:49:58,458 --> 00:50:00,168
Let's talk about them.
1010
00:50:08,885 --> 00:50:11,596
This is the premise of a hit show?
1011
00:50:13,014 --> 00:50:16,726
Nobody really expected it
to even be picked up.
1012
00:50:16,726 --> 00:50:18,561
Dr. Cusamano put me in the hospital,
1013
00:50:19,312 --> 00:50:20,772
gave me every kind of test.
1014
00:50:21,314 --> 00:50:23,608
They tested the pilot in four places:
1015
00:50:23,608 --> 00:50:27,153
Connecticut, Dallas,
and two other I forget.
1016
00:50:28,154 --> 00:50:30,823
And surprisingly enough,
it tested best in Connecticut.
1017
00:50:30,823 --> 00:50:31,991
This is fucked up.
1018
00:50:31,991 --> 00:50:34,160
Of course, it's loaded
with Italians...
1019
00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:36,079
And it's near New Jersey.
1020
00:50:36,079 --> 00:50:37,455
New Jersey, yeah.
1021
00:50:37,455 --> 00:50:41,000
You cannot accept a gift like that
from Tony Soprano.
1022
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:42,794
- No way.
- Listen to me, Charmaine.
1023
00:50:42,794 --> 00:50:46,881
They said that testing had shown
that Charmaine Bucco,
1024
00:50:46,881 --> 00:50:49,759
Artie's wife, was the moral center
of the show.
1025
00:50:49,759 --> 00:50:51,427
And we should focus more on her.
1026
00:50:51,427 --> 00:50:53,596
But the tickets were comps.
1027
00:50:53,596 --> 00:50:55,431
Tony is a labor leader.
1028
00:50:55,431 --> 00:50:57,517
Arthur, please, grow up.
1029
00:50:57,517 --> 00:51:00,436
Does the mind not rebel
in any possible scenario
1030
00:51:00,436 --> 00:51:03,773
under which dentists are sending
the Don of New Jersey,
1031
00:51:03,773 --> 00:51:06,442
first class on a Norwegian steamship?
1032
00:51:06,442 --> 00:51:07,443
Come on, Arthur,
1033
00:51:07,443 --> 00:51:09,821
somebody donated their
kneecaps for those tickets.
1034
00:51:10,947 --> 00:51:12,573
And she was great. Kathy was great.
1035
00:51:12,573 --> 00:51:15,076
But that's not what
the show was about.
1036
00:51:16,202 --> 00:51:19,831
And it just took forever.
1037
00:51:19,831 --> 00:51:22,291
It was ten months
before you guys greenlit it.
1038
00:51:22,291 --> 00:51:25,753
It was a long time.
'Cause this was a big jump.
1039
00:51:25,753 --> 00:51:28,339
Because that's the deal you're making
with a showrunner.
1040
00:51:28,339 --> 00:51:31,050
You're saying, "Okay, I'm going
to give you millions of dollars,
1041
00:51:31,050 --> 00:51:32,802
and we're going to take
a number of years
1042
00:51:32,802 --> 00:51:35,930
and we're going to create something.
And do I trust you?"
1043
00:51:42,186 --> 00:51:43,312
They finally said yes.
1044
00:51:43,312 --> 00:51:45,940
And I got to tell you,
I just feel so grateful for that.
1045
00:51:45,940 --> 00:51:49,026
You're not getting me
into a nursing home.
1046
00:51:49,736 --> 00:51:52,280
I mean, I was at the end
of my career, really.
1047
00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:56,826
I was actually finally going to quit
working in television
1048
00:51:56,826 --> 00:51:59,620
and go to work
writing features on spec.
1049
00:52:00,538 --> 00:52:02,707
Then Sopranos came up.
1050
00:52:03,374 --> 00:52:06,335
It was like I had been in the middle
of a terrible ocean.
1051
00:52:06,335 --> 00:52:07,420
- Ma.
- No.
1052
00:52:07,420 --> 00:52:09,547
Anthony, people come here to die.
1053
00:52:10,965 --> 00:52:13,718
And I had landed on a desert island,
1054
00:52:13,718 --> 00:52:15,720
a beautiful palm-covered island.
1055
00:52:20,558 --> 00:52:22,685
I thought, "My life is saved."
1056
00:52:22,685 --> 00:52:23,978
Oh my God!
1057
00:52:24,687 --> 00:52:26,939
Somebody get a doctor.
1058
00:52:28,816 --> 00:52:30,526
So what happened
with you and The Sopranos,
1059
00:52:30,526 --> 00:52:33,237
it was like HBO said,
"Go for it, man."
1060
00:52:33,237 --> 00:52:35,490
They trust the instincts
of the creator.
1061
00:52:35,490 --> 00:52:37,867
That was the amazing thing
that happened.
1062
00:52:37,867 --> 00:52:40,078
I guess I had the right concept,
1063
00:52:40,745 --> 00:52:42,538
and they decided to trust me.
1064
00:52:44,332 --> 00:52:46,709
The morning of the day I got sick,
I'd been thinking.
1065
00:52:49,712 --> 00:52:52,340
It's good to be in something
from the ground floor.
1066
00:52:52,965 --> 00:52:55,093
I came too late for that. I know.
1067
00:52:56,094 --> 00:52:59,680
But lately I'm getting the feeling
that I came in at the end.
1068
00:53:00,348 --> 00:53:01,933
The best is over.
1069
00:53:01,933 --> 00:53:04,435
Many Americans, I think,
feel that way.
1070
00:53:06,396 --> 00:53:07,647
I think about my father.
1071
00:53:08,356 --> 00:53:09,857
He never reached the heights like me.
1072
00:53:10,733 --> 00:53:12,151
But in a lot of ways,
he had it better.
1073
00:53:12,151 --> 00:53:13,653
He had his people.
1074
00:53:14,445 --> 00:53:17,240
They had their standards.
They had pride.
1075
00:53:17,240 --> 00:53:18,533
Today, what do we got?
1076
00:53:19,867 --> 00:53:22,203
When I wrote the beginning
of the pilot,
1077
00:53:22,203 --> 00:53:24,622
what I was talking about was America.
1078
00:53:24,622 --> 00:53:28,960
I just had a sense that things
were really going downhill.
1079
00:53:30,503 --> 00:53:32,213
Everything's for sale here.
1080
00:53:32,213 --> 00:53:34,090
Everything is for sale.
1081
00:53:34,090 --> 00:53:35,466
And also,
1082
00:53:36,843 --> 00:53:39,470
the comic part of it for me was that
1083
00:53:40,388 --> 00:53:44,100
Americans had gotten
so materialistic and so selfish
1084
00:53:45,435 --> 00:53:46,853
that it made a mob boss sick.
1085
00:53:49,063 --> 00:53:51,941
I wanna know why there's zero growth
in this family's receipts.
1086
00:53:55,069 --> 00:53:56,154
Where's the fucking money?
1087
00:53:58,614 --> 00:53:59,949
You're supposed to be earners.
1088
00:54:00,616 --> 00:54:02,493
Each of you,
go to your people on the street,
1089
00:54:02,493 --> 00:54:04,036
crack some fucking heads,
1090
00:54:04,036 --> 00:54:06,164
create some fucking
earners out there.
1091
00:54:06,164 --> 00:54:08,750
Sil, break it down for them.
1092
00:54:08,750 --> 00:54:11,836
What two businesses have
traditionally been recession-proof
1093
00:54:11,836 --> 00:54:13,254
since time immemorial?
1094
00:54:14,338 --> 00:54:16,841
Certain aspects of show business
and our thing.
1095
00:54:17,508 --> 00:54:20,344
You know, you do a mob story,
of course you're doing a mob story.
1096
00:54:20,344 --> 00:54:24,182
But there's also the element
of corruption and business,
1097
00:54:24,182 --> 00:54:26,059
like anything to make a buck.
1098
00:54:26,059 --> 00:54:28,019
- Where's the rest of the money?
- It's everywhere.
1099
00:54:28,019 --> 00:54:30,938
The whole idea of both
that it's the American dream
1100
00:54:30,938 --> 00:54:33,274
and the American nightmare,
all at once.
1101
00:54:33,274 --> 00:54:35,568
It was about money and death.
1102
00:54:35,568 --> 00:54:37,570
- And they're related somehow.
- Right.
1103
00:54:37,570 --> 00:54:39,280
You better give me your jewelry.
1104
00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:42,075
It was capitalism
in the rawest sense.
1105
00:54:42,075 --> 00:54:44,827
They know we can't produce receipts.
You want them stealing from us?
1106
00:54:44,827 --> 00:54:46,829
And it was on television,
1107
00:54:46,829 --> 00:54:51,250
which was the instrument
that capitalism used to sell.
1108
00:54:51,250 --> 00:54:52,877
- A new Dodge.
- Camel.
1109
00:54:52,877 --> 00:54:54,045
- Jell-O.
- Kodak.
1110
00:54:54,045 --> 00:54:56,923
What I thought
from the very beginning was,
1111
00:54:56,923 --> 00:54:58,341
okay, here we are,
1112
00:54:58,341 --> 00:55:00,468
this is now 50 years we're doing TV.
1113
00:55:02,178 --> 00:55:04,722
And people are being sold something
1114
00:55:05,431 --> 00:55:06,557
every 15 minutes,
1115
00:55:06,557 --> 00:55:08,434
would mean... a hard sell.
1116
00:55:11,062 --> 00:55:14,357
Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit,
bullshit.
1117
00:55:16,484 --> 00:55:18,152
And we're so used to, on that screen,
1118
00:55:18,152 --> 00:55:20,029
a face comes on and says something.
1119
00:55:20,029 --> 00:55:21,614
It has an effect on us.
1120
00:55:22,323 --> 00:55:25,034
And it was all about
money, money, money.
1121
00:55:25,535 --> 00:55:27,078
Just so you understand
1122
00:55:27,078 --> 00:55:29,163
that I have to charge you
for the missed session.
1123
00:55:29,163 --> 00:55:30,164
All right. Fine.
1124
00:55:31,249 --> 00:55:33,000
Fine, here. Here you go.
1125
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:35,920
- As it was said in the show.
- This is what it's all about.
1126
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:37,547
Motherfucking, cock-sucking money.
1127
00:55:37,547 --> 00:55:38,589
Here.
1128
00:55:40,717 --> 00:55:42,218
And now we had no more commercials.
1129
00:55:42,218 --> 00:55:43,594
We were on HBO.
1130
00:55:53,980 --> 00:55:56,649
Everywhere I'd gone prior to that,
of all the networks,
1131
00:55:56,649 --> 00:55:59,777
"Where do you want to shoot it?"
I said, "New Jersey."
1132
00:55:59,777 --> 00:56:01,738
"What do you want to do that for?"
1133
00:56:01,738 --> 00:56:03,906
I said, "I believe it belongs there."
1134
00:56:04,741 --> 00:56:07,452
"It's going to be a lot of money.
I don't know what for."
1135
00:56:08,578 --> 00:56:11,414
Then when I went to HBO, they said,
1136
00:56:11,414 --> 00:56:14,292
"Now, it says here
it takes place in New Jersey.
1137
00:56:14,292 --> 00:56:16,753
You're going to shoot it
in New Jersey, right?"
1138
00:56:16,753 --> 00:56:18,546
I was like,
"Oh my God, I'm in heaven."
1139
00:56:19,297 --> 00:56:22,383
Really, I felt like,
fuck the whole past 30 years.
1140
00:56:22,383 --> 00:56:23,634
This is it.
1141
00:56:23,634 --> 00:56:26,054
A broadcast network
would shoot it in LA
1142
00:56:26,054 --> 00:56:28,681
and do second unit in Jersey
1143
00:56:28,681 --> 00:56:31,517
and find, you know, locations
that they could double
1144
00:56:31,517 --> 00:56:36,355
to create that wonderful
suspension of disbelief illusion.
1145
00:56:36,355 --> 00:56:37,857
"Oh, I'm really in Jersey."
1146
00:56:39,859 --> 00:56:42,236
We'll keep right on going,
shooting in the rain.
1147
00:56:42,236 --> 00:56:43,488
I like it when it's cloudy
1148
00:56:43,488 --> 00:56:45,948
because the colors get nice
and saturated and rich.
1149
00:56:47,283 --> 00:56:49,952
We got into this idea of
looking for locations
1150
00:56:49,952 --> 00:56:51,788
not because they were locations.
1151
00:56:51,788 --> 00:56:53,998
We got to find places
that have character
1152
00:56:53,998 --> 00:56:56,751
that could basically
parallel our characters. Right?
1153
00:56:56,751 --> 00:56:59,212
All we need to do now is bring
the camera and shoot it.
1154
00:56:59,212 --> 00:57:00,755
For rehearsal, please.
1155
00:57:04,675 --> 00:57:07,387
Well, we actually shot
all the interiors in Queens.
1156
00:57:07,387 --> 00:57:08,971
And all the exteriors,
1157
00:57:08,971 --> 00:57:12,892
I forbade any exterior shots
to be shot anyplace but New Jersey
1158
00:57:12,892 --> 00:57:14,811
because I wanted it to be realistic.
1159
00:57:14,811 --> 00:57:16,354
I knew New Jersey really well.
1160
00:57:16,938 --> 00:57:18,981
For example, the Meadowlands,
1161
00:57:18,981 --> 00:57:21,734
the combination of really
heavy industry
1162
00:57:21,734 --> 00:57:24,821
and the largest urban wilderness
in the world.
1163
00:57:43,756 --> 00:57:45,883
Marty Scorsese doesn't like the show.
1164
00:57:46,843 --> 00:57:49,345
Says, "I don't get it.
It's like all these trees and shit."
1165
00:57:50,555 --> 00:57:54,517
All mob things before that
had been Manhattan or Brooklyn.
1166
00:57:59,397 --> 00:58:02,775
And I knew there was a mob presence
in New Jersey.
1167
00:58:02,775 --> 00:58:05,945
Kids whose fathers were
heavy bookmakers, loan sharks.
1168
00:58:07,196 --> 00:58:08,489
Where the Soprano house was,
1169
00:58:08,489 --> 00:58:11,451
that was the town that we moved to
when I was in eighth grade.
1170
00:58:11,451 --> 00:58:14,120
There was a lot of woods and ponds.
1171
00:58:14,120 --> 00:58:17,039
At the same time, some guy
got blown up in his garage.
1172
00:58:17,957 --> 00:58:19,417
Start his car...
1173
00:58:20,293 --> 00:58:22,170
So I knew about all that,
and I thought,
1174
00:58:22,170 --> 00:58:24,338
"I think it'll actually work."
1175
00:58:29,427 --> 00:58:31,763
It gave it an entirely
different look.
1176
00:58:31,763 --> 00:58:34,515
And I think it was
kind of a different culture.
1177
00:58:34,515 --> 00:58:37,185
Tony was a suburbanite,
Tony and Carmela.
1178
00:58:37,935 --> 00:58:38,895
This says "with pulp."
1179
00:58:40,021 --> 00:58:41,230
You like it with pulp.
1180
00:58:41,230 --> 00:58:42,648
Not this much.
1181
00:58:43,191 --> 00:58:45,068
I like the one that says "some pulp."
1182
00:58:47,987 --> 00:58:49,155
The fuck was that for?
1183
00:58:49,155 --> 00:58:50,615
I'll write you up a list.
1184
00:58:51,991 --> 00:58:54,410
- New game.
- He's got a regular family, kids.
1185
00:58:55,620 --> 00:58:58,623
- Attagirl, Mead!
- His daughter plays soccer.
1186
00:58:58,623 --> 00:58:59,582
Brick wall!
1187
00:59:02,168 --> 00:59:03,628
He loves his wife very much.
1188
00:59:04,253 --> 00:59:05,338
I think she...
1189
00:59:05,963 --> 00:59:08,007
she's the strength of the family,
pretty much.
1190
00:59:09,133 --> 00:59:10,510
He's just got a regular life.
1191
00:59:11,052 --> 00:59:12,887
His job is the Mafia.
1192
00:59:13,471 --> 00:59:14,597
That's his job.
1193
00:59:14,597 --> 00:59:15,598
It's not fair.
1194
00:59:15,598 --> 00:59:17,683
He's got a regular family
on top of it,
1195
00:59:17,683 --> 00:59:20,311
which creates as many problems,
if not more,
1196
00:59:20,311 --> 00:59:21,771
as the other job.
1197
00:59:23,606 --> 00:59:24,857
When you're choosing projects,
1198
00:59:24,857 --> 00:59:26,651
what are the most
important factors for you?
1199
00:59:27,318 --> 00:59:28,277
What comes first?
1200
00:59:28,277 --> 00:59:31,114
The writing, the writing,
the writing...
1201
00:59:31,114 --> 00:59:35,284
So when you got picked up for series,
1202
00:59:35,284 --> 00:59:37,328
then you had to put together
a writers' room.
1203
00:59:37,328 --> 00:59:39,580
Was that a difficult process
in terms of
1204
00:59:39,580 --> 00:59:42,417
figuring out how you're going to work
with a bunch of other writers?
1205
00:59:42,417 --> 00:59:45,169
Yes and no.
I had worked rooms before,
1206
00:59:45,169 --> 00:59:47,505
so I knew what to expect.
1207
00:59:47,505 --> 00:59:49,465
But this one was
going to be different.
1208
00:59:50,216 --> 00:59:53,886
I was in a mood where I just
wasn't going to accept TV writing.
1209
00:59:53,886 --> 00:59:56,013
I kept thinking,
"God, we're free here.
1210
00:59:56,013 --> 00:59:57,890
Let's really dig down into this."
1211
00:59:57,890 --> 00:59:59,016
Let's think about it.
1212
00:59:59,016 --> 01:00:01,561
I came on for episode, I guess, two,
1213
01:00:01,561 --> 01:00:03,354
you know, after the pilot.
1214
01:00:03,354 --> 01:00:05,273
He talked about what he had,
1215
01:00:05,273 --> 01:00:08,443
which was an arc for the season,
which he always came in with.
1216
01:00:08,443 --> 01:00:09,902
But nothing beyond that.
1217
01:00:09,902 --> 01:00:12,447
Now, because of movie people
coming into the business,
1218
01:00:12,447 --> 01:00:14,157
you have to have five years' worth.
1219
01:00:14,157 --> 01:00:16,659
You have to tell them everything
and know everything.
1220
01:00:16,659 --> 01:00:17,827
And we didn't know anything.
1221
01:00:19,036 --> 01:00:20,747
As a matter of fact,
in the very beginning,
1222
01:00:20,747 --> 01:00:23,958
David said, "If this doesn't work,
that's it for me."
1223
01:00:24,083 --> 01:00:25,168
And forgive me, HBO,
1224
01:00:25,168 --> 01:00:26,919
but they were nowhere
at that point.
1225
01:00:26,919 --> 01:00:28,921
It was an elephant graveyard,
1226
01:00:28,921 --> 01:00:31,674
and they didn't know
if it would work either.
1227
01:00:31,674 --> 01:00:34,343
But they just gave us
complete freedom.
1228
01:00:34,343 --> 01:00:36,804
It was our little artistic
experience.
1229
01:00:36,804 --> 01:00:38,181
That's what it felt like.
1230
01:00:38,181 --> 01:00:39,515
Quiet, please.
1231
01:00:39,515 --> 01:00:42,268
It was a lot of hard work,
a lot of hours.
1232
01:00:42,268 --> 01:00:45,063
The hours were brutal.
And writers were on the set.
1233
01:00:45,063 --> 01:00:48,024
So it was, you know, from dawn...
1234
01:00:48,024 --> 01:00:49,859
Good morning. You're late.
1235
01:00:49,859 --> 01:00:52,111
Where you been? Sleeping?
1236
01:00:52,111 --> 01:00:55,573
...until you'd see the towers
coming back from New Jersey
1237
01:00:55,573 --> 01:00:57,533
at around 3:00 in the morning.
1238
01:00:58,576 --> 01:01:01,496
Maybe you'd sleep for seven hours
and it'd all start again.
1239
01:01:01,496 --> 01:01:04,332
But when you're that age
or you're working like that,
1240
01:01:04,332 --> 01:01:05,708
what else is there to do?
1241
01:01:05,708 --> 01:01:08,461
So we all worked like that, you know.
1242
01:01:08,461 --> 01:01:11,005
It was the most fun you can imagine.
1243
01:01:11,005 --> 01:01:12,215
For everyone.
1244
01:01:12,215 --> 01:01:13,383
I'm proud of it.
1245
01:01:14,467 --> 01:01:16,761
Still my favorite line
of the whole series.
1246
01:01:16,761 --> 01:01:19,138
-"Hasidim but I don't believe 'em"?
- No.
1247
01:01:19,138 --> 01:01:22,100
- My favorite line was--
- 900 Jews held their own
1248
01:01:22,100 --> 01:01:24,811
against 15,000 Roman soldiers.
1249
01:01:24,811 --> 01:01:26,729
"The Romans, where are they today?"
1250
01:01:26,729 --> 01:01:27,980
And Robin wrote this line...
1251
01:01:27,980 --> 01:01:30,108
- You're looking at 'em, asshole.
- That's great.
1252
01:01:30,108 --> 01:01:33,820
That's great. It was great.
1253
01:01:40,535 --> 01:01:42,120
In episode four,
1254
01:01:42,120 --> 01:01:44,747
when we were trying to find
Chris's girlfriend,
1255
01:01:44,747 --> 01:01:47,458
we brought Drea de Matteo
back in to read.
1256
01:01:48,126 --> 01:01:49,293
Where'd you park?
1257
01:01:49,293 --> 01:01:50,420
In back, there.
1258
01:01:50,962 --> 01:01:52,046
I ain't crossing that.
1259
01:01:52,922 --> 01:01:54,382
No one followed me.
1260
01:01:54,382 --> 01:01:56,300
Adriana, you wouldn't know
if they did.
1261
01:01:57,093 --> 01:01:59,637
Oh, yeah, like Tony Soprano's
hiding in my back seat.
1262
01:01:59,637 --> 01:02:01,305
You are so paranoid.
1263
01:02:01,305 --> 01:02:02,807
Bring the car right here.
1264
01:02:03,516 --> 01:02:04,684
I know.
1265
01:02:04,684 --> 01:02:06,269
He's in disguise.
1266
01:02:06,269 --> 01:02:07,770
That could be him.
1267
01:02:07,770 --> 01:02:09,647
Hey, Tony. Or maybe...
1268
01:02:09,647 --> 01:02:12,692
She got it because
it said in the script, "ow."
1269
01:02:12,692 --> 01:02:13,609
But she said...
1270
01:02:13,609 --> 01:02:15,111
Ow-ah!
1271
01:02:15,111 --> 01:02:17,155
- Get over here.
- Let go of me!
1272
01:02:17,155 --> 01:02:19,157
"Ow-ah!" Like that. That was it.
1273
01:02:19,157 --> 01:02:20,283
You're hired.
1274
01:02:20,283 --> 01:02:21,451
That was great.
1275
01:02:22,243 --> 01:02:24,036
- That was great.
- Thank you.
1276
01:02:24,036 --> 01:02:27,540
I heard the nurse say you made
number two in your pants.
1277
01:02:27,540 --> 01:02:29,917
- Is that what happened?
- Get the car.
1278
01:02:31,794 --> 01:02:35,131
That stuff is sort of my specialty
because I was from Queens,
1279
01:02:35,131 --> 01:02:37,842
even though I tried to
leave that behind.
1280
01:02:37,842 --> 01:02:40,720
But, I mean, all the girls
in my neighborhood,
1281
01:02:40,720 --> 01:02:42,388
it's all the Italian girls.
1282
01:02:42,388 --> 01:02:44,098
You gotta talk like this.
1283
01:02:44,098 --> 01:02:45,433
Don't fuck around.
1284
01:02:45,433 --> 01:02:47,226
Everything has got to be
ten syllables.
1285
01:02:47,226 --> 01:02:49,145
I'm really fucking doing it.
1286
01:02:49,937 --> 01:02:51,481
And it's all thanks to you.
1287
01:02:52,356 --> 01:02:54,275
I couldn't do the accent
without the nails.
1288
01:02:54,275 --> 01:02:58,029
I couldn't do half of it
without the hair and makeup.
1289
01:02:58,029 --> 01:03:00,406
Why don't you forget about working
and be with me?
1290
01:03:01,115 --> 01:03:05,536
Oh, yeah, and be one of those wives
like Carmela Soprano?
1291
01:03:05,536 --> 01:03:06,913
Breastfeed a bunch of rug rats
1292
01:03:06,913 --> 01:03:08,998
then spend the rest of your life
at the gym,
1293
01:03:08,998 --> 01:03:10,625
just you and your stretch marks.
1294
01:03:11,334 --> 01:03:12,585
You're right.
1295
01:03:12,585 --> 01:03:15,380
My cousin's always had a brain,
but what does she use it for?
1296
01:03:15,380 --> 01:03:18,716
A husband who can't even tell you
where the money comes from.
1297
01:03:18,716 --> 01:03:22,136
You know, just the whole way
David set that story up,
1298
01:03:23,471 --> 01:03:26,599
and then seeing the next episodes
that would come after,
1299
01:03:26,599 --> 01:03:27,725
I was mind-blown.
1300
01:03:27,725 --> 01:03:31,062
I would call my mom from payphone
and read her the entire script.
1301
01:03:32,271 --> 01:03:34,482
You'd publish a script.
It would only come out
1302
01:03:34,482 --> 01:03:37,527
right when it was being filmed,
pretty much.
1303
01:03:37,527 --> 01:03:40,321
The crew would be reading it.
You know what I mean?
1304
01:03:40,321 --> 01:03:41,989
They were reading it.
They wanted to know.
1305
01:03:41,989 --> 01:03:44,283
They took pleasure and joy in it.
1306
01:03:45,493 --> 01:03:48,663
When we went back
and started shooting season one,
1307
01:03:49,247 --> 01:03:51,874
it was really then
when you started seeing
1308
01:03:51,874 --> 01:03:55,044
the next few scripts
that I realized, whoa!
1309
01:03:56,462 --> 01:03:58,005
This is really
1310
01:03:59,048 --> 01:04:00,842
genius and complex.
1311
01:04:00,842 --> 01:04:02,844
You know? And really risky.
1312
01:04:03,803 --> 01:04:06,764
David, he always says,
"Television in the past
1313
01:04:06,764 --> 01:04:08,725
was always about
making you feel good."
1314
01:04:09,475 --> 01:04:11,477
Cop shows.
Why are cop shows so great?
1315
01:04:11,477 --> 01:04:14,689
Because at the end of the day,
the bad guy gets put in jail.
1316
01:04:15,398 --> 01:04:17,900
You know, there's some kind of order
to the universe.
1317
01:04:17,900 --> 01:04:19,902
There's some kind of justice.
1318
01:04:19,902 --> 01:04:22,113
David was all about the opposite.
1319
01:04:28,244 --> 01:04:29,328
Are you in the Mafia?
1320
01:04:32,165 --> 01:04:34,208
- Am I in the what?
- Whatever you call it.
1321
01:04:34,208 --> 01:04:35,251
Organized crime.
1322
01:04:38,296 --> 01:04:40,214
That's total crap. Who told you that?
1323
01:04:40,214 --> 01:04:42,383
Dad, I've lived in the house
all my life.
1324
01:04:42,383 --> 01:04:43,926
I've seen police come with warrants.
1325
01:04:43,926 --> 01:04:45,553
I've seen you going out at
three in the morning.
1326
01:04:45,553 --> 01:04:47,263
So you've never seen Doc Cusamano
1327
01:04:47,263 --> 01:04:49,223
go out at three in the morning
on a call?
1328
01:04:49,223 --> 01:04:52,018
Did the Cusamano kids ever find
$50,000 in Krugerrands
1329
01:04:52,018 --> 01:04:54,812
and a .45 automatic while they
were hunting for Easter eggs?
1330
01:04:54,812 --> 01:04:56,355
I'm in the waste management business.
1331
01:04:56,355 --> 01:04:58,941
Everybody immediately assumes
you're mobbed up.
1332
01:04:58,941 --> 01:05:01,235
It's a stereotype and it's offensive.
1333
01:05:02,111 --> 01:05:04,155
You're the last person
I would want to perpetuate it.
1334
01:05:04,155 --> 01:05:05,323
Fine.
1335
01:05:09,077 --> 01:05:10,244
There is no Mafia.
1336
01:05:11,454 --> 01:05:13,539
When they saw the fifth episode,
1337
01:05:13,539 --> 01:05:16,084
HBO said, "You've created
one of the most dynamic
1338
01:05:16,084 --> 01:05:18,211
characters in television history,
1339
01:05:18,211 --> 01:05:20,004
and you're going to blow it all."
1340
01:05:20,671 --> 01:05:21,547
What the fuck?
1341
01:05:23,549 --> 01:05:25,635
I think I just saw Fabian Petrulio.
1342
01:05:25,635 --> 01:05:28,096
- Refresh my memory.
- What's he, before your time?
1343
01:05:28,096 --> 01:05:31,516
Made guy flipped about ten years ago
and he got busted for peddling H.
1344
01:05:32,225 --> 01:05:33,976
Rat fuck took out a lot of people.
1345
01:05:33,976 --> 01:05:35,686
A lot of people from our outfit.
1346
01:05:35,686 --> 01:05:37,605
He went into the witness
protection program
1347
01:05:37,605 --> 01:05:39,107
then they kicked him out.
1348
01:05:39,107 --> 01:05:40,608
I am your soldier, Antonio.
1349
01:05:40,608 --> 01:05:42,944
This is my duty.
Like we're always talking about.
1350
01:05:42,944 --> 01:05:44,445
The way this went down,
1351
01:05:45,113 --> 01:05:46,572
this is my call.
1352
01:05:46,572 --> 01:05:48,032
I got to vouch for this myself.
1353
01:05:49,826 --> 01:05:52,120
Jimmy says hello from hell, you fuck!
1354
01:05:53,579 --> 01:05:55,248
I brought it up in the script.
1355
01:05:57,458 --> 01:05:59,168
And the answer was,
1356
01:05:59,168 --> 01:06:01,045
you're gonna feel differently
when you see it.
1357
01:06:15,601 --> 01:06:16,519
Good morning, rat.
1358
01:06:16,519 --> 01:06:18,813
Who are you? What is this?
1359
01:06:18,813 --> 01:06:21,315
Don't make me laugh, you pimp!
You fuck!
1360
01:06:21,315 --> 01:06:22,650
Teddy, there must be
something we can do.
1361
01:06:22,650 --> 01:06:26,154
Tony, it's Tony, you fuck.
Know how much trouble you're in?
1362
01:06:26,154 --> 01:06:28,906
You took an oath and you broke it.
1363
01:06:28,906 --> 01:06:30,324
And then when we saw it,
1364
01:06:31,117 --> 01:06:32,034
it was even
1365
01:06:33,077 --> 01:06:35,997
more troublesome
than I thought in the script.
1366
01:06:35,997 --> 01:06:37,915
Please, Tony. I'm begging you.
1367
01:06:40,585 --> 01:06:42,170
Jimmy says hello from hell, you fuck!
1368
01:06:45,798 --> 01:06:48,801
Chris says, "I'm seeing it now
and how gruesome it is.
1369
01:06:48,801 --> 01:06:50,720
And we're going to lose everything.
1370
01:06:50,720 --> 01:06:52,638
People, they're going to hate him."
1371
01:06:52,638 --> 01:06:56,768
Could you have a criminal,
a killer, as your lead?
1372
01:06:56,768 --> 01:06:59,604
Can you have an antihero in the lead?
That was the big debate.
1373
01:06:59,604 --> 01:07:01,272
My big objection
was that the audience
1374
01:07:01,272 --> 01:07:03,524
was really going to not like Tony,
1375
01:07:03,524 --> 01:07:05,401
and that we hadn't earned that yet.
1376
01:07:06,110 --> 01:07:08,321
I mean, this was just
the fifth episode.
1377
01:07:08,863 --> 01:07:10,531
I said, "Chris, think about it."
1378
01:07:10,531 --> 01:07:11,949
How'd it go?
1379
01:07:11,949 --> 01:07:14,911
They got a 48 to 52 male-female
ratio, which is great.
1380
01:07:14,911 --> 01:07:16,454
He's up there in Maine,
1381
01:07:17,580 --> 01:07:19,248
and he sees this rat.
1382
01:07:22,835 --> 01:07:25,505
He's a captain in a mob crew.
1383
01:07:26,464 --> 01:07:28,299
If he doesn't kill that guy,
1384
01:07:28,299 --> 01:07:31,677
people are going to lose faith in him
or interest in him completely.
1385
01:07:35,181 --> 01:07:38,684
So if Tony doesn't kill this guy,
1386
01:07:39,560 --> 01:07:40,686
he's full of shit.
1387
01:07:41,437 --> 01:07:43,231
And then the whole show
is full of shit.
1388
01:07:44,482 --> 01:07:46,651
And I thought,
"Well, that makes sense."
1389
01:07:46,651 --> 01:07:48,444
I said to Dave,
"Here's the problem.
1390
01:07:48,444 --> 01:07:50,446
Like, this was a bad guy.
1391
01:07:51,489 --> 01:07:56,869
So let's find ways to give Tony
a little bit more justification."
1392
01:08:00,164 --> 01:08:02,375
David made some adjustments
to the victim.
1393
01:08:03,418 --> 01:08:05,837
He became a more menacing figure
1394
01:08:05,837 --> 01:08:07,588
than he had initially started.
1395
01:08:13,594 --> 01:08:15,888
Where we all got down to
is, like, look,
1396
01:08:15,888 --> 01:08:18,182
Chris and I are not going
to write it, direct it.
1397
01:08:18,182 --> 01:08:21,018
So at the end of the day, I think,
1398
01:08:21,018 --> 01:08:24,772
when you hit that kind of impasse
with a show creator,
1399
01:08:24,772 --> 01:08:26,691
you kind of have to go with them.
1400
01:08:34,907 --> 01:08:35,742
Better.
1401
01:08:37,452 --> 01:08:38,995
They left us alone completely,
1402
01:08:38,995 --> 01:08:40,872
and there was
some weird stuff we did.
1403
01:08:41,914 --> 01:08:43,166
Whoa, Junior!
1404
01:08:43,166 --> 01:08:44,876
"Whoa, Junior," what?
1405
01:08:44,876 --> 01:08:46,461
One of the episodes about Dominic.
1406
01:08:46,461 --> 01:08:47,837
Uncle Jun's in the muff.
1407
01:08:47,837 --> 01:08:49,422
- He loves to...
- What?
1408
01:08:49,422 --> 01:08:50,965
...you know, go down on women.
1409
01:08:50,965 --> 01:08:53,718
Oh, did I say muff? I meant rough.
1410
01:08:54,260 --> 01:08:55,219
65-year-old man,
1411
01:08:55,219 --> 01:08:57,096
this is what the whole
episode's about.
1412
01:08:57,096 --> 01:08:59,098
I'm reading this thing going,
"We can't do this."
1413
01:08:59,098 --> 01:09:00,349
What's that smell?
1414
01:09:00,349 --> 01:09:02,477
- And we did it.
- Did you go to a sushi bar?
1415
01:09:02,477 --> 01:09:05,521
- The fuck's he talking about?
- I don't know.
1416
01:09:05,521 --> 01:09:07,482
I thought you were
a baccalà man, Uncle Jun.
1417
01:09:07,482 --> 01:09:08,983
What are you doing eating sushi?
1418
01:09:08,983 --> 01:09:10,777
You fucking run off at the mouth.
1419
01:09:13,946 --> 01:09:19,494
South of the border, down Mexico way
1420
01:09:23,372 --> 01:09:25,625
Season one was shot
in the summer of '98
1421
01:09:25,750 --> 01:09:28,378
and went on the air
in January of '99.
1422
01:09:28,378 --> 01:09:30,004
We thought we did a great job.
1423
01:09:30,004 --> 01:09:31,631
We thought it was
something really special.
1424
01:09:31,631 --> 01:09:33,383
But are people going to watch?
1425
01:09:33,383 --> 01:09:35,802
- Mike, what's your last name?
- Imperioli.
1426
01:09:35,802 --> 01:09:37,220
And that was a big question.
1427
01:09:37,220 --> 01:09:39,263
Are people going to watch this on TV?
1428
01:09:39,847 --> 01:09:41,808
- You know, violence...
- Snaky motherfucker!
1429
01:09:41,808 --> 01:09:44,143
...profanity, nudity.
1430
01:09:44,143 --> 01:09:45,144
Oh, Marone.
1431
01:09:45,144 --> 01:09:47,647
It's time for your sponge bath.
1432
01:09:47,647 --> 01:09:49,649
Is there a place for that
on television?
1433
01:09:50,775 --> 01:09:52,860
I thought it would
take eight or ten shows
1434
01:09:52,860 --> 01:09:56,072
before people just got used to it
because it was so different.
1435
01:09:56,072 --> 01:09:57,740
It was so different, you know? No.
1436
01:09:58,825 --> 01:10:00,701
Within two, three weeks,
it was a hit.
1437
01:10:01,619 --> 01:10:04,455
Right from the beginning,
the reviews were psychotically great.
1438
01:10:06,833 --> 01:10:08,668
The Times said it was
the greatest work
1439
01:10:08,793 --> 01:10:11,129
of pop culture in the 20th century.
It was like that.
1440
01:10:14,257 --> 01:10:15,842
Like, really over the top,
1441
01:10:15,842 --> 01:10:19,512
to the point where
Saturday Night Live did a spoof.
1442
01:10:19,512 --> 01:10:21,806
The San Francisco Examiner says,
1443
01:10:21,806 --> 01:10:24,267
"The Sopranos is so good
that I'm afraid
1444
01:10:24,267 --> 01:10:26,769
to look away from the screen
while it's on
1445
01:10:26,769 --> 01:10:30,690
for fear that it will disappear
and I'll be forced to kill myself."
1446
01:10:31,357 --> 01:10:35,027
The Chicago Tribune predicts,
"The Sopranos will one day
1447
01:10:35,027 --> 01:10:39,282
replace oxygen as the thing
we breathe in order to stay alive."
1448
01:10:39,949 --> 01:10:41,576
The Houston Chronicle says,
1449
01:10:41,576 --> 01:10:44,287
"Compared to the guy who created
The Sopranos,
1450
01:10:44,287 --> 01:10:46,456
Michelangelo is a douchebag."
1451
01:10:46,456 --> 01:10:50,376
The reviews came out
and they were all, like, raves.
1452
01:10:50,835 --> 01:10:52,712
Except for one guy from Miami.
1453
01:10:53,796 --> 01:10:57,550
And some other critic said,
"We don't know where his body is.
1454
01:10:58,134 --> 01:11:00,303
He's in a barrel somewhere
in Miami Bay."
1455
01:11:00,303 --> 01:11:01,387
Or something like that.
1456
01:11:01,971 --> 01:11:02,805
Salute.
1457
01:11:02,805 --> 01:11:05,349
It got so successful and so popular,
1458
01:11:05,975 --> 01:11:06,976
the best thing about it
1459
01:11:06,976 --> 01:11:09,562
was that people were having
pizza parties
1460
01:11:09,562 --> 01:11:11,189
and watching the show.
1461
01:11:11,773 --> 01:11:14,817
To think that people are out there
eating Italian food
1462
01:11:14,817 --> 01:11:16,444
and drinking Italian wine
1463
01:11:16,444 --> 01:11:18,946
and watching this, family groups.
1464
01:11:18,946 --> 01:11:22,283
I just, I mean, it's getting me
choked up thinking about it now.
1465
01:11:22,283 --> 01:11:24,160
Every Sunday night, man.
1466
01:11:24,160 --> 01:11:27,622
It was Soprano night.
Everybody shut the fuck up.
1467
01:11:28,331 --> 01:11:30,291
We're eating mozzarella
and prosciutto
1468
01:11:30,291 --> 01:11:32,168
and we're gonna watch this thing.
1469
01:11:37,215 --> 01:11:38,883
We caught lightning in a bottle.
1470
01:11:38,883 --> 01:11:41,511
You know, the chemistry
between the cast,
1471
01:11:41,511 --> 01:11:43,262
the writing, the filmmaking.
1472
01:11:43,262 --> 01:11:44,931
Come on. Get inside.
1473
01:11:44,931 --> 01:11:46,641
- It better be open.
- Forget the umbrella.
1474
01:11:49,143 --> 01:11:50,520
Artie, thank Christ!
1475
01:11:50,520 --> 01:11:52,730
The Sopranos really
changed television.
1476
01:11:52,730 --> 01:11:53,898
What are you doing, Ton?
1477
01:11:54,565 --> 01:11:57,235
Where people realized, oh,
you can be challenging.
1478
01:11:57,235 --> 01:11:59,737
Look at that fucking lovesick
pygmy over there.
1479
01:11:59,737 --> 01:12:01,114
Push the envelope.
1480
01:12:01,114 --> 01:12:03,366
You saved our friggin' lives here.
1481
01:12:04,117 --> 01:12:05,868
It's beautiful, Artie. Thank you.
1482
01:12:05,868 --> 01:12:07,829
It really redefined what people
are willing,
1483
01:12:07,829 --> 01:12:10,039
and what people want
to watch at home.
1484
01:12:10,832 --> 01:12:12,250
Ah, fuck!
1485
01:12:12,250 --> 01:12:13,292
Hey!
1486
01:12:13,292 --> 01:12:14,335
You said "frig."
1487
01:12:17,964 --> 01:12:19,090
Now wait a minute.
1488
01:12:21,509 --> 01:12:23,136
I'd like to propose a toast.
1489
01:12:25,012 --> 01:12:26,097
To my family.
1490
01:12:29,767 --> 01:12:33,229
Someday soon, you're gonna have
families of your own.
1491
01:12:34,397 --> 01:12:35,815
And if you're lucky,
1492
01:12:37,108 --> 01:12:38,860
you'll remember the little moments.
1493
01:12:40,069 --> 01:12:41,195
Like this.
1494
01:12:46,075 --> 01:12:47,326
That were good.
1495
01:12:50,705 --> 01:12:51,581
Cheers.
1496
01:13:07,597 --> 01:13:10,099
The first season
set everything in motion.
1497
01:13:11,309 --> 01:13:14,145
But there was an enormous
amount of pressure on David.
1498
01:13:16,731 --> 01:13:18,566
He set the bar really high
1499
01:13:20,818 --> 01:13:22,862
and you gotta surpass it every year.
1500
01:13:30,995 --> 01:13:32,872
This was only the beginning.