1
00:00:12,346 --> 00:00:14,307
- [crew member 1] Rolling.
- [crew member 2] Rolling.
2
00:00:14,307 --> 00:00:16,684
[crew chattering]
3
00:00:17,310 --> 00:00:18,394
[director] And action.
4
00:00:18,394 --> 00:00:21,773
[clock ticking]
5
00:00:33,534 --> 00:00:34,619
[door opens]
6
00:00:36,704 --> 00:00:37,622
Mr. Soprano?
7
00:00:39,082 --> 00:00:40,166
[clears throat] Yeah.
8
00:00:40,166 --> 00:00:43,586
- [ticking continues]
- [soft footsteps]
9
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:48,716
[door closes]
10
00:00:50,927 --> 00:00:51,928
Have a seat.
11
00:00:54,931 --> 00:00:55,890
[man] Okay.
12
00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:00,061
[pen clicks]
13
00:01:05,608 --> 00:01:07,902
[Alex] Can you recall what
your first memory was?
14
00:01:08,027 --> 00:01:09,737
Your actual first memory?
15
00:01:10,279 --> 00:01:12,532
My actual first memory
is a dream.
16
00:01:13,574 --> 00:01:16,035
- [faint metallic clanking]
- [gentle music plays]
17
00:01:16,035 --> 00:01:17,954
I guess my mother had these.
18
00:01:17,954 --> 00:01:22,083
It's like a metal kind of
a thing with a curlicue.
19
00:01:22,208 --> 00:01:23,376
The hand comes out
from the wall
20
00:01:23,376 --> 00:01:25,253
and you can hang
a plant from it.
21
00:01:25,753 --> 00:01:28,423
I was swinging from that thing.
22
00:01:29,382 --> 00:01:31,843
That is my first memory,
actually.
23
00:01:31,843 --> 00:01:33,052
It really impressed me.
24
00:01:33,052 --> 00:01:34,178
Maybe it was the first time
25
00:01:34,178 --> 00:01:35,847
I remember a dream
and I was going,
26
00:01:35,847 --> 00:01:37,056
"Wow, what was that?"
27
00:01:37,056 --> 00:01:38,683
[both chuckling]
28
00:01:38,683 --> 00:01:40,852
"The hell's going on
in my head?"
29
00:01:42,770 --> 00:01:45,523
You know, it's funny
how much I've forgotten.
30
00:01:45,523 --> 00:01:47,442
When people remind me
of things.
31
00:01:48,109 --> 00:01:50,236
That make me laugh.
Like, I don't remember.
32
00:01:50,236 --> 00:01:52,905
I don't remember doing that,
or I don't remember...
33
00:01:52,905 --> 00:01:54,991
But... yeah.
34
00:01:59,245 --> 00:02:01,622
[jazzy, upbeat drumbeat playing]
35
00:02:02,623 --> 00:02:03,499
[David] Cut!
36
00:02:04,959 --> 00:02:07,879
I was born in Mount Vernon,
New York, right near the Bronx.
37
00:02:07,879 --> 00:02:10,465
Then we moved to Jersey
when I was four.
38
00:02:10,590 --> 00:02:12,050
My mother's family
was from Jersey.
39
00:02:12,050 --> 00:02:14,093
We moved to my
aunt's house in Boonton,
40
00:02:14,093 --> 00:02:15,511
Revolutionary War town.
41
00:02:15,511 --> 00:02:17,138
You can still see where
the furnaces were.
42
00:02:17,263 --> 00:02:19,140
They made musket balls.
A river goes through it.
43
00:02:19,265 --> 00:02:21,309
That's the town we used
for when the character Vito
44
00:02:21,434 --> 00:02:22,852
went to New Hampshire.
45
00:02:22,852 --> 00:02:24,937
And I loved that town.
It was so mysterious.
46
00:02:24,937 --> 00:02:27,774
- ["Sing, Sing, Sing" playing]
- [sleigh bells jingling]
47
00:02:27,774 --> 00:02:29,650
I loved going into New York
at Christmas.
48
00:02:29,776 --> 00:02:33,154
Rockefeller Center, the tree,
the whole thing blew my mind.
49
00:02:33,279 --> 00:02:35,531
Huge toy department.
Santa. Trains.
50
00:02:35,531 --> 00:02:36,991
You were on my lap
five minutes ago.
51
00:02:37,116 --> 00:02:39,368
- No, I wasn't.
- Yes, you were.
52
00:02:39,368 --> 00:02:41,496
Now you're goin' on Santa's List
and you're getting nothing!
53
00:02:41,621 --> 00:02:43,206
[boy] Fuck you, Santa!
54
00:02:43,206 --> 00:02:44,999
[all exclaiming]
55
00:02:45,541 --> 00:02:47,668
[David] My father,
I started begging him,
56
00:02:47,794 --> 00:02:50,671
could we please go home down
the West Side Highway?
57
00:02:50,797 --> 00:02:52,882
Because to the Lincoln Tunnel,
there were ships in the harbor
58
00:02:52,882 --> 00:02:56,010
that the prow of the ship
was, like, over the road.
59
00:02:56,135 --> 00:02:58,012
I couldn't get over it.
I just, I wanted to see that.
60
00:02:58,137 --> 00:02:59,847
Plus, I loved going through
the Meadowlands.
61
00:02:59,972 --> 00:03:02,558
There's all these legends that
Jimmy Hoffa is buried there.
62
00:03:02,558 --> 00:03:05,186
Pennsylvania Station,
all that rubble was out there.
63
00:03:05,311 --> 00:03:07,939
That's where The Sopranos,
we shot the first season there.
64
00:03:07,939 --> 00:03:10,400
And so, but anyway, we moved out
of my aunt's house
65
00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,276
to Clifton, New Jersey,
kind of working-class,
66
00:03:12,276 --> 00:03:15,488
larger kind of semi-city,
then moved to West Essex.
67
00:03:15,488 --> 00:03:18,157
My father got this idea
to open a hardware store.
68
00:03:18,157 --> 00:03:19,784
Next door was
a Chinese restaurant.
69
00:03:19,784 --> 00:03:22,370
See these Chinese guys
plucking chickens down there.
70
00:03:22,495 --> 00:03:24,455
My parents weren't that fond
of the whole deal.
71
00:03:24,455 --> 00:03:26,791
They liked Chinese food,
but didn't like being close
72
00:03:26,791 --> 00:03:28,042
to the Chinese restaurant.
73
00:03:28,167 --> 00:03:29,836
They sold that store
and they bought
74
00:03:29,836 --> 00:03:32,213
a Main Street hardware store
in a small town.
75
00:03:32,338 --> 00:03:34,465
- [phone rings]
- My father worked really hard
76
00:03:34,465 --> 00:03:36,718
and they never got out
from behind the eight ball.
77
00:03:36,843 --> 00:03:39,387
They were in business
for 35, 40 years.
78
00:03:39,512 --> 00:03:41,431
It was killing them,
but they kept going.
79
00:03:41,556 --> 00:03:42,473
They kept going, yeah.
80
00:03:42,473 --> 00:03:44,308
Until my father was sick
81
00:03:44,308 --> 00:03:46,894
and the whole thing
sold for $1,300
82
00:03:47,019 --> 00:03:48,146
at a sheriff's auction.
83
00:03:48,146 --> 00:03:50,523
Whole life.
84
00:03:50,523 --> 00:03:52,608
They just were not
happy people.
85
00:03:52,734 --> 00:03:54,152
[swing music continues]
86
00:03:54,152 --> 00:03:56,863
My mother was very difficult,
but she functioned.
87
00:03:56,863 --> 00:03:58,990
She worked, came home,
she made us dinner,
88
00:03:58,990 --> 00:04:01,784
but she was terrified
and angry at everybody.
89
00:04:01,784 --> 00:04:04,829
You know, somebody
called here last night.
90
00:04:04,829 --> 00:04:06,330
After dark.
91
00:04:06,330 --> 00:04:07,457
Who?
92
00:04:07,457 --> 00:04:09,292
You think I'd answer?
It was dark out.
93
00:04:09,292 --> 00:04:13,087
[David] And she was given
to having screaming nightmares.
94
00:04:13,212 --> 00:04:15,006
Her family had ten girls
and two boys.
95
00:04:15,006 --> 00:04:16,883
Parents had come over
from Italy, lived in Newark,
96
00:04:16,883 --> 00:04:19,802
which was a big Italian
immigrant community.
97
00:04:19,802 --> 00:04:22,180
We used to go down every
Saturday night for dinner.
98
00:04:22,180 --> 00:04:23,264
They spoke no English.
99
00:04:23,723 --> 00:04:25,391
And her father,
my grandfather,
100
00:04:25,391 --> 00:04:27,560
Vito Bucco,
he never learned English.
101
00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,729
He refused. Not a nice guy.
102
00:04:30,438 --> 00:04:32,106
[Alex] Did you feel
unappreciated by her?
103
00:04:32,106 --> 00:04:33,316
- [David] My mother?
- Yeah.
104
00:04:33,316 --> 00:04:35,693
[David] She had so many
negative things
105
00:04:35,693 --> 00:04:36,611
to say about me.
106
00:04:36,736 --> 00:04:38,571
Very complex. My father too.
107
00:04:38,571 --> 00:04:39,822
It was very strange.
108
00:04:39,947 --> 00:04:41,115
I mean, appreciated...
109
00:04:41,908 --> 00:04:43,910
One time we were in the car
with my mother and father
110
00:04:43,910 --> 00:04:46,662
and my cousin Johnny.
I forget what song was playing,
111
00:04:46,788 --> 00:04:48,498
but I was tapping along with it.
112
00:04:48,498 --> 00:04:50,458
He said, "He should be
playing the drums.
113
00:04:50,583 --> 00:04:51,834
He's got a good sense
of rhythm."
114
00:04:51,834 --> 00:04:53,628
She said, "Over my dead body.
115
00:04:53,753 --> 00:04:55,797
That Gene Krupa
was a drug addict!"
116
00:04:55,922 --> 00:04:58,257
Speaking of crystal meth,
look at this wayo.
117
00:04:58,257 --> 00:04:59,884
[David] I did not feel
appreciated,
118
00:04:59,884 --> 00:05:02,261
that would never have
come into my mind.
119
00:05:02,261 --> 00:05:05,473
Were you scared of her?
Scared she would explode?
120
00:05:05,598 --> 00:05:08,643
Stop telling me how to
live my life. Just shut up.
121
00:05:08,768 --> 00:05:11,854
I am nervous.
As a kid, I was fearful.
122
00:05:11,979 --> 00:05:13,314
And then I became
kind of a punk.
123
00:05:16,275 --> 00:05:18,403
And that saved my life
in a way.
124
00:05:18,403 --> 00:05:20,029
I fell in with this group
of guys.
125
00:05:20,154 --> 00:05:21,155
Holy shit.
126
00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:23,074
Bullies, wiseguys.
127
00:05:24,283 --> 00:05:27,412
We got into switchblades,
leather armbands, cigarettes.
128
00:05:27,412 --> 00:05:28,830
We got our driver's licenses,
129
00:05:28,955 --> 00:05:31,499
it was all about cars
and girls and alcohol.
130
00:05:32,542 --> 00:05:35,378
The drinking age in New York
was 18, Jersey was 21.
131
00:05:35,378 --> 00:05:36,921
So we were constantly
going there.
132
00:05:36,921 --> 00:05:39,841
Upper East Side was kind of hip,
and then the Village.
133
00:05:40,299 --> 00:05:42,719
I remember coming back
from Manhattan,
134
00:05:42,719 --> 00:05:44,804
and it was a car full
of greasers next to us,
135
00:05:44,804 --> 00:05:46,097
we started cursing
at each other
136
00:05:46,097 --> 00:05:47,724
and somehow scaling plates.
137
00:05:47,724 --> 00:05:50,518
Somebody's mother's plates,
I guess. You know, "Pew!"
138
00:05:50,643 --> 00:05:53,187
This is in the Lincoln Tunnel.
All of us were drunk.
139
00:05:53,312 --> 00:05:55,106
[up-tempo rock music playing]
140
00:05:55,106 --> 00:05:57,692
1964, I go to college
down South,
141
00:05:57,817 --> 00:05:59,819
Wake Forest in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina.
142
00:05:59,819 --> 00:06:01,154
- Hated it.
- Why?
143
00:06:01,154 --> 00:06:03,156
- You're going to cut this.
- [both chuckle]
144
00:06:03,156 --> 00:06:04,615
Yeah, it was the South.
145
00:06:04,615 --> 00:06:07,118
The Klan was really active
around where we were.
146
00:06:07,118 --> 00:06:10,455
The big fraternity on campus
was inspired by Robert E. Lee.
147
00:06:10,455 --> 00:06:12,582
It was a Baptist school. Had to
go to chapel twice a week.
148
00:06:12,582 --> 00:06:14,792
No drinking, no dancing,
no card playing.
149
00:06:14,792 --> 00:06:17,754
So why did I go there?
I got rejected at Princeton.
150
00:06:17,879 --> 00:06:19,297
I got rejected at Dartmouth.
151
00:06:19,297 --> 00:06:21,090
My best friend was going
to Wake Forest.
152
00:06:21,215 --> 00:06:23,342
Because he was going there,
I went there.
153
00:06:23,342 --> 00:06:24,677
And we both were miserable.
154
00:06:24,677 --> 00:06:26,012
But fortunately,
155
00:06:26,012 --> 00:06:28,222
someone started
foreign film night.
156
00:06:28,347 --> 00:06:29,974
[insects chirping]
157
00:06:29,974 --> 00:06:32,727
That's where I saw Godard,
Bergman,
158
00:06:32,727 --> 00:06:34,520
Fellini, La Dolce Vita...
159
00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,231
Marcello, come here!
160
00:06:37,732 --> 00:06:38,900
Hurry up.
161
00:06:39,025 --> 00:06:40,818
[water rushing]
162
00:06:40,818 --> 00:06:42,945
[shaky, frantic breathing]
163
00:06:43,071 --> 00:06:44,614
[David] 8 1/2, just,
164
00:06:44,614 --> 00:06:46,616
I don't even think
I understood it.
165
00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:50,995
- [grunting]
- [pounding on glass]
166
00:06:50,995 --> 00:06:53,831
I don't even think I knew
what a film director was.
167
00:06:53,831 --> 00:06:55,792
But it just blew my mind.
168
00:06:55,792 --> 00:06:57,794
[wind whooshing]
169
00:06:57,919 --> 00:06:59,670
A whole new universe.
170
00:07:01,214 --> 00:07:02,256
[train tracks clacking]
171
00:07:02,382 --> 00:07:04,175
I left Wake Forest,
went to NYU,
172
00:07:04,175 --> 00:07:06,928
and I saw Cul-de-sac
by Roman Polanski.
173
00:07:07,053 --> 00:07:08,930
[automatic gunfire]
174
00:07:09,889 --> 00:07:12,225
That's when I started thinking,
175
00:07:12,225 --> 00:07:13,810
"Maybe I could do that."
176
00:07:14,394 --> 00:07:17,105
It was the art of it
that was so engaging.
177
00:07:17,230 --> 00:07:18,106
That's it.
178
00:07:18,231 --> 00:07:20,149
[David] October of 1965,
179
00:07:20,149 --> 00:07:22,568
my friend was going to
Bard College.
180
00:07:22,568 --> 00:07:25,196
I went up there to take acid.
That was my first time.
181
00:07:25,196 --> 00:07:27,615
I remember being on the banks
of the Hudson River,
182
00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:29,826
two o'clock in the morning,
and I started saying,
183
00:07:29,951 --> 00:07:31,411
"I want to make movies."
184
00:07:31,411 --> 00:07:34,205
That was when the idea
first occurred to me, like,
185
00:07:34,205 --> 00:07:36,457
actually pursue this somehow.
186
00:07:36,582 --> 00:07:39,419
[film projector whirring]
187
00:07:39,419 --> 00:07:41,421
- [woman] Take your mark.
- [David] And action.
188
00:07:41,421 --> 00:07:42,714
[Beansie] Hey, Tony.
189
00:07:43,923 --> 00:07:45,299
- You okay?
- How are you doing?
190
00:07:45,425 --> 00:07:46,801
- Are you okay, David?
- Yeah, yeah.
191
00:07:46,926 --> 00:07:48,886
Yeah, I'm just talking
my fucking head off.
192
00:07:48,886 --> 00:07:50,847
I can't believe it.
193
00:07:50,972 --> 00:07:52,181
Just talking too much.
194
00:07:52,181 --> 00:07:54,225
- [Alex] No, man. It's good.
- No, it's not.
195
00:07:54,767 --> 00:07:57,186
I really regret the amount
of fucking verbiage
196
00:07:57,186 --> 00:07:58,521
from this morning.
197
00:07:59,772 --> 00:08:02,567
Seriously, I don't know
about this. Who gives a shit?
198
00:08:02,567 --> 00:08:05,403
- All these personal questions.
- [Alex] People will give a shit.
199
00:08:05,403 --> 00:08:07,321
It's like, as Tony says...
200
00:08:07,447 --> 00:08:10,032
Remember when is
the lowest form of conversation.
201
00:08:11,451 --> 00:08:12,994
[David] And I would leave now,
202
00:08:13,703 --> 00:08:16,497
but I see what you've done,
all this stuff and...
203
00:08:17,665 --> 00:08:19,625
Yeah, it-it was a round office.
204
00:08:19,625 --> 00:08:21,335
It looks a lot like it.
205
00:08:23,212 --> 00:08:24,714
I did say I'd do this.
206
00:08:24,839 --> 00:08:25,965
But what I said was,
207
00:08:25,965 --> 00:08:27,550
"Yeah, I'll be part of this
208
00:08:27,675 --> 00:08:29,177
Sopranos documentary."
209
00:08:29,302 --> 00:08:31,971
But I didn't realize it was
going to be about me.
210
00:08:31,971 --> 00:08:34,557
["Woke Up This Morning"
by Alabama 3 playing]
211
00:08:36,434 --> 00:08:40,813
♪ You woke up this morning,
got yourself a gun ♪
212
00:08:41,647 --> 00:08:46,360
♪ Mama always said you'd be
the chosen one ♪
213
00:08:46,486 --> 00:08:48,780
♪ She said you're
one in a million ♪
214
00:08:48,780 --> 00:08:51,657
♪ You've got to burn to shine ♪
215
00:08:51,657 --> 00:08:54,285
♪ But you were born
under a bad sign ♪
216
00:08:54,285 --> 00:08:57,497
♪ With a blue moon
in your eyes ♪
217
00:08:57,497 --> 00:09:00,124
♪ You woke up this morning ♪
218
00:09:00,124 --> 00:09:02,418
♪ All that love had gone ♪
219
00:09:03,002 --> 00:09:07,215
♪ Your papa never told you
about right and wrong ♪
220
00:09:08,174 --> 00:09:10,385
♪ But you're looking
good, baby ♪
221
00:09:10,510 --> 00:09:12,720
♪ I believe
you're feeling fine ♪
222
00:09:12,845 --> 00:09:13,846
♪ Shame about it ♪
223
00:09:13,846 --> 00:09:15,723
♪ Born under a bad sign ♪
224
00:09:15,723 --> 00:09:18,059
♪ With a blue moon
in your eyes ♪
225
00:09:18,184 --> 00:09:19,519
♪ Sing it now ♪
226
00:09:19,519 --> 00:09:21,479
♪ Woke up this morning ♪
227
00:09:21,479 --> 00:09:22,897
♪ Got a blue moon ♪
228
00:09:22,897 --> 00:09:24,899
♪ Got a blue moon
in your eyes ♪
229
00:09:25,024 --> 00:09:26,734
♪ Woke up this morning ♪
230
00:09:29,862 --> 00:09:31,739
♪ Woke up this morning ♪
231
00:09:31,864 --> 00:09:34,367
♪ Your world turned
upside down ♪
232
00:09:34,367 --> 00:09:36,536
♪ Lord above,
things ain't been the same ♪
233
00:09:36,661 --> 00:09:39,831
♪ Since the blues
walked into town ♪
234
00:09:40,373 --> 00:09:42,750
♪ But you're one in a million ♪
235
00:09:42,750 --> 00:09:45,002
♪ You've got that
shotgun shine ♪
236
00:09:45,002 --> 00:09:46,254
♪ Shame about it ♪
237
00:09:46,379 --> 00:09:47,839
♪ Born under a bad sign ♪
238
00:09:47,839 --> 00:09:50,758
♪ With a blue moon
in your eyes ♪
239
00:09:51,634 --> 00:09:54,011
♪ Woke up this morning ♪
240
00:09:55,388 --> 00:09:57,306
♪ Got yourself a gun ♪
241
00:09:58,057 --> 00:10:02,478
♪ Got yourself a gun ♪
242
00:10:04,313 --> 00:10:05,356
[music ends]
243
00:10:08,234 --> 00:10:10,153
[Alex] Let me explain
a little bit, which is that
244
00:10:10,862 --> 00:10:13,656
part of what interests me
about The Sopranos
245
00:10:13,781 --> 00:10:17,910
was how it was personal to you.
246
00:10:17,910 --> 00:10:19,704
That you had an idea,
247
00:10:20,246 --> 00:10:23,332
which was an amalgam
of a lot of things
248
00:10:23,332 --> 00:10:25,877
that you had lived through,
thought about.
249
00:10:25,877 --> 00:10:28,629
[David] Well, for years,
everybody told me
250
00:10:28,755 --> 00:10:31,132
that I had to write something
about my mother.
251
00:10:31,257 --> 00:10:33,551
She was so out there
and so funny.
252
00:10:34,427 --> 00:10:38,056
My wife, Denise,
was the first one to say that.
253
00:10:38,056 --> 00:10:40,141
And then everybody was saying,
254
00:10:40,266 --> 00:10:42,143
"You gotta write something
about your mother."
255
00:10:44,270 --> 00:10:47,023
[woman] In like '88,
I was looking for a job,
256
00:10:47,148 --> 00:10:50,109
and David Chase had a new show.
257
00:10:50,109 --> 00:10:53,529
It was called Almost Grown,
and he wanted to meet writers.
258
00:10:53,529 --> 00:10:56,616
So I met with David
on Ventura Boulevard,
259
00:10:56,616 --> 00:10:57,992
some restaurant.
260
00:10:58,117 --> 00:10:59,410
I got there first, of course,
261
00:10:59,410 --> 00:11:01,788
and I see him coming
in the door.
262
00:11:01,788 --> 00:11:04,207
I think, "Oh, fuck."
He just looked so dour.
263
00:11:04,665 --> 00:11:06,793
You know what I mean?
He looked so miserable.
264
00:11:06,793 --> 00:11:11,589
And he sat down,
and in probably ten minutes,
265
00:11:11,589 --> 00:11:14,425
we were just laughing with tears
coming down our faces
266
00:11:14,425 --> 00:11:16,636
because we were talking
about our mothers.
267
00:11:16,636 --> 00:11:20,014
And so we became friends.
It was like that, you know?
268
00:11:20,139 --> 00:11:21,182
And I said to him,
269
00:11:21,307 --> 00:11:23,684
"Here you are,
the most powerful man."
270
00:11:23,810 --> 00:11:26,896
He, like, had the suits
at Universal,
271
00:11:27,021 --> 00:11:30,233
you know, crying and-and upset.
272
00:11:30,233 --> 00:11:32,568
Um, and you're this
powerful man,
273
00:11:32,568 --> 00:11:34,946
and your mother
makes you into a little
274
00:11:34,946 --> 00:11:36,948
screaming gerbil or something,
you know?
275
00:11:36,948 --> 00:11:40,410
And I said, "This is what
you should write about."
276
00:11:40,410 --> 00:11:42,495
[David] Robin said,
"You should write a show
277
00:11:42,495 --> 00:11:45,206
about your mother
and a TV producer."
278
00:11:45,706 --> 00:11:48,000
And I thought,
"Who's gonna watch that?"
279
00:11:48,835 --> 00:11:52,755
But maybe if he was like
a really badass guy,
280
00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:54,215
maybe that would work.
281
00:11:54,340 --> 00:11:56,509
[Alex] Was the bad guy
already a mobster?
282
00:11:56,509 --> 00:11:57,802
[David] Yeah.
283
00:11:57,802 --> 00:12:00,388
I wanted to get De Niro
and Anne Bancroft.
284
00:12:01,264 --> 00:12:03,516
At first, I thought of it
as a feature.
285
00:12:03,516 --> 00:12:05,685
It was the story that actually
was the first season.
286
00:12:05,685 --> 00:12:08,730
It was about a mobster
who goes to a shrink
287
00:12:08,855 --> 00:12:10,606
after having panic attacks.
288
00:12:10,606 --> 00:12:13,818
[Melfi] Any thoughts at all
on why you blacked out?
289
00:12:13,818 --> 00:12:15,069
[Tony] I don't know.
290
00:12:15,194 --> 00:12:16,279
Stress, maybe.
291
00:12:16,404 --> 00:12:17,613
[Melfi] About what?
292
00:12:17,613 --> 00:12:19,365
[David] He's having problems
with his uncle,
293
00:12:19,365 --> 00:12:20,992
a feud of some kind.
294
00:12:20,992 --> 00:12:22,160
[Junior] You may run
North Jersey,
295
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:23,536
you don't run
your Uncle Junior.
296
00:12:23,536 --> 00:12:25,413
[David] He puts his mother
in a nursing home.
297
00:12:25,538 --> 00:12:27,999
[Tony] I don't see you trying
to mix with the other ladies,
298
00:12:27,999 --> 00:12:30,543
or talk to the nice gents
I see walking around.
299
00:12:30,543 --> 00:12:32,378
You're not making the most
of your opportunities.
300
00:12:32,378 --> 00:12:34,213
[Livia] What do you care?
301
00:12:34,213 --> 00:12:35,965
Out of sight, out of mind.
302
00:12:35,965 --> 00:12:39,010
[David] His mother sides with
his uncle in this gang war.
303
00:12:39,010 --> 00:12:41,471
[Junior] Three of my capos have
their mothers in this place?
304
00:12:41,471 --> 00:12:43,639
[Livia] Instead of living in
normal homes
305
00:12:43,765 --> 00:12:45,600
with their sons
306
00:12:45,725 --> 00:12:47,101
like human beings.
307
00:12:47,226 --> 00:12:49,270
[Junior] This must be some kind
of fucking end move.
308
00:12:49,395 --> 00:12:51,189
[David] His mother conspires
with his uncle
309
00:12:51,189 --> 00:12:52,690
to have him killed.
310
00:12:52,690 --> 00:12:55,234
[reporter] ...was a gangland
execution gone awry.
311
00:12:55,234 --> 00:12:56,736
[David] And his shrink
is the one
312
00:12:56,736 --> 00:12:58,613
who helps him
to understand that.
313
00:12:58,738 --> 00:13:00,281
[Melfi] On the day before
the shooting,
314
00:13:00,406 --> 00:13:02,909
you said to me that
she kept going on, yet again,
315
00:13:02,909 --> 00:13:05,244
about news stories of mothers
316
00:13:05,244 --> 00:13:07,747
throwing their babies
out of windows.
317
00:13:07,747 --> 00:13:10,124
[David] In the end,
he suffocates her.
318
00:13:10,249 --> 00:13:13,669
[Tony] Ma, I know what you did.
Your only son.
319
00:13:13,669 --> 00:13:16,798
[David] But then I thought,
"That would work as a TV show."
320
00:13:16,923 --> 00:13:17,965
[keyboard clacking]
321
00:13:19,175 --> 00:13:20,885
[printer whirring]
322
00:13:20,885 --> 00:13:22,845
We took it around
to all the networks:
323
00:13:22,845 --> 00:13:27,225
Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
324
00:13:27,225 --> 00:13:28,726
Nobody wanted it.
325
00:13:28,726 --> 00:13:30,395
And Les Moonves he said,
326
00:13:30,395 --> 00:13:32,146
"Script's very good,
very funny.
327
00:13:32,271 --> 00:13:34,732
But he's gonna see
a psychiatrist?
328
00:13:34,732 --> 00:13:37,026
Are you married
to him taking Prozac?"
329
00:13:37,151 --> 00:13:38,027
[Alex chuckles]
330
00:13:38,152 --> 00:13:39,404
[chuckles]
331
00:13:40,446 --> 00:13:43,074
So I said, "Yeah, I guess
you'd say I'm married to it."
332
00:13:43,074 --> 00:13:45,493
He said, "Well, then... no."
333
00:13:46,702 --> 00:13:47,620
So it was dead.
334
00:13:47,620 --> 00:13:49,330
[new age music plays on TV]
335
00:13:49,455 --> 00:13:52,500
But then I started saying,
"Can't we go to HBO?"
336
00:13:52,625 --> 00:13:55,086
[TV announcer]
Simply the best choice on TV.
337
00:13:56,295 --> 00:13:57,839
[man] We were finding our way
338
00:13:57,964 --> 00:13:59,674
from the time I got there
in '85.
339
00:14:00,341 --> 00:14:02,051
Television, you know,
was still,
340
00:14:02,176 --> 00:14:04,053
at that time, the Big Three,
341
00:14:04,178 --> 00:14:06,472
and four, if you count Fox.
342
00:14:06,472 --> 00:14:10,017
We didn't look at them
so much as competition
343
00:14:10,143 --> 00:14:14,647
as a mark for us to compare
ourselves against,
344
00:14:14,647 --> 00:14:16,858
and we knew we needed
to be different.
345
00:14:16,983 --> 00:14:19,193
What HBO was trying to do
346
00:14:19,318 --> 00:14:22,280
was make a name for itself,
you know?
347
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,033
Boxing and movies was really
what HBO was known for.
348
00:14:27,744 --> 00:14:30,371
[Chris] The sort of change
moment became The Sanders Show.
349
00:14:30,496 --> 00:14:32,248
Someone has been
sitting in my chair.
350
00:14:32,373 --> 00:14:35,084
Maybe it's Mama Bear. [snickers]
351
00:14:35,209 --> 00:14:38,671
Talentless fat fuck.
Just worry about the couch
352
00:14:38,671 --> 00:14:40,381
and trying not to fuck up.
353
00:14:40,506 --> 00:14:41,674
[Chris] It set a mark down
354
00:14:41,674 --> 00:14:43,676
that HBO could do
something different,
355
00:14:43,676 --> 00:14:46,721
maybe better, than what's on
the broadcast networks.
356
00:14:47,597 --> 00:14:49,307
[Carolyn] We started trying
to figure out,
357
00:14:49,307 --> 00:14:51,434
can we get into
the series business?
358
00:14:51,559 --> 00:14:52,727
Oh, boy.
359
00:14:53,519 --> 00:14:54,604
Schillinger's home.
360
00:14:54,729 --> 00:14:55,521
[cell doors clanging]
361
00:14:55,521 --> 00:14:57,523
[Chris] We developed Oz.
362
00:14:57,523 --> 00:14:59,442
He's not such a bad guy, Diane.
363
00:15:00,610 --> 00:15:02,904
What drugs are you on?
364
00:15:03,029 --> 00:15:04,363
[Chris] And Sex and the City.
365
00:15:04,363 --> 00:15:06,157
[upbeat theme music playing]
366
00:15:06,157 --> 00:15:08,284
[Carolyn] Basically, it was
a style of working,
367
00:15:08,409 --> 00:15:11,454
which was, like, let's find
really great storytellers
368
00:15:11,454 --> 00:15:13,039
and let them do their thing.
369
00:15:13,915 --> 00:15:17,085
[Chris] So David came in
and I knew his résumé.
370
00:15:17,210 --> 00:15:19,295
He was a real TV veteran
371
00:15:19,295 --> 00:15:21,464
and had worked on
some good things,
372
00:15:21,589 --> 00:15:23,549
but hadn't really had success
with his own.
373
00:15:23,549 --> 00:15:25,009
[Al Green's
"Love and Happiness" plays]
374
00:15:25,009 --> 00:15:27,261
♪ Love and happiness ♪
375
00:15:28,930 --> 00:15:30,139
♪ Yeah ♪
376
00:15:30,848 --> 00:15:33,726
♪ Something that can
make you do wrong ♪
377
00:15:34,268 --> 00:15:36,354
♪ Make you do right ♪
378
00:15:36,896 --> 00:15:39,190
[David] Denise and I,
we got married.
379
00:15:39,190 --> 00:15:41,150
This is 1968.
380
00:15:42,735 --> 00:15:44,779
[David] A couple of my uncles
took me aside and said,
381
00:15:44,904 --> 00:15:46,280
"You have to get out of here.
382
00:15:46,406 --> 00:15:49,033
You're not going to stay
married if you stay here."
383
00:15:49,033 --> 00:15:51,786
Because they knew
what my parents were like,
384
00:15:51,911 --> 00:15:54,038
and they really were talking
about my mother.
385
00:15:54,038 --> 00:15:56,165
["Love and Happiness" continues]
386
00:15:57,917 --> 00:16:00,128
My wife wouldn't have
been able to take it.
387
00:16:00,253 --> 00:16:02,338
♪ Love and happiness ♪
388
00:16:02,463 --> 00:16:04,132
[David] My mother
was just nuts.
389
00:16:04,257 --> 00:16:07,468
♪ Wait a minute,
something's going wrong ♪
390
00:16:08,594 --> 00:16:10,805
[David] So we left
the night of our wedding
391
00:16:11,806 --> 00:16:13,683
and started for California.
392
00:16:14,767 --> 00:16:16,394
♪ Talkin' about ♪
393
00:16:17,770 --> 00:16:20,898
♪ How she can
make it right, yeah ♪
394
00:16:22,942 --> 00:16:25,737
[David] We cross the country,
and I get the word
395
00:16:25,737 --> 00:16:28,030
that I get a fellowship
to film school.
396
00:16:28,156 --> 00:16:29,490
Stanford University.
397
00:16:32,201 --> 00:16:33,619
I remember somebody telling me
398
00:16:33,619 --> 00:16:35,663
that the short version
of American history is,
399
00:16:35,788 --> 00:16:37,498
the scum floats west.
400
00:16:37,623 --> 00:16:39,375
[both laugh]
401
00:16:40,334 --> 00:16:42,378
When I got here,
I sort of understood it.
402
00:16:43,337 --> 00:16:44,505
[man narrating] Alcatraz.
403
00:16:45,214 --> 00:16:47,258
Some of the biggest boys
did time there.
404
00:16:47,967 --> 00:16:50,553
Even Capone.
Got him for tax evasion
405
00:16:50,553 --> 00:16:52,680
'cause they couldn't get him
for anything else.
406
00:16:53,181 --> 00:16:56,684
Did 11 years and died
of the big S in 1947.
407
00:16:58,144 --> 00:17:00,354
Of course, that was
a long time ago.
408
00:17:01,022 --> 00:17:02,690
[David] I went to Stanford
for two years.
409
00:17:03,399 --> 00:17:05,985
I did a narrative
for my thesis film,
410
00:17:05,985 --> 00:17:08,279
The Rise and Fall
of Bug Manousos.
411
00:17:09,322 --> 00:17:11,199
We thought we were
doing Godard.
412
00:17:12,742 --> 00:17:15,244
I don't know what we thought
Godard was doing, but
413
00:17:16,370 --> 00:17:17,705
we weren't doing it.
414
00:17:17,830 --> 00:17:19,373
["Who Do You Love"
by John Hammond plays]
415
00:17:19,499 --> 00:17:22,377
- ♪ Who do you love? ♪
- [tires screeching]
416
00:17:22,502 --> 00:17:24,045
[Manousos] My name is Manousos.
417
00:17:24,170 --> 00:17:26,964
I'm Greek, or of Greek descent.
However you want it.
418
00:17:26,964 --> 00:17:29,842
♪ Well, I lied, in the town
they use a rattlesnake whip ♪
419
00:17:29,842 --> 00:17:32,136
♪ Take it easy, Arlene,
don't give me no lip ♪
420
00:17:35,848 --> 00:17:39,894
♪ Oh, who do you love? ♪
421
00:17:40,895 --> 00:17:41,979
[automatic gunfire]
422
00:17:41,979 --> 00:17:43,481
[birds singing]
423
00:17:44,065 --> 00:17:47,652
[Manousos] Ma, the greatest
little lady that ever lived.
424
00:17:50,029 --> 00:17:52,281
[Manousos] Let's dump this stiff
and get it over with.
425
00:17:53,199 --> 00:17:55,535
Take that smile off your face,
sweetie pie.
426
00:17:55,535 --> 00:17:58,037
You son of a bitch!
427
00:17:58,037 --> 00:18:00,248
- [gunshot]
- [whimpers]
428
00:18:00,957 --> 00:18:02,250
[gunshot]
429
00:18:07,630 --> 00:18:08,589
[grunts]
430
00:18:10,258 --> 00:18:11,300
[groans]
431
00:18:11,300 --> 00:18:12,885
[Manousos] Ma!
432
00:18:12,885 --> 00:18:14,804
They got me in the back.
433
00:18:14,929 --> 00:18:16,889
[light jazz music plays]
434
00:18:16,889 --> 00:18:18,641
[David] After the two-year
graduate program
435
00:18:18,641 --> 00:18:19,767
and I was graduating,
436
00:18:20,727 --> 00:18:22,645
a friend of mine and I
wrote a script.
437
00:18:22,645 --> 00:18:26,107
And the writing teacher
sent it to this guy,
438
00:18:26,232 --> 00:18:29,152
Roy Huggins,
who was a big TV producer.
439
00:18:29,152 --> 00:18:31,154
But we kind of forgot about it.
440
00:18:31,946 --> 00:18:34,282
[engine revving]
441
00:18:35,408 --> 00:18:37,368
Denise and I moved to LA,
442
00:18:37,368 --> 00:18:39,162
rented an apartment,
443
00:18:39,162 --> 00:18:42,165
and Denise got a job
at a law firm.
444
00:18:42,165 --> 00:18:46,377
And I started looking for work,
but I just couldn't get a job.
445
00:18:47,253 --> 00:18:49,088
Finally, I did get a job
446
00:18:49,088 --> 00:18:52,300
working for this outfit
called Clover Films.
447
00:18:53,092 --> 00:18:54,177
These movies...
448
00:18:55,845 --> 00:18:57,597
[man] Not ten kilometers
from here,
449
00:18:57,597 --> 00:18:59,307
there's a golf course
and a country club
450
00:18:59,432 --> 00:19:01,517
surrounded by German guards.
451
00:19:01,517 --> 00:19:05,688
Every German son-of-a-bitch
soldier is to be killed.
452
00:19:05,813 --> 00:19:08,524
[suspenseful music playing]
453
00:19:08,524 --> 00:19:09,984
[David] One of the movies,
we shot it
454
00:19:10,109 --> 00:19:12,070
at a burned-out
apartment complex
455
00:19:12,070 --> 00:19:14,197
in Las Virgenes Canyon.
456
00:19:15,490 --> 00:19:18,534
It was a German fort
or something,
457
00:19:18,534 --> 00:19:22,205
inhabited only now by these
German prostitutes.
458
00:19:22,330 --> 00:19:23,915
[laughing]
459
00:19:25,208 --> 00:19:26,918
I had a very small part,
460
00:19:27,668 --> 00:19:30,546
and I was supposed to be
the first assistant director,
461
00:19:30,546 --> 00:19:32,673
but I had no idea
what I was doing.
462
00:19:32,799 --> 00:19:35,176
[light string music playing]
463
00:19:37,637 --> 00:19:38,888
And the movie itself,
464
00:19:39,013 --> 00:19:41,724
it was mostly soft-core
fucking and sucking.
465
00:19:42,183 --> 00:19:44,018
[steam hissing]
466
00:19:45,269 --> 00:19:47,397
- [eerie music playing]
- [heavy breathing]
467
00:19:47,397 --> 00:19:49,857
[David] I did write a feature
for Clover Films
468
00:19:49,982 --> 00:19:51,901
called Grave of the Vampire.
469
00:19:52,819 --> 00:19:56,531
[woman screaming] No! No!
No! No! No!
470
00:19:59,492 --> 00:20:01,744
[eerie, uneasy music playing]
471
00:20:07,041 --> 00:20:08,376
Who are you?
472
00:20:09,377 --> 00:20:10,253
I'm your son!
473
00:20:10,253 --> 00:20:13,047
Your son conceived in a grave!
474
00:20:13,923 --> 00:20:15,299
[menacingly] Yes!
475
00:20:16,342 --> 00:20:17,468
It was insane.
476
00:20:17,468 --> 00:20:18,886
[cackling] Yes!
477
00:20:19,011 --> 00:20:20,304
[David] While I was there,
478
00:20:20,304 --> 00:20:22,265
I heard that Roy Huggins,
479
00:20:22,265 --> 00:20:24,350
who had read that script
from two years ago,
480
00:20:24,350 --> 00:20:27,270
wanted to hire me
to write an episode.
481
00:20:27,270 --> 00:20:29,564
So I got my first job in TV,
482
00:20:29,689 --> 00:20:32,984
a series that was called
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers.
483
00:20:34,694 --> 00:20:36,028
And everybody back east was--
484
00:20:36,028 --> 00:20:39,949
And there it was!
There was my name on television.
485
00:20:40,074 --> 00:20:43,828
But I didn't set my mind
to learning how to direct,
486
00:20:43,828 --> 00:20:46,247
even though I wanted to be
a movie director.
487
00:20:46,372 --> 00:20:48,166
- Right.
- I did not--
488
00:20:48,166 --> 00:20:49,709
Maybe I was too embarrassed
489
00:20:49,709 --> 00:20:51,961
to, like, ask the DP,
"How do you do that?"
490
00:20:52,086 --> 00:20:53,588
"How do you do this?"
491
00:20:54,213 --> 00:20:59,177
I kept trying to write features
for years after that,
492
00:20:59,177 --> 00:21:01,345
and none of them got made.
493
00:21:02,263 --> 00:21:05,725
[protestors chattering]
494
00:21:05,725 --> 00:21:07,977
[David] I believe it was 1973.
495
00:21:08,102 --> 00:21:09,979
Writers Guild went on strike,
496
00:21:09,979 --> 00:21:12,523
and I had to go on picket duty
at Paramount Studios
497
00:21:12,523 --> 00:21:14,776
right in front of
the DeMille Gate.
498
00:21:16,277 --> 00:21:18,613
And that was great.
I mean, just to be there.
499
00:21:18,738 --> 00:21:21,908
It was like, these were all
professional writers
500
00:21:21,908 --> 00:21:23,618
that I was on picket duty with.
501
00:21:23,743 --> 00:21:25,828
And I got to really look
forward to picket duty
502
00:21:25,828 --> 00:21:29,290
because it was starting to feel
like I really am in Hollywood.
503
00:21:29,415 --> 00:21:30,792
["Mission: Impossible"
theme music plays]
504
00:21:30,917 --> 00:21:33,669
And I met a guy named
Paul Playdon,
505
00:21:33,669 --> 00:21:36,381
the story editor
of Mission: Impossible.
506
00:21:37,131 --> 00:21:39,550
I had no agent,
so Paul got me an agent.
507
00:21:39,550 --> 00:21:41,386
I signed with his agency.
508
00:21:41,386 --> 00:21:43,179
And when the strike was over,
509
00:21:43,304 --> 00:21:46,265
there was a show called
The Magician with Bill Bixby,
510
00:21:46,265 --> 00:21:50,186
and Bixby played a magician
who solved crimes
511
00:21:50,186 --> 00:21:54,982
and defeated the bad guys
with scarves and hats.
512
00:21:57,485 --> 00:21:58,569
[fire roaring]
513
00:21:58,569 --> 00:21:59,946
[man] Get back! Get back!
514
00:21:59,946 --> 00:22:02,407
[David] They brought me on
as story editor.
515
00:22:02,407 --> 00:22:04,492
["The Rockford Files"
theme plays]
516
00:22:04,617 --> 00:22:06,494
And then I got on to
The Rockford Files.
517
00:22:08,496 --> 00:22:10,498
I did I'll Fly Away.
518
00:22:10,623 --> 00:22:12,667
And then I was
on Northern Exposure.
519
00:22:14,627 --> 00:22:16,587
So I was in the TV business.
520
00:22:16,587 --> 00:22:20,007
The problem was,
you knew what the limits were,
521
00:22:20,133 --> 00:22:22,051
but you were always
testing them,
522
00:22:22,176 --> 00:22:23,720
and you would always fail.
523
00:22:25,847 --> 00:22:27,765
It was the meetings
that were terrible,
524
00:22:27,765 --> 00:22:29,767
the network meetings,
what they...
525
00:22:29,767 --> 00:22:31,769
They had this unerring sense...
526
00:22:31,769 --> 00:22:33,604
[Alex chuckles]
527
00:22:33,604 --> 00:22:35,648
...that the reason
you were writing this,
528
00:22:35,648 --> 00:22:38,025
the thing you love most
about this,
529
00:22:38,151 --> 00:22:39,861
was what they
were going to go for.
530
00:22:40,319 --> 00:22:43,906
So because I was used to
network TV,
531
00:22:43,906 --> 00:22:47,410
Sopranos was a mob show
where nobody got killed.
532
00:22:47,410 --> 00:22:48,953
'Cause I thought they
wouldn't want that.
533
00:22:48,953 --> 00:22:51,372
[automatic gunfire]
534
00:22:52,665 --> 00:22:56,419
Then I realized, all those
Jimmy Cagney gangster movies...
535
00:22:56,544 --> 00:22:59,547
[automatic gunfire]
536
00:23:00,548 --> 00:23:02,717
The Godfather?
Nobody got killed?
537
00:23:03,259 --> 00:23:04,552
[loud choking]
538
00:23:04,677 --> 00:23:05,720
[gunshot]
539
00:23:06,345 --> 00:23:07,889
Why would you ever
leave that out?
540
00:23:10,892 --> 00:23:14,270
So I rewrote it
to include a murder.
541
00:23:14,270 --> 00:23:17,273
That's when HBO got really
interested in the show.
542
00:23:18,858 --> 00:23:21,277
It wasn't just,
you got to put in a murder.
543
00:23:21,402 --> 00:23:23,112
That had to be
part of the story.
544
00:23:23,112 --> 00:23:25,239
That had to be integral
to the narrative
545
00:23:25,364 --> 00:23:26,532
and to the culture.
546
00:23:27,408 --> 00:23:29,410
[Chris] We had a big meeting
with David.
547
00:23:29,535 --> 00:23:34,040
My impression was, okay,
this is a network guy,
548
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,543
but he's already showed us
in his writing
549
00:23:37,543 --> 00:23:41,130
that he doesn't think only
like a traditional network guy.
550
00:23:41,130 --> 00:23:44,801
And his take on the world,
and his--
551
00:23:44,801 --> 00:23:48,054
You could tell immediately,
these characters,
552
00:23:48,054 --> 00:23:51,307
it was like a second skin
to him.
553
00:23:51,891 --> 00:23:54,268
That was an easy yes
to make that pilot.
554
00:23:54,394 --> 00:23:56,020
- [camcorder whirring]
- [static hissing]
555
00:23:58,398 --> 00:23:59,690
[woman chuckles]
556
00:24:00,274 --> 00:24:02,402
You want to take it
from here or...
557
00:24:03,152 --> 00:24:05,988
[David] In casting,
I don't react much at all.
558
00:24:05,988 --> 00:24:07,740
I say, "Oh, that's very good."
559
00:24:07,740 --> 00:24:09,784
- Really good.
- Thanks, guys.
560
00:24:09,909 --> 00:24:11,786
"Thank you very much,"
and people leave.
561
00:24:13,121 --> 00:24:14,914
Casting is a long process.
562
00:24:14,914 --> 00:24:17,083
- Just begin?
- [woman] Whenever you're ready.
563
00:24:17,750 --> 00:24:19,502
[Tony] Next, I had
a breakfast meeting.
564
00:24:19,502 --> 00:24:20,795
I was called in to consult by
565
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:22,797
a garbage hauling
company I represent.
566
00:24:23,464 --> 00:24:25,967
Big, what's the story
with Triboro Towers?
567
00:24:26,092 --> 00:24:28,678
The site manager wants to renew
his contract with Dick.
568
00:24:28,678 --> 00:24:30,972
Site manager wants to renew
his contract with Dick.
569
00:24:31,097 --> 00:24:34,726
The site manager wants to renew
his, uh, his contract with Dick.
570
00:24:34,726 --> 00:24:38,020
The site manager, he wants
to renew his contract with Dick.
571
00:24:38,020 --> 00:24:40,022
But, uh, these Kolar brothers...
572
00:24:40,148 --> 00:24:42,066
Let's try this again.
Let me pick the energy up.
573
00:24:42,066 --> 00:24:43,735
I'm very tired.
574
00:24:43,735 --> 00:24:45,820
Yeah, the Kolar brothers.
They're some kind of
575
00:24:45,945 --> 00:24:48,322
Czechoslovakian immigrants
or some shit.
576
00:24:48,448 --> 00:24:50,742
They can save close to
a million a year
577
00:24:50,742 --> 00:24:53,161
if the Kolars haul the trash
and not Dick.
578
00:24:53,661 --> 00:24:56,122
[Tony] They pay us 40 times the
monthly for stealing your stop.
579
00:24:56,122 --> 00:24:57,665
[Vincent Pastore]
That's the thing, they won't.
580
00:24:57,790 --> 00:25:00,334
They said that if they can tell
those commie bosses...
581
00:25:00,460 --> 00:25:02,712
...back in Czechoslovakia
to go fuck themselves,
582
00:25:02,837 --> 00:25:04,505
- he could fucking tell us.
- Oh!
583
00:25:05,798 --> 00:25:08,009
[Kolar] In Czech Republic too,
we love pork.
584
00:25:09,135 --> 00:25:11,012
You ever have our sausages?
585
00:25:11,971 --> 00:25:14,766
See, I thought the only sausages
were Italian and Jimmy Dean.
586
00:25:14,766 --> 00:25:18,061
I thought the only sausages
were Italian and Jimmy Dean.
587
00:25:18,061 --> 00:25:20,480
You see what you learn when
you cross cultures and shit?
588
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,066
[Kolar] My Uncle Uvzen
doesn't know I came.
589
00:25:23,191 --> 00:25:26,110
But if we make any progress,
I'll have to tell him.
590
00:25:26,110 --> 00:25:28,362
Oh, we gotta make progress,
"Email."
591
00:25:28,488 --> 00:25:31,074
I mean, you know, we must
stop the madness.
592
00:25:31,074 --> 00:25:32,325
[sniffs]
593
00:25:32,325 --> 00:25:34,577
The garbage business
is changing.
594
00:25:34,577 --> 00:25:38,081
We're the younger generation.
We have issues in common.
595
00:25:38,081 --> 00:25:40,333
Garbage business is changing,
you know?
596
00:25:40,333 --> 00:25:43,211
Younger generation.
We have issues in common.
597
00:25:45,171 --> 00:25:46,130
Emil.
598
00:25:47,006 --> 00:25:48,758
Where'd you go to high school?
Poland?
599
00:25:49,550 --> 00:25:50,676
I'm not Polish.
600
00:25:50,676 --> 00:25:52,470
What's Czechoslovakia?
Isn't that...
601
00:25:52,470 --> 00:25:53,846
That's a type of Polack, right?
602
00:25:53,846 --> 00:25:56,015
We came to this country
when I was nine.
603
00:25:56,015 --> 00:25:58,142
- I went to West Essex.
- Yo, money!
604
00:25:58,142 --> 00:26:00,019
You used to play my cousin
Gregory in football.
605
00:26:00,019 --> 00:26:01,979
- He went to Boonton.
- Where's the stuff?
606
00:26:01,979 --> 00:26:03,856
Ah, yes. Yes, yes.
607
00:26:03,856 --> 00:26:06,192
["I'm a Man" by Bo Diddley
playing]
608
00:26:06,192 --> 00:26:07,985
The reason for the visit.
609
00:26:07,985 --> 00:26:09,946
Got it all deployed for you.
610
00:26:11,572 --> 00:26:13,616
Taste the wares, "Email."
611
00:26:14,367 --> 00:26:15,410
Emil.
612
00:26:18,830 --> 00:26:20,331
[Kolar sniffing]
613
00:26:22,542 --> 00:26:23,876
- [gunshot]
- [Kolar grunts]
614
00:26:23,876 --> 00:26:25,503
[shell casing clinking]
615
00:26:28,256 --> 00:26:31,426
[actors imitating gunshots]
616
00:26:31,551 --> 00:26:32,427
Bam!
617
00:26:32,552 --> 00:26:34,053
[shell casing clinking]
618
00:26:34,637 --> 00:26:36,472
- ♪ I'm a man ♪
- [music fades]
619
00:26:36,472 --> 00:26:38,224
[David] Cut! Yeah, we're good.
620
00:26:38,891 --> 00:26:41,477
[Michael] You know,
the idea of a series on HBO,
621
00:26:41,477 --> 00:26:44,647
back then, there was no prestige
attached to that.
622
00:26:46,274 --> 00:26:48,025
To be really frank,
623
00:26:48,025 --> 00:26:50,319
it was kind of
the bargain basement of TV.
624
00:26:50,445 --> 00:26:51,612
It really was.
625
00:26:52,447 --> 00:26:54,031
But I loved the character.
626
00:26:54,031 --> 00:26:55,700
I thought the character
was really fun.
627
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:58,453
His name was Dean Moltisanti
when I first read the script.
628
00:26:59,245 --> 00:27:02,498
Um, I didn't know who
David Chase was, I'll be honest.
629
00:27:02,498 --> 00:27:04,125
And I didn't know he was Italian
630
00:27:04,250 --> 00:27:06,169
when I saw his name
on the script,
631
00:27:06,169 --> 00:27:09,005
which kind of made me think,
"Who's this guy? [chuckles]
632
00:27:09,130 --> 00:27:10,965
Making a show about Italians
and he's not..."
633
00:27:11,090 --> 00:27:14,135
You know, Scorsese and Coppola
were Italian American.
634
00:27:14,761 --> 00:27:17,513
But I worked really hard on it
and went in for David.
635
00:27:17,513 --> 00:27:20,725
You know, David's very--
he's poker-faced.
636
00:27:20,725 --> 00:27:22,977
[David] Michael came in
and he was great,
637
00:27:23,102 --> 00:27:24,645
but I played it
completely straight.
638
00:27:24,771 --> 00:27:25,813
Very good.
639
00:27:25,938 --> 00:27:27,190
[Michael]
I walked out thinking,
640
00:27:27,315 --> 00:27:29,108
"This ain't gonna happen.
Who cares?
641
00:27:29,108 --> 00:27:31,152
He's not even Italian.
What does he know?"
642
00:27:31,277 --> 00:27:33,446
"Who the fuck is this guy?
He's not even Italian.
643
00:27:33,446 --> 00:27:36,157
Fuck him." [chuckles] But, uh...
644
00:27:39,660 --> 00:27:41,162
[knocking on door]
645
00:27:41,662 --> 00:27:42,997
Who's there?
646
00:27:43,122 --> 00:27:44,582
You locked the door behind you?
647
00:27:44,582 --> 00:27:46,959
[David] Seemed to me like
we read a hundred actresses.
648
00:27:46,959 --> 00:27:48,378
This is a nursing home.
649
00:27:48,503 --> 00:27:49,670
They all came in
650
00:27:49,796 --> 00:27:51,589
and did their crazy Italian
mama thing.
651
00:27:51,589 --> 00:27:53,883
You're not putting me in
a nursing home.
652
00:27:54,008 --> 00:27:56,636
I've seen these women
in these nursing homes
653
00:27:56,636 --> 00:27:58,638
babbling like idiots!
654
00:27:58,638 --> 00:28:00,264
And it wasn't even close.
655
00:28:00,264 --> 00:28:02,392
And because it was
based on my mother,
656
00:28:02,392 --> 00:28:03,893
I knew how far away it was.
657
00:28:04,852 --> 00:28:07,188
But then Nancy Marchand
came in.
658
00:28:07,313 --> 00:28:09,524
I knew her as Mrs. Pynchon,
659
00:28:09,524 --> 00:28:11,943
the newspaper publisher
in Lou Grant.
660
00:28:11,943 --> 00:28:13,403
May I remind you, Mr. Grant,
661
00:28:13,403 --> 00:28:15,863
this news paper is not
The New York Times.
662
00:28:15,988 --> 00:28:17,907
I'm reminded of it
every time I pick it up.
663
00:28:18,032 --> 00:28:20,618
So am I, sir, and I wish
we had their resources.
664
00:28:20,618 --> 00:28:22,203
But the simple fact is,
we don't.
665
00:28:22,328 --> 00:28:23,830
If you want me
to back off, I will.
666
00:28:23,830 --> 00:28:26,457
Now, I didn't say that.
667
00:28:28,543 --> 00:28:30,962
But I need you gentlemen
to tell me
668
00:28:30,962 --> 00:28:33,548
that we can win
if we go to court.
669
00:28:34,507 --> 00:28:36,926
- Should I slate it and all that?
- [woman] No.
670
00:28:37,051 --> 00:28:38,302
[David] Just thought,
"This is crazy.
671
00:28:38,302 --> 00:28:39,512
This isn't going to work."
672
00:28:39,512 --> 00:28:41,180
But she just opened her mouth
673
00:28:41,180 --> 00:28:42,724
and... boom.
674
00:28:42,849 --> 00:28:44,726
[woman] You're with active
seniors your own age.
675
00:28:44,851 --> 00:28:46,811
They do things, they go places,
they go dancing.
676
00:28:46,811 --> 00:28:50,606
I've seen these women
in these nursing homes
677
00:28:50,732 --> 00:28:52,233
babbling like idiots.
678
00:28:53,276 --> 00:28:54,736
Just eat your eggplant.
679
00:28:55,611 --> 00:28:58,030
It was like-- [gasps]
And she just had it.
680
00:28:58,030 --> 00:29:00,825
If your uncle has business
with Arthur,
681
00:29:02,076 --> 00:29:04,787
and I don't even
want to know what it is,
682
00:29:04,787 --> 00:29:06,748
then he knows what he's doing.
683
00:29:07,749 --> 00:29:08,791
And I don't?
684
00:29:10,793 --> 00:29:13,129
Well, all I know is
685
00:29:13,755 --> 00:29:16,966
daughters are better at taking
care of their mothers than sons.
686
00:29:17,091 --> 00:29:19,010
Yeah, and I bought CDs
for a broken record.
687
00:29:19,010 --> 00:29:20,344
[David] Everybody
always told me
688
00:29:20,344 --> 00:29:22,138
there was no one
like my mother.
689
00:29:22,263 --> 00:29:25,433
But when all of my relatives
started watching the show,
690
00:29:25,558 --> 00:29:27,393
they said, "My God,
that's Aunt Norma!
691
00:29:27,393 --> 00:29:30,229
That's your mother!"
I said, "No shit."
692
00:29:30,229 --> 00:29:31,856
It was like she was
channeling her.
693
00:29:31,856 --> 00:29:33,941
I expect to see you tonight
at Anthony Junior's
694
00:29:34,067 --> 00:29:35,777
birthday party
with your baked ziti.
695
00:29:35,902 --> 00:29:38,946
Only if I'm picked up
and I'm brought back home.
696
00:29:39,072 --> 00:29:42,450
I don't drive
when they're predicting rain.
697
00:29:42,575 --> 00:29:46,204
All of my career,
pretty much in my career,
698
00:29:46,204 --> 00:29:48,289
I have played the tasteful lady.
699
00:29:48,998 --> 00:29:51,834
And I really
700
00:29:51,834 --> 00:29:54,295
appreciate playing
701
00:29:54,962 --> 00:29:56,631
this kind of harridan
702
00:29:57,256 --> 00:29:59,926
because I never get a chance
to do that.
703
00:29:59,926 --> 00:30:01,260
It's good for you to drive.
704
00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:03,137
Use it or lose it.
I got to go to work.
705
00:30:03,805 --> 00:30:04,806
Sure.
706
00:30:05,765 --> 00:30:06,808
Run off!
707
00:30:09,102 --> 00:30:11,062
[indistinct chatter]
708
00:30:11,062 --> 00:30:12,772
[Drea] When I went
in initially,
709
00:30:12,772 --> 00:30:15,149
I was auditioning for about
five different roles.
710
00:30:15,149 --> 00:30:17,318
[as Irina] Who was
that woman tonight?
711
00:30:17,443 --> 00:30:19,946
[in normal voice] I read for
Tony Soprano's mistress.
712
00:30:19,946 --> 00:30:22,698
[as Irina] What, you are redoing
the garbage dump?
713
00:30:22,824 --> 00:30:24,283
So don't treat me like a child.
714
00:30:24,283 --> 00:30:26,202
I know there's something
more intimate.
715
00:30:26,202 --> 00:30:29,205
[Irina] Who was that woman
tonight at the restaurant?
716
00:30:29,330 --> 00:30:31,499
[Tony] You better not be
messing with that hat!
717
00:30:31,624 --> 00:30:34,168
[Drea] In the end,
they went with someone else.
718
00:30:35,503 --> 00:30:36,379
[David] Very good.
719
00:30:36,504 --> 00:30:38,172
[Drea] But David liked me.
720
00:30:38,297 --> 00:30:40,550
I think he just liked the fact
that I was Italian,
721
00:30:40,550 --> 00:30:42,760
and maybe I was cute,
but I didn't know
722
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:44,679
that it had anything to do
with being Italian.
723
00:30:44,804 --> 00:30:46,139
I thought it was about
opera singers.
724
00:30:46,139 --> 00:30:47,724
[man] This is unacceptable.
725
00:30:47,724 --> 00:30:50,351
I had an 8:00 reservation
I made two weeks ago.
726
00:30:50,476 --> 00:30:52,937
Sir, as I explained, people
are not leaving their tables.
727
00:30:52,937 --> 00:30:54,897
There are five parties
ahead of you.
728
00:30:54,897 --> 00:30:56,983
[Drea] I don't think I ever read
for the hostess part.
729
00:30:56,983 --> 00:30:58,401
That was a phone call,
730
00:30:58,526 --> 00:30:59,902
"Would you want to
play this part?"
731
00:31:00,027 --> 00:31:01,612
And I said, "Sure."
732
00:31:01,612 --> 00:31:04,949
But I couldn't say
my one fucking line.
733
00:31:04,949 --> 00:31:07,326
Mr. Borglund, they're setting up
your table right now.
734
00:31:07,326 --> 00:31:10,163
Because I was so nervous
to be around Lorraine
735
00:31:10,163 --> 00:31:11,456
after Goodfellas.
736
00:31:11,456 --> 00:31:13,499
"Karen!" So I was with Karen!
737
00:31:13,499 --> 00:31:14,959
I was dying!
738
00:31:14,959 --> 00:31:18,713
Look, he started to touch me.
He started to grab me.
739
00:31:18,838 --> 00:31:21,466
I told him to stop.
He didn't stop.
740
00:31:21,466 --> 00:31:25,720
I hit him back, and then
he got really angry.
741
00:31:25,845 --> 00:31:26,679
[tires screeching]
742
00:31:26,679 --> 00:31:28,890
[light mandolin music playing]
743
00:31:29,015 --> 00:31:30,558
[David] Lorraine was
the only thing we had
744
00:31:30,683 --> 00:31:32,393
that resembled a star
745
00:31:32,393 --> 00:31:34,353
because of Goodfellas
and a couple other movies.
746
00:31:34,353 --> 00:31:36,814
But at first,
the casting people
747
00:31:36,814 --> 00:31:38,733
brought her in for Carmela.
748
00:31:39,692 --> 00:31:43,362
[Lorraine] Carmela was
definitely something that HBO
749
00:31:43,362 --> 00:31:44,906
and him had discussed,
750
00:31:46,074 --> 00:31:49,410
but I went in
wanting Dr. Melfi.
751
00:31:49,535 --> 00:31:53,164
And, uh, David was
a little taken back.
752
00:31:53,706 --> 00:31:55,625
"Why do you want to play Melfi?"
753
00:31:55,625 --> 00:31:58,002
I said, "Well, because
I'm a different woman
754
00:31:58,002 --> 00:31:59,962
than I was years ago
755
00:31:59,962 --> 00:32:02,840
when I was Karen Hill
in Goodfellas.
756
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,385
I don't really want to play
that part again.
757
00:32:05,385 --> 00:32:08,346
Dr. Melfi intrigues me.
I've been in therapy."
758
00:32:09,222 --> 00:32:11,516
- [Alex] You had been in therapy?
- Absolutely.
759
00:32:11,516 --> 00:32:14,894
And so David and I talked
a lot about therapy,
760
00:32:14,894 --> 00:32:16,854
and I think that
we've never seen
761
00:32:16,854 --> 00:32:19,399
an Italian educated woman.
762
00:32:19,399 --> 00:32:21,192
That pleases me.
763
00:32:21,192 --> 00:32:24,779
Um, and I don't think Tony
would talk to anybody
764
00:32:24,904 --> 00:32:26,280
that's not Italian.
765
00:32:27,323 --> 00:32:28,825
So with that,
766
00:32:29,784 --> 00:32:31,369
Dr. Melfi.
767
00:32:32,954 --> 00:32:35,915
I said, "Okay, but you're
going to have to sit still
768
00:32:35,915 --> 00:32:37,458
with your hands in your lap.
769
00:32:38,835 --> 00:32:40,169
Keep your voice down." [laughs]
770
00:32:40,294 --> 00:32:41,462
[sighs]
771
00:32:43,798 --> 00:32:45,174
- Okay, David?
- [David] Yeah.
772
00:32:45,174 --> 00:32:46,926
Okay. I got it.
773
00:32:46,926 --> 00:32:48,052
[David] Great. Good.
774
00:32:48,761 --> 00:32:51,639
[Lorraine] You know, I would
always have to work on
775
00:32:51,764 --> 00:32:54,559
tamping down all my lightness.
776
00:32:55,101 --> 00:32:57,937
And I would try to bury Lorraine
777
00:32:57,937 --> 00:32:59,731
so that Melfi would come out
778
00:32:59,731 --> 00:33:03,192
in-in a very different way
than who I am.
779
00:33:03,192 --> 00:33:04,652
It was very far from me.
780
00:33:05,153 --> 00:33:08,948
I'm not Melfi at all anywhere.
[laughs]
781
00:33:08,948 --> 00:33:12,493
Anxiety attacks are legitimate
psychiatric emergencies.
782
00:33:12,618 --> 00:33:15,830
- Suppose you were driving a car.
- Let me tell you something.
783
00:33:16,622 --> 00:33:20,376
Today everybody goes
to shrinks and counselors.
784
00:33:20,376 --> 00:33:22,628
They're getting on
Sally Jessy Raphael,
785
00:33:22,628 --> 00:33:24,047
talking about their problems.
786
00:33:24,047 --> 00:33:26,883
What happened to Gary Cooper?
787
00:33:27,008 --> 00:33:28,760
The strong, silent type?
788
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,011
He was an American.
789
00:33:30,136 --> 00:33:32,263
This guy wasn't in touch
with his feelings.
790
00:33:32,263 --> 00:33:33,848
He just did what he had to do.
791
00:33:33,973 --> 00:33:35,892
[David] We were casting Tony.
792
00:33:35,892 --> 00:33:38,311
We started in Los Angeles,
and then moved to New York.
793
00:33:38,311 --> 00:33:41,230
We read a whole lot of people,
and it just wasn't happening.
794
00:33:41,230 --> 00:33:42,940
Vaffanculo, huh?
795
00:33:42,940 --> 00:33:45,818
But then I had asked
Steven Van Zandt
796
00:33:45,818 --> 00:33:47,612
to read for Tony.
797
00:33:47,612 --> 00:33:50,698
There he was,
a rock and roll star.
798
00:33:51,365 --> 00:33:53,493
This carried
a lot of shit with me.
799
00:33:53,493 --> 00:33:55,536
♪ Keep pushin'
'til it's understood ♪
800
00:33:55,661 --> 00:33:58,372
♪ And these badlands
start treating us good ♪
801
00:33:59,415 --> 00:34:02,543
♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪
802
00:34:02,668 --> 00:34:04,337
[David] I used to play those
Springsteen albums
803
00:34:04,337 --> 00:34:07,131
and look at this
little Italian guy and say,
804
00:34:07,131 --> 00:34:10,093
"Who is that?
Kind of looks like Pacino."
805
00:34:10,218 --> 00:34:12,220
["Badlands" by
Bruce Springsteen plays]
806
00:34:13,346 --> 00:34:15,014
[Steven]
For the record, tonight,
807
00:34:15,014 --> 00:34:18,101
I want to say that there was
absolutely nothing
808
00:34:18,851 --> 00:34:21,604
unusual about the way
The Rascals dressed.
809
00:34:21,604 --> 00:34:24,565
[David] But what happened was,
right before casting,
810
00:34:24,690 --> 00:34:27,693
my wife and I were watching
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
811
00:34:27,693 --> 00:34:31,447
and there's Steven Van Zandt
inducting The Rascals.
812
00:34:31,447 --> 00:34:33,199
Nothing strange about that.
813
00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:35,243
[David] Dressed in
a Rascals costume.
814
00:34:36,119 --> 00:34:37,703
The first time I saw The Rascals
815
00:34:37,703 --> 00:34:41,457
was the Keyport Roller Drome
in Keyport, New Jersey.
816
00:34:41,457 --> 00:34:43,209
- [scattered cheering]
- That's right.
817
00:34:43,209 --> 00:34:44,794
No, it was no Fillmores.
818
00:34:44,919 --> 00:34:47,338
There was no arenas
in those days.
819
00:34:47,338 --> 00:34:50,258
Rock and roll played skating
rinks where it belonged.
820
00:34:51,092 --> 00:34:53,511
[David] I said to her, "This
guy's gotta be in the show."
821
00:34:53,511 --> 00:34:54,929
And the way rock is selling,
822
00:34:55,054 --> 00:34:57,098
we may be back in
skating rinks next year,
823
00:34:57,223 --> 00:34:58,599
I don't know, but...
824
00:34:59,267 --> 00:35:01,602
I get a lot of scripts
for music, not for acting.
825
00:35:01,728 --> 00:35:03,354
I wasn't an actor.
826
00:35:03,354 --> 00:35:05,857
And, um, David Chase calls,
you know.
827
00:35:05,857 --> 00:35:07,525
I get him-- I get on the phone.
828
00:35:08,151 --> 00:35:09,819
[Alex] What was that first
conversation like?
829
00:35:09,944 --> 00:35:11,779
Well, it was a little weird
because he says,
830
00:35:11,904 --> 00:35:13,531
"You know, what do you think?"
831
00:35:13,531 --> 00:35:15,491
I said, "Well, I think
it's a great script.
832
00:35:15,491 --> 00:35:17,160
What kind of music
are you thinking of?"
833
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,245
He says, "No, we want
you to be in it."
834
00:35:19,245 --> 00:35:21,998
I said, "Uh, I'm not an actor."
835
00:35:21,998 --> 00:35:24,584
I mean, I thought-- Isn't that
kind of a prerequisite
836
00:35:24,584 --> 00:35:27,128
for this whole TV thing?
You know?
837
00:35:27,253 --> 00:35:28,379
[chuckles]
838
00:35:29,005 --> 00:35:30,965
And he says,
"Yes, you are an actor.
839
00:35:31,090 --> 00:35:33,426
You just don't know it yet."
You know?
840
00:35:33,426 --> 00:35:35,344
So I said, "All right, well,
841
00:35:35,803 --> 00:35:38,556
maybe destiny is speaking here."
842
00:35:38,556 --> 00:35:41,017
Ah, let me tell you somethin'.
843
00:35:41,017 --> 00:35:45,480
Everybody these days is going
to shrinks and, uh, counselors.
844
00:35:46,189 --> 00:35:47,690
They're all on
Sally Jessy Raphael
845
00:35:47,815 --> 00:35:49,358
telling everybody
their problems.
846
00:35:50,026 --> 00:35:51,736
Whatever happened
to Gary Cooper?
847
00:35:52,653 --> 00:35:54,655
You know, the strong,
silent type.
848
00:35:55,281 --> 00:35:56,824
That was an American.
849
00:35:56,949 --> 00:35:58,451
He wasn't in touch
with his feelings.
850
00:35:58,451 --> 00:36:00,161
He did what he had to do.
851
00:36:01,662 --> 00:36:03,289
And those people knew
852
00:36:03,289 --> 00:36:05,792
once they got Gary Cooper
in touch with his feelings,
853
00:36:05,792 --> 00:36:08,044
they'd never be able
to shut him up.
854
00:36:08,169 --> 00:36:10,213
Dysfunction this,
dysfunction that,
855
00:36:10,213 --> 00:36:12,548
dysfunction vaffanculo.
856
00:36:12,548 --> 00:36:14,592
[David] His reading was good.
857
00:36:14,592 --> 00:36:16,969
I'd never seen anything
like that, really.
858
00:36:16,969 --> 00:36:19,806
And I thought, "Well, yeah,
that could be Tony Soprano."
859
00:36:20,473 --> 00:36:22,600
[Steven] But in the end,
I guess HBO tells David,
860
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,143
"Look, he's okay.
861
00:36:24,143 --> 00:36:25,478
But we're not gonna depend
862
00:36:25,478 --> 00:36:27,438
on some guy
who never acted before."
863
00:36:28,147 --> 00:36:31,150
He says, "All right, well,
in that case,
864
00:36:31,150 --> 00:36:34,153
I'll write you in a part
that doesn't exist."
865
00:36:34,153 --> 00:36:36,239
- [Steven chuckling]
- [blues rock playing]
866
00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:39,200
I'm like, wow, this guy's...
this guy's crazy.
867
00:36:39,325 --> 00:36:42,328
- This guy's really... [laughs]
- [David] And action.
868
00:36:42,328 --> 00:36:46,040
Sandrine, this table drinks
on the house all night.
869
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:50,920
[Steven] But he didn't write in
an underboss specifically,
870
00:36:51,045 --> 00:36:52,338
or a consigliere.
871
00:36:52,338 --> 00:36:54,006
I was just more or less
a club owner
872
00:36:54,006 --> 00:36:55,466
at that first moment.
873
00:36:56,008 --> 00:36:57,719
[David] Let's do that
one more time.
874
00:36:58,428 --> 00:37:01,222
It was very difficult
to find a guy for Tony.
875
00:37:01,347 --> 00:37:03,641
You know, let me tell you
something.
876
00:37:03,641 --> 00:37:06,602
Today everybody
goes to shrinks and counselors.
877
00:37:06,602 --> 00:37:10,231
They go on Sally Jessy Raphael
and talk about their problems.
878
00:37:11,065 --> 00:37:13,568
Whatever happened
to Gary Cooper? Huh?
879
00:37:13,693 --> 00:37:16,404
The strong, silent type.
That was an American.
880
00:37:16,529 --> 00:37:17,697
He wasn't in touch
with his feelings.
881
00:37:17,697 --> 00:37:19,574
He did what he had to do.
882
00:37:20,074 --> 00:37:21,367
What they didn't know
was once they got
883
00:37:21,367 --> 00:37:22,910
Gary Cooper
in touch with his feelings,
884
00:37:23,035 --> 00:37:24,120
they wouldn't be able
to shut him up.
885
00:37:24,245 --> 00:37:25,747
Dysfunction this,
dysfunction that,
886
00:37:25,872 --> 00:37:27,415
dysfunction vaffanculo.
887
00:37:27,540 --> 00:37:29,417
[David] Another guy who came
close was Michael Rispoli.
888
00:37:29,542 --> 00:37:30,543
That was excellent.
889
00:37:30,543 --> 00:37:33,713
But then, finally,
we found Jim.
890
00:37:34,380 --> 00:37:36,549
[James] I got a call.
David Chase wanted to meet
891
00:37:36,549 --> 00:37:39,385
at 8:30 in the morning.
I was like, oh.
892
00:37:39,385 --> 00:37:41,721
Just his choice of having
a breakfast instead of...
893
00:37:41,721 --> 00:37:43,556
put me off right away.
I don't know why.
894
00:37:43,556 --> 00:37:44,932
But we had a good time.
895
00:37:45,058 --> 00:37:46,893
We laughed about our families
and our mothers.
896
00:37:46,893 --> 00:37:48,478
So, then I auditioned.
897
00:37:49,270 --> 00:37:51,189
And the first audition,
I stopped halfway through
898
00:37:51,189 --> 00:37:52,899
and I said, um,
899
00:37:52,899 --> 00:37:55,693
"This sucks.
I'm not doing it right.
900
00:37:55,693 --> 00:37:57,570
If you want me to come back,
I'll come back
901
00:37:57,570 --> 00:37:59,072
and do it differently."
902
00:37:59,072 --> 00:38:01,657
He left in the middle
of the first audition.
903
00:38:02,658 --> 00:38:03,743
Walked out.
904
00:38:03,743 --> 00:38:05,703
Doing his Van Morrison thing.
905
00:38:05,703 --> 00:38:08,539
"This is shit. I'm not doing
this right," and left.
906
00:38:09,123 --> 00:38:11,375
But we thought he was great.
907
00:38:11,375 --> 00:38:15,046
So our casting directors
got him to come to my house,
908
00:38:15,046 --> 00:38:17,882
and he read the scene
and it was like, you know...
909
00:38:18,633 --> 00:38:19,425
Bang.
910
00:38:19,425 --> 00:38:21,094
Let me tell you something.
911
00:38:21,094 --> 00:38:24,472
Nowadays, everybody's gotta
go to shrinks and counselors,
912
00:38:24,597 --> 00:38:27,475
and go on Sally Jessy Raphael
and talk about their problems.
913
00:38:28,184 --> 00:38:30,645
Whatever happened
to Gary Cooper?
914
00:38:31,145 --> 00:38:32,980
The strong, silent type.
915
00:38:33,606 --> 00:38:35,024
That was an American.
916
00:38:35,149 --> 00:38:37,026
He didn't worry about
his feelings,
917
00:38:37,151 --> 00:38:38,694
he just did what he had to do.
918
00:38:39,946 --> 00:38:41,239
What they didn't know
if they got Gary Cooper
919
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:42,532
to talk about his feelings,
920
00:38:42,532 --> 00:38:43,866
they wouldn't be able
to shut him up.
921
00:38:43,866 --> 00:38:45,910
‘Cause dysfunction this,
dysfunction that,
922
00:38:45,910 --> 00:38:47,578
and dysfunction vaffanculo.
923
00:38:50,206 --> 00:38:52,834
[David] It was just pretty
obvious when Jim did it,
924
00:38:53,501 --> 00:38:54,919
he was Tony.
925
00:38:56,045 --> 00:38:58,047
[romantic chamber music plays]
926
00:38:58,172 --> 00:38:59,507
You know, sometimes...
927
00:39:01,300 --> 00:39:02,427
life is good.
928
00:39:02,427 --> 00:39:04,011
Life is often good.
929
00:39:06,013 --> 00:39:08,182
Regaleali, for example.
930
00:39:09,475 --> 00:39:11,477
[David] We had cast everybody,
931
00:39:11,477 --> 00:39:13,354
but we didn't have
a Carmela yet.
932
00:39:13,354 --> 00:39:14,522
[Tony] Carmela...
933
00:39:16,065 --> 00:39:17,400
Something I gotta confess.
934
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,402
[David] Edie,
we did the audition
935
00:39:19,402 --> 00:39:20,695
right before shooting.
936
00:39:21,654 --> 00:39:22,447
What are you doing?
937
00:39:22,447 --> 00:39:23,990
Getting my wine in position
938
00:39:23,990 --> 00:39:25,408
to throw in your damn face.
939
00:39:25,408 --> 00:39:26,909
You're always
with the drama, you.
940
00:39:27,034 --> 00:39:29,537
Go ahead and confess already.
Get it over with.
941
00:39:29,662 --> 00:39:31,706
[David] She did the scene
from the pilot
942
00:39:31,831 --> 00:39:34,041
where he tells her
that he's taking Prozac.
943
00:39:34,709 --> 00:39:36,085
I'm on Prozac.
944
00:39:37,670 --> 00:39:38,880
Oh, my-- Oh, my God.
945
00:39:39,756 --> 00:39:41,174
I've been seeing a therapist.
946
00:39:41,174 --> 00:39:42,592
[Carmela gasps] Oh, my God.
947
00:39:42,717 --> 00:39:44,719
I think that's great!
948
00:39:44,844 --> 00:39:47,722
I think that's so wonderful!
I think that's so gutsy.
949
00:39:47,847 --> 00:39:50,767
- It was like, wow, this is it.
- I think that's very wonderful.
950
00:39:50,767 --> 00:39:53,561
What, did you think I was
Hannibal Lecture before?
951
00:39:53,686 --> 00:39:55,730
I think it's great. Psychology
doesn't address the soul.
952
00:39:55,855 --> 00:39:57,398
That's something else.
But this is a start.
953
00:39:57,523 --> 00:39:59,567
This is something.
I'm gonna shut up now.
954
00:40:00,359 --> 00:40:01,652
I'll shut up now.
955
00:40:01,652 --> 00:40:03,488
I definitely knew
who this woman was.
956
00:40:03,488 --> 00:40:06,491
And I was sure I would never
get cast because, uh,
957
00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,827
my experience up to that point
had been that,
958
00:40:09,827 --> 00:40:13,206
you know, if you're being cast
as an Italian American,
959
00:40:13,206 --> 00:40:14,791
you've got to look
a certain way.
960
00:40:14,791 --> 00:40:17,168
And I felt like there were
other women
961
00:40:17,168 --> 00:40:18,711
that looked more that way
962
00:40:18,711 --> 00:40:21,547
and were cast
more often that way.
963
00:40:21,547 --> 00:40:24,092
But I went and auditioned,
and the next day
964
00:40:24,217 --> 00:40:26,344
they called and said,
"You got the part."
965
00:40:26,344 --> 00:40:29,347
And I thought, "It's just one of
these fly-by-night productions."
966
00:40:29,347 --> 00:40:31,682
You know? [laughs]
Cast it, shoot it.
967
00:40:31,682 --> 00:40:34,102
["Rocking on the Railroad"
by Chuck Berry playing]
968
00:40:34,227 --> 00:40:35,603
[crew speaks indistinctly]
969
00:40:35,728 --> 00:40:36,813
[crew] 1 Mark.
970
00:40:37,772 --> 00:40:38,940
[crew 2] Mark.
971
00:40:40,566 --> 00:40:42,402
Somebody gonna say action
or what?
972
00:40:42,402 --> 00:40:43,611
[David] And action.
973
00:40:45,113 --> 00:40:47,657
You know, Grandma,
this place is pretty neat.
974
00:40:47,782 --> 00:40:49,492
What goes on behind there?
975
00:40:50,284 --> 00:40:51,202
[David] Very good!
976
00:40:53,121 --> 00:40:55,039
Did you call that guy
at Tribeca Towers?
977
00:40:58,251 --> 00:40:59,127
[David] Action.
978
00:40:59,252 --> 00:41:00,378
Girls, you gotta have more
979
00:41:00,378 --> 00:41:02,463
than cranberry juice
for breakfast.
980
00:41:02,588 --> 00:41:03,548
[David] Cut. Good.
981
00:41:03,548 --> 00:41:04,966
[beeping]
982
00:41:06,467 --> 00:41:08,052
What the hell's the name
of the place?
983
00:41:09,178 --> 00:41:10,221
Jesus.
984
00:41:10,972 --> 00:41:12,014
[David] Action!
985
00:41:13,307 --> 00:41:14,100
Look...
986
00:41:14,100 --> 00:41:15,810
[ice cream truck melody playing]
987
00:41:15,935 --> 00:41:17,645
- [laughter]
- Anybody for ice cream?
988
00:41:20,940 --> 00:41:22,567
D'you call that guy
down at Triboro Towers
989
00:41:22,567 --> 00:41:23,860
about the hauling contract?
990
00:41:23,860 --> 00:41:25,486
[David] Cut. Let's go
again right away.
991
00:41:25,486 --> 00:41:26,654
[Alex] Right out of the gate,
992
00:41:26,779 --> 00:41:28,573
did he say he wanted
to direct it?
993
00:41:28,573 --> 00:41:30,283
[Chris] Yes. That was
the next big decision.
994
00:41:30,283 --> 00:41:33,745
We didn't know a lot about
what we were doing,
995
00:41:33,745 --> 00:41:37,165
so we didn't want to give
anybody that much control.
996
00:41:37,290 --> 00:41:40,209
He was going to be the
showrunner-writer-producer,
997
00:41:40,209 --> 00:41:41,669
but if he was gonna direct it,
998
00:41:41,794 --> 00:41:44,589
then it was really
going to be his vision.
999
00:41:44,589 --> 00:41:48,551
But it was clear when David
was talking about it
1000
00:41:48,551 --> 00:41:51,971
that it lived so much
in his heart and soul
1001
00:41:51,971 --> 00:41:53,389
and in his head
1002
00:41:53,514 --> 00:41:56,059
that we were like, "We gotta."
1003
00:41:57,185 --> 00:41:58,186
Let's let him direct it.
1004
00:41:58,311 --> 00:41:59,437
[David] Action.
1005
00:41:59,437 --> 00:42:02,148
Every year on this date
1006
00:42:02,148 --> 00:42:03,983
since you were itty-bitty,
1007
00:42:03,983 --> 00:42:05,985
Mom and Meadow get
all dolled up,
1008
00:42:05,985 --> 00:42:09,030
drive into New York Plaza Hotel
for tea...
1009
00:42:09,030 --> 00:42:12,283
[Edie] The scene where Carmela
goes to get her daughter
1010
00:42:12,283 --> 00:42:13,451
to bring her to the Plaza...
1011
00:42:13,451 --> 00:42:15,078
I have too much homework.
1012
00:42:15,078 --> 00:42:17,455
Meadow,
it's our little tradition.
1013
00:42:17,455 --> 00:42:19,082
We always have so much fun.
1014
00:42:19,207 --> 00:42:20,333
To tell you the truth,
1015
00:42:20,333 --> 00:42:22,794
I've felt it was dumb
since I was eight.
1016
00:42:22,794 --> 00:42:25,171
I just go because you like it.
1017
00:42:25,171 --> 00:42:26,672
I remember something about
1018
00:42:26,672 --> 00:42:28,716
David's directing
of that scene...
1019
00:42:28,841 --> 00:42:30,968
- [David] Cut. Good.
- ...that made me realize
1020
00:42:30,968 --> 00:42:32,428
this is personal to him.
1021
00:42:32,428 --> 00:42:33,721
He's speaking about something
1022
00:42:33,846 --> 00:42:35,014
that may have
really happened...
1023
00:42:35,014 --> 00:42:35,973
Action.
1024
00:42:35,973 --> 00:42:37,350
...or something he was really
1025
00:42:37,350 --> 00:42:38,726
going through with his wife
1026
00:42:38,851 --> 00:42:40,061
and daughter at that time.
1027
00:42:41,187 --> 00:42:44,023
But I remember thinking,
"Oh, this isn't just a director.
1028
00:42:44,023 --> 00:42:45,650
This is, like--
This is personal."
1029
00:42:45,650 --> 00:42:47,902
You have something
you want to say to me?
1030
00:42:49,070 --> 00:42:51,322
Mom, do you have any idea
how much it means
1031
00:42:51,322 --> 00:42:53,366
to actually go skiing in Aspen?
1032
00:42:53,366 --> 00:42:55,993
I mean, do you think that's
gonna happen every year?
1033
00:42:55,993 --> 00:42:59,789
Like lame tea and scones
at the Plaza Hotel?
1034
00:43:01,082 --> 00:43:02,959
[clicks tongue] Goodbye.
1035
00:43:03,084 --> 00:43:04,794
Close my door, please.
1036
00:43:05,461 --> 00:43:07,046
[David] And cut.
1037
00:43:07,046 --> 00:43:09,006
- [crew member] Cut.
- [David] Good.
1038
00:43:09,006 --> 00:43:11,467
[Alex] Were you nervous about
shooting the pilot?
1039
00:43:11,467 --> 00:43:12,927
Thinking, like,
this is my opportunity
1040
00:43:13,052 --> 00:43:14,721
now to be a director?
1041
00:43:14,721 --> 00:43:17,765
[David] Uh... yeah.
Sure, I was nervous, yeah.
1042
00:43:18,975 --> 00:43:21,436
I mean, I had directed
some before that,
1043
00:43:21,561 --> 00:43:23,396
but, yeah, I was very nervous.
1044
00:43:23,396 --> 00:43:27,024
I depended on
Alik Sakharov a lot, DP.
1045
00:43:27,859 --> 00:43:29,652
[Alik] I remember it was
the first or second week
1046
00:43:29,777 --> 00:43:31,612
of prep on the pilot.
1047
00:43:31,738 --> 00:43:34,198
David would walk into
the office, put his feet up,
1048
00:43:34,198 --> 00:43:35,616
look out the window,
1049
00:43:35,742 --> 00:43:37,118
and just like gray mood.
1050
00:43:37,785 --> 00:43:39,454
You were like,
"Dave, what's up?"
1051
00:43:40,246 --> 00:43:42,707
"I don't know who's gonna
fucking watch this shit."
1052
00:43:42,707 --> 00:43:44,459
[laughing]
1053
00:43:45,585 --> 00:43:48,671
It's a good script, bro.
You know? It's a good script.
1054
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,300
I distinctly remember, he said
1055
00:43:52,425 --> 00:43:54,510
we don't want to do
another television project.
1056
00:43:54,510 --> 00:43:56,345
You know, let's just break
all the rules.
1057
00:43:57,263 --> 00:43:59,057
[David] I didn't want
TV coverage.
1058
00:43:59,057 --> 00:44:02,310
Coverage is the most boring
fucking thing in the world.
1059
00:44:02,435 --> 00:44:04,812
Typically, it would be a master,
1060
00:44:04,937 --> 00:44:06,856
two overs, and two close-ups.
1061
00:44:06,856 --> 00:44:10,026
So basically you fracture
the scene into smithereens.
1062
00:44:10,151 --> 00:44:11,861
It wasn't cinematic at all.
1063
00:44:12,445 --> 00:44:13,905
[Alik] We talked about
Bertolucci.
1064
00:44:13,905 --> 00:44:15,823
We talked about Coppola
up the wazoo.
1065
00:44:15,948 --> 00:44:18,451
You know, Godfather. We talked
about Martin Scorsese.
1066
00:44:18,451 --> 00:44:19,911
We talked about Polanski.
1067
00:44:19,911 --> 00:44:22,246
[moody horn music playing]
1068
00:44:24,665 --> 00:44:26,626
With Chinatown,
the language of it
1069
00:44:26,626 --> 00:44:30,671
was very close to how we wanted
to present Sopranos.
1070
00:44:31,214 --> 00:44:33,257
[David] The scene where
Jake Gittes
1071
00:44:33,257 --> 00:44:35,635
drives his car through
the orange orchard...
1072
00:44:35,635 --> 00:44:37,011
[gunshot]
1073
00:44:39,472 --> 00:44:40,807
[man] Hold it right there!
1074
00:44:40,807 --> 00:44:42,892
[David] That was the model
for a scene
1075
00:44:43,017 --> 00:44:44,394
where Tony and Chris
1076
00:44:44,394 --> 00:44:46,646
chase this guy in front of
this office building.
1077
00:44:46,646 --> 00:44:49,690
["I Wonder Why" by Dion
and the Belmonts playing]
1078
00:44:49,816 --> 00:44:52,443
♪ I wonder why
I love you like I do ♪
1079
00:44:52,443 --> 00:44:54,112
- [tires screech]
- Asshole!
1080
00:44:54,112 --> 00:44:55,530
[tires screeching]
1081
00:44:58,533 --> 00:45:00,118
- [Christopher] Tony!
- [geese squawking]
1082
00:45:00,118 --> 00:45:01,285
Wait up!
1083
00:45:06,374 --> 00:45:07,917
[David] Then I said, "Okay,
1084
00:45:08,042 --> 00:45:09,711
I want to take
the camera inside."
1085
00:45:09,836 --> 00:45:12,672
Two guys are working in there
when this goes by them,
1086
00:45:12,672 --> 00:45:13,840
and they jump.
1087
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:15,133
[tires screeching]
1088
00:45:15,133 --> 00:45:16,968
People were like, "Ugh.
1089
00:45:16,968 --> 00:45:19,554
What's that got to do with it?"
But it really worked well.
1090
00:45:19,679 --> 00:45:22,849
[Alik] And then it basically
breaks into handheld mode
1091
00:45:22,849 --> 00:45:25,727
when Tony is out of the car
and he just pummels this guy.
1092
00:45:25,852 --> 00:45:28,062
- You all right?
- My leg is broken!
1093
00:45:28,062 --> 00:45:30,606
So in it, there's
a lot of Chinatown.
1094
00:45:30,606 --> 00:45:32,442
I'll give you a fucking bone,
you prick!
1095
00:45:32,442 --> 00:45:34,110
Where's my fucking money?
1096
00:45:34,861 --> 00:45:36,404
- [David] Cut.
- [James] That was my fault.
1097
00:45:36,529 --> 00:45:38,698
- I didn't wait long enough.
- [David] Let's do one more.
1098
00:45:38,698 --> 00:45:39,991
[James] When you're doing TV,
1099
00:45:39,991 --> 00:45:42,076
it's one scene
right after another one.
1100
00:45:42,201 --> 00:45:44,954
So you have to learn
to prepare very quickly.
1101
00:45:44,954 --> 00:45:47,623
- In one scene, you'll be...
- Hey, old man. Happy birthday.
1102
00:45:47,749 --> 00:45:49,041
...talking to your son,
1103
00:45:49,041 --> 00:45:51,461
the next scene you'll be
beating somebody up,
1104
00:45:51,461 --> 00:45:54,130
and the next scene you'll be
making love to your wife.
1105
00:45:54,255 --> 00:45:56,174
And so it's this constant
change of emotions
1106
00:45:56,174 --> 00:45:57,550
all through the day,
1107
00:45:57,550 --> 00:45:59,302
and you have to be able
to shift very quickly.
1108
00:45:59,302 --> 00:46:01,721
What are you talking about?
We discussed this.
1109
00:46:01,721 --> 00:46:03,139
[Melfi] Mr. Soprano?
1110
00:46:05,266 --> 00:46:06,684
[David] Lorraine and Jim.
1111
00:46:06,684 --> 00:46:11,022
We rehearsed for three days
right before we shot.
1112
00:46:11,731 --> 00:46:13,941
But look,
this shit I'm telling you?
1113
00:46:14,567 --> 00:46:15,777
It will all blow over.
1114
00:46:16,444 --> 00:46:18,279
- [David] Just stop for a second.
- [sighs]
1115
00:46:18,404 --> 00:46:20,364
[David] For him, it was like,
what's your attitude
1116
00:46:20,364 --> 00:46:22,200
in a psychiatrist's office?
1117
00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:24,077
There was a lot of things
he wasn't used to.
1118
00:46:24,077 --> 00:46:26,287
It's okay. It's not a big deal.
It's just me.
1119
00:46:26,412 --> 00:46:27,622
[crew member] Should we cut?
1120
00:46:27,747 --> 00:46:29,373
And I'm not-- It's my fault.
1121
00:46:29,373 --> 00:46:30,792
My concentration.
1122
00:46:31,334 --> 00:46:33,378
I shouldn't say that. Hi.
1123
00:46:33,378 --> 00:46:35,380
[James Lipton] Have you ever had
any personal experience
1124
00:46:35,380 --> 00:46:36,756
with psychoanalysis?
1125
00:46:36,756 --> 00:46:37,924
Yeah.
1126
00:46:37,924 --> 00:46:39,217
[audience laughs]
1127
00:46:39,217 --> 00:46:41,135
In other words,
you're not just making it up.
1128
00:46:41,260 --> 00:46:42,804
You know what it feels like.
1129
00:46:42,929 --> 00:46:44,055
I've been in some of
those rooms,
1130
00:46:44,055 --> 00:46:45,515
not for long periods, but...
1131
00:46:45,515 --> 00:46:47,475
But you know what it feels like
to be in one.
1132
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:49,519
Yes, but, you know, um...
1133
00:46:50,978 --> 00:46:52,939
I don't think when I started
the series I did.
1134
00:46:52,939 --> 00:46:55,191
I think that led me
right into it.
1135
00:46:55,316 --> 00:46:56,692
[laughter]
1136
00:46:56,692 --> 00:46:58,903
- [Lipton] Pushed you into it?
- Oh, definitely, yeah.
1137
00:46:58,903 --> 00:47:00,947
Was it research or was it real?
1138
00:47:01,614 --> 00:47:03,950
- No, it was-- It was real.
- It was real.
1139
00:47:03,950 --> 00:47:05,493
It was a cry for help!
1140
00:47:05,618 --> 00:47:06,869
- No, it was...
- [laughter]
1141
00:47:08,037 --> 00:47:09,539
[laughing]
1142
00:47:09,664 --> 00:47:11,666
Ah, yeah. Uh-huh, sure.
1143
00:47:13,543 --> 00:47:14,502
[chuckles]
1144
00:47:15,503 --> 00:47:16,754
Yeah, hose him down.
1145
00:47:17,672 --> 00:47:18,715
[squeals]
1146
00:47:19,632 --> 00:47:20,800
[Lorraine] Would you like
a Kleenex?
1147
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:22,677
Nah, fuck that. [chuckles]
1148
00:47:23,636 --> 00:47:25,346
You're getting me
hot and sweaty, doc.
1149
00:47:25,471 --> 00:47:27,014
[Lorraine] Jim had never
been in therapy.
1150
00:47:27,140 --> 00:47:28,099
[David] Action.
1151
00:47:28,099 --> 00:47:31,060
So that was fun
to kind of lead him,
1152
00:47:31,185 --> 00:47:32,562
push him,
1153
00:47:32,687 --> 00:47:35,189
uh, manipulate him, in a way.
1154
00:47:35,898 --> 00:47:37,358
[Alex] There are very
intimate moments.
1155
00:47:37,483 --> 00:47:39,444
Yes, which is why I loved it.
1156
00:47:39,444 --> 00:47:41,654
Which is why I wanted Melfi.
1157
00:47:41,654 --> 00:47:46,242
I thought he was more intimate
with me than with anybody.
1158
00:47:47,201 --> 00:47:48,453
And I loved that.
1159
00:47:49,704 --> 00:47:50,705
[crew member] Mark.
1160
00:47:52,081 --> 00:47:54,083
You have strong feelings
about this.
1161
00:47:54,208 --> 00:47:55,501
Let me tell you something.
1162
00:47:55,501 --> 00:47:57,420
I have a semester and a half
of college,
1163
00:47:57,545 --> 00:47:59,255
so I understand Freud.
1164
00:47:59,255 --> 00:48:01,632
I understand therapy
as a concept,
1165
00:48:01,632 --> 00:48:03,384
but in my world,
it does not go down.
1166
00:48:04,594 --> 00:48:06,304
Could I be happier? Yeah.
1167
00:48:06,304 --> 00:48:07,722
Yeah. Who couldn't?
1168
00:48:08,723 --> 00:48:09,599
[David] Cut.
1169
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:11,601
Action!
1170
00:48:11,726 --> 00:48:13,019
[meat sizzling]
1171
00:48:14,187 --> 00:48:17,023
[David] Jim had his own way
of becoming Tony Soprano.
1172
00:48:17,523 --> 00:48:19,442
He understood the character.
1173
00:48:20,693 --> 00:48:23,112
There was a scene where Chris
was off sulking,
1174
00:48:23,112 --> 00:48:24,822
so Tony goes up to him
and says...
1175
00:48:24,822 --> 00:48:26,657
Enough of this shit,
what's wrong with you?
1176
00:48:26,657 --> 00:48:28,618
In the script,
what I had written in
1177
00:48:28,618 --> 00:48:30,495
or had imagined was,
is Tony going, "Hey!"
1178
00:48:30,495 --> 00:48:32,955
[makes slapping noise]
That was what I was picturing.
1179
00:48:34,082 --> 00:48:36,209
- I'll fucking kill you.
- But Gandolfini
1180
00:48:36,209 --> 00:48:38,086
yanked him out of his chair.
1181
00:48:38,211 --> 00:48:39,545
That came out of nowhere.
1182
00:48:39,545 --> 00:48:41,839
- That wasn't in the script.
- Cut. Fucking great.
1183
00:48:42,548 --> 00:48:45,343
But it was mostly,
I would give direction,
1184
00:48:45,343 --> 00:48:46,719
and he'd say, "Well, you do it."
1185
00:48:46,719 --> 00:48:48,054
Action.
1186
00:48:48,054 --> 00:48:49,847
I would do some
stupid fucking thing.
1187
00:48:49,847 --> 00:48:52,725
- [garbage clatters]
- And he later told my wife,
1188
00:48:52,725 --> 00:48:54,185
"You know that pilot?
1189
00:48:54,185 --> 00:48:56,104
I just copied the way
David behaves."
1190
00:48:56,229 --> 00:48:57,480
Cut.
1191
00:48:57,605 --> 00:48:59,941
In the beginning, I do
remember Jimmy would say,
1192
00:49:00,066 --> 00:49:02,360
"How does David know
so much about me?"
1193
00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:04,570
Maybe there were similarities
in the cultural upbringing.
1194
00:49:04,570 --> 00:49:06,364
You know, David grew up
in New Jersey,
1195
00:49:06,364 --> 00:49:07,907
Jimmy grew up in New Jersey.
1196
00:49:07,907 --> 00:49:10,910
Italian households, it's just
a lot of similarities.
1197
00:49:11,911 --> 00:49:14,455
[James] It just fit. Everything
seemed to fit, you know?
1198
00:49:15,081 --> 00:49:16,749
David grew up in New Jersey,
1199
00:49:16,749 --> 00:49:18,918
so he can take a lot of things
from real life,
1200
00:49:19,502 --> 00:49:21,379
which you would never think
would work,
1201
00:49:21,379 --> 00:49:22,880
but he makes them work.
1202
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:24,590
[ducks quacking]
1203
00:49:24,590 --> 00:49:27,343
[Steven chuckles]
It was not, like, slam dunk.
1204
00:49:27,468 --> 00:49:30,805
I mean, it was a very, um,
strange pilot.
1205
00:49:31,347 --> 00:49:33,725
Blatantly uncommercial,
frankly.
1206
00:49:33,725 --> 00:49:35,309
[Tony] Hey, hey, kids!
Come here!
1207
00:49:35,435 --> 00:49:37,395
- They're trying to fly!
- [groaning]
1208
00:49:37,395 --> 00:49:39,230
The babies,
they're trying to fly!
1209
00:49:39,230 --> 00:49:41,733
- [Steven] The basic premise...
- Look, they're trying to fly.
1210
00:49:41,733 --> 00:49:44,485
A bunch of ducks come
into a boss's pool.
1211
00:49:44,610 --> 00:49:46,404
The ducks leave.
He has a nervous breakdown.
1212
00:49:46,404 --> 00:49:48,156
[Melfi] Do you feel depressed?
1213
00:49:50,032 --> 00:49:51,409
Since the ducks left,
1214
00:49:53,327 --> 00:49:54,495
I guess.
1215
00:49:55,163 --> 00:49:58,416
The ducks that preceded
your losing consciousness.
1216
00:49:58,416 --> 00:50:00,168
Let's talk about them.
1217
00:50:07,550 --> 00:50:08,760
[chuckles]
1218
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:11,596
This is the premise
of a hit show?
1219
00:50:12,972 --> 00:50:16,684
Nobody really expected it
to even be picked up.
1220
00:50:16,684 --> 00:50:18,561
[Tony] Dr. Cusamano
put me in the hospital,
1221
00:50:19,312 --> 00:50:20,772
gave me every kind of test.
1222
00:50:21,314 --> 00:50:23,566
[David] They tested the pilot
in four places:
1223
00:50:23,566 --> 00:50:26,819
Connecticut, Dallas,
and two other I forget.
1224
00:50:26,819 --> 00:50:29,155
- [both] Three.
- And surprisingly enough,
1225
00:50:29,155 --> 00:50:30,782
it tested best in Connecticut.
1226
00:50:30,782 --> 00:50:31,949
This is fucked up.
1227
00:50:31,949 --> 00:50:34,118
Of course, it's loaded
with Italians...
1228
00:50:34,118 --> 00:50:36,037
[Alex] Right.
It's near New Jersey.
1229
00:50:36,162 --> 00:50:37,413
New Jersey, yeah. [laughs]
1230
00:50:37,538 --> 00:50:39,540
[Charmaine] You cannot accept
a gift like that
1231
00:50:39,665 --> 00:50:40,917
from Tony Soprano.
1232
00:50:41,042 --> 00:50:42,752
- No way.
- Listen to me, Charmaine.
1233
00:50:42,752 --> 00:50:45,088
[David] They said that
testing had shown
1234
00:50:45,088 --> 00:50:47,924
that Charmaine Bucco,
Artie's wife,
1235
00:50:48,049 --> 00:50:49,717
was the moral
center of the show.
1236
00:50:49,842 --> 00:50:51,386
And we should focus
more on her.
1237
00:50:51,511 --> 00:50:53,554
But the tickets were comps!
1238
00:50:53,679 --> 00:50:55,390
Tony is a labor leader.
1239
00:50:55,515 --> 00:50:57,475
Arthur, please, grow up.
1240
00:50:57,475 --> 00:51:00,395
Does the mind not rebel
in any possible scenario
1241
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:03,731
under which dentists are sending
the Don of New Jersey,
1242
00:51:03,856 --> 00:51:06,317
first class on a Norwegian
steamship?
1243
00:51:06,317 --> 00:51:08,569
Come on, Arthur, somebody
donated their kneecaps
1244
00:51:08,694 --> 00:51:09,779
for those tickets.
1245
00:51:09,904 --> 00:51:10,863
[chuckles]
1246
00:51:10,863 --> 00:51:12,448
And she was great.
Kathy was great.
1247
00:51:12,448 --> 00:51:15,076
But that's not what
the show was about.
1248
00:51:16,202 --> 00:51:19,789
And, um, it just took forever.
1249
00:51:19,789 --> 00:51:22,250
[Alex] It was ten months
before you guys greenlit it.
1250
00:51:22,375 --> 00:51:25,712
It was a long time.
'Cause this was a big jump.
1251
00:51:25,712 --> 00:51:28,297
Because that's the deal
you're making with a showrunner.
1252
00:51:28,297 --> 00:51:31,008
You're saying, "Okay, I'm gonna
give you millions of dollars,
1253
00:51:31,008 --> 00:51:32,719
and we're gonna take
a number of years,
1254
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:34,846
and we're gonna create
something,
1255
00:51:34,846 --> 00:51:35,930
and do I trust you?"
1256
00:51:36,723 --> 00:51:39,308
["Chi il bel sogno di Doretta"
opera aria plays]
1257
00:51:39,434 --> 00:51:42,061
[Tony humming]
1258
00:51:42,061 --> 00:51:44,355
[David] They finally said yes.
And I gotta tell you,
1259
00:51:44,355 --> 00:51:45,898
I just feel so grateful
for that.
1260
00:51:45,898 --> 00:51:49,026
You're not getting me
into a nursing home.
1261
00:51:49,736 --> 00:51:52,238
[David] I mean, I was at
the end of my career, really.
1262
00:51:52,238 --> 00:51:54,532
- [quacking]
- I mean, I was actually finally
1263
00:51:54,532 --> 00:51:56,784
gonna quit working
in television
1264
00:51:56,909 --> 00:51:59,620
and go to work
writing features on spec.
1265
00:52:00,455 --> 00:52:02,665
Then Sopranos came up.
1266
00:52:03,332 --> 00:52:06,294
It was like I had been in
the middle of a terrible ocean.
1267
00:52:06,294 --> 00:52:07,378
- [Tony] Ma.
- [Livia] No.
1268
00:52:07,378 --> 00:52:09,547
Anthony, people
come here to die!
1269
00:52:10,923 --> 00:52:13,676
[David] And I had landed
on a desert island,
1270
00:52:13,801 --> 00:52:15,720
a beautiful,
palm-covered island.
1271
00:52:18,639 --> 00:52:19,515
[vase shatters]
1272
00:52:20,516 --> 00:52:22,643
I thought, "Phew!
My life is saved."
1273
00:52:22,769 --> 00:52:24,562
Oh my God!
1274
00:52:24,562 --> 00:52:26,981
Somebody get-- get a doctor!
1275
00:52:27,106 --> 00:52:28,649
- [booming]
- [Meadow screams]
1276
00:52:28,775 --> 00:52:30,526
[Alex] So what happened
with you and The Sopranos,
1277
00:52:30,526 --> 00:52:33,196
it was like HBO said,
"Go for it, man."
1278
00:52:33,196 --> 00:52:35,448
They trust the instincts
of the creator.
1279
00:52:35,448 --> 00:52:37,825
[David] That was the amazing
thing that happened.
1280
00:52:37,950 --> 00:52:40,078
I guess I had the right concept,
1281
00:52:40,703 --> 00:52:42,497
and they decided to trust me.
1282
00:52:42,622 --> 00:52:44,165
[insects chirring]
1283
00:52:44,290 --> 00:52:46,626
[Tony] The morning of the day
I got sick, I'd been thinking.
1284
00:52:46,626 --> 00:52:48,836
[dramatic electronic music
playing]
1285
00:52:49,670 --> 00:52:52,340
It's good to be in something
from the ground floor.
1286
00:52:52,965 --> 00:52:55,093
I came too late for that.
I know.
1287
00:52:56,052 --> 00:52:58,096
But lately I'm getting
the feeling
1288
00:52:58,096 --> 00:52:59,680
that I came in at the end.
1289
00:53:00,306 --> 00:53:01,891
The best is over.
1290
00:53:01,891 --> 00:53:04,394
[Melfi] Many Americans,
I think, feel that way.
1291
00:53:04,519 --> 00:53:06,229
[keyboard clacking]
1292
00:53:06,229 --> 00:53:07,647
[Tony] I think about my father.
1293
00:53:08,189 --> 00:53:09,857
He never reached
the heights like me.
1294
00:53:10,691 --> 00:53:12,110
But in a lot of ways,
he had it better.
1295
00:53:12,110 --> 00:53:13,653
He had his people.
1296
00:53:14,404 --> 00:53:17,198
They had their standards.
They had pride.
1297
00:53:17,323 --> 00:53:18,533
Today, what do we got?
1298
00:53:19,826 --> 00:53:22,161
[David] When I wrote
the beginning of the pilot,
1299
00:53:22,161 --> 00:53:24,580
what I was talking about
was America.
1300
00:53:24,580 --> 00:53:28,960
I just had a sense that things
were really going downhill.
1301
00:53:30,503 --> 00:53:32,171
Everything's for sale here.
1302
00:53:32,171 --> 00:53:34,048
Everything is for sale.
1303
00:53:34,173 --> 00:53:36,134
And also... [chuckles]
1304
00:53:36,843 --> 00:53:39,470
...the comic part of it
for me was that
1305
00:53:40,346 --> 00:53:44,100
Americans had gotten
so materialistic and so selfish
1306
00:53:45,393 --> 00:53:46,894
that it made a mob boss sick.
1307
00:53:49,063 --> 00:53:50,440
I wanna know why
there's zero growth
1308
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:51,941
in this family's receipts.
1309
00:53:55,069 --> 00:53:56,154
Where's the fucking money?
1310
00:53:58,573 --> 00:53:59,949
You're supposed to be earners.
1311
00:54:00,575 --> 00:54:02,452
Each one of you,
go to your people on the street,
1312
00:54:02,452 --> 00:54:03,995
crack some fucking heads,
1313
00:54:03,995 --> 00:54:06,122
create some fucking
earners out there!
1314
00:54:06,247 --> 00:54:08,708
Sil, break it down for 'em.
1315
00:54:08,708 --> 00:54:10,043
What two businesses have
1316
00:54:10,043 --> 00:54:11,794
traditionally been
recession-proof
1317
00:54:11,919 --> 00:54:13,254
since time immemorial?
1318
00:54:14,297 --> 00:54:17,341
Certain aspects of show business
and our thing.
1319
00:54:17,341 --> 00:54:18,718
[Alex] You do a mob story,
1320
00:54:18,718 --> 00:54:20,386
of course, you're doing
a mob story.
1321
00:54:20,386 --> 00:54:24,140
But there's also the element
of corruption and business,
1322
00:54:24,140 --> 00:54:26,017
like anything to make a buck.
1323
00:54:26,017 --> 00:54:27,977
- Where's the rest of the money?
- It's everywhere.
1324
00:54:28,102 --> 00:54:30,897
The whole idea of both
that it's the American dream
1325
00:54:30,897 --> 00:54:33,232
and the American nightmare,
all at once.
1326
00:54:33,232 --> 00:54:35,526
[David] It was about
money and death.
1327
00:54:35,526 --> 00:54:37,528
- And they're related somehow.
- Right.
1328
00:54:37,528 --> 00:54:39,238
You better give me your jewelry.
1329
00:54:39,238 --> 00:54:42,033
It was capitalism
in the rawest sense.
1330
00:54:42,033 --> 00:54:43,409
They know we can't
produce receipts.
1331
00:54:43,409 --> 00:54:44,786
You want 'em stealing
this shit from us?
1332
00:54:44,911 --> 00:54:46,788
And it was on television,
1333
00:54:46,913 --> 00:54:51,167
which was the instrument
that capitalism used to sell.
1334
00:54:51,167 --> 00:54:52,794
[overlapping ad announcers]
A new Dodge... Camel...
1335
00:54:52,919 --> 00:54:54,295
Jell-O... Kodak...
1336
00:54:54,420 --> 00:54:56,881
[David] What I thought
from the very beginning was,
1337
00:54:56,881 --> 00:54:58,299
okay, here we are,
1338
00:54:58,424 --> 00:55:00,426
this is now 50 years
we're doing TV...
1339
00:55:00,426 --> 00:55:02,053
[overlapping ad announcements]
1340
00:55:02,053 --> 00:55:04,722
...and people are being
sold something
1341
00:55:05,431 --> 00:55:06,516
every 15 minutes,
1342
00:55:06,641 --> 00:55:08,393
would mean... a hard sell.
1343
00:55:08,393 --> 00:55:10,937
[overlapping ads continue]
1344
00:55:10,937 --> 00:55:14,315
[David] Bullshit, bullshit,
bullshit, bullshit.
1345
00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:16,359
[ads playing rapidly]
1346
00:55:16,359 --> 00:55:18,111
And we're so used to,
on that screen,
1347
00:55:18,111 --> 00:55:19,987
a face comes on
and says something.
1348
00:55:20,113 --> 00:55:21,614
It has an effect on us.
1349
00:55:22,323 --> 00:55:25,034
And it was all about
money, money, money.
1350
00:55:25,493 --> 00:55:27,036
Just so you understand
1351
00:55:27,161 --> 00:55:29,122
that I have to charge you
for the missed session.
1352
00:55:29,122 --> 00:55:30,164
All right. Fine.
1353
00:55:31,207 --> 00:55:32,917
Fine, here. Here you go.
1354
00:55:32,917 --> 00:55:35,378
- As it was said in the show...
- This is what it's all about.
1355
00:55:35,378 --> 00:55:37,505
[in unison] Motherfuckin',
cock-suckin' money.
1356
00:55:37,630 --> 00:55:38,589
Here.
1357
00:55:40,675 --> 00:55:42,176
And now we had
no more commercials.
1358
00:55:42,301 --> 00:55:43,553
We were on HBO.
1359
00:55:43,678 --> 00:55:46,848
[static hisses, HBO tone plays]
1360
00:55:48,057 --> 00:55:50,101
[crew chattering indistinctly]
1361
00:55:53,980 --> 00:55:55,606
[David] Everywhere I'd gone
prior to that,
1362
00:55:55,606 --> 00:55:57,150
of all the networks,
1363
00:55:57,150 --> 00:55:58,568
"Where do
you want to shoot it?"
1364
00:55:58,693 --> 00:55:59,736
I said, "New Jersey."
1365
00:55:59,861 --> 00:56:01,571
"What do you
wanna do that for?"
1366
00:56:01,571 --> 00:56:03,865
I said, "I believe it
belongs there."
1367
00:56:04,699 --> 00:56:06,325
They said, "It's going to be
a lot of money.
1368
00:56:06,325 --> 00:56:08,453
I don't know what for."
1369
00:56:08,453 --> 00:56:11,372
Then when I went to HBO,
they said,
1370
00:56:11,497 --> 00:56:14,208
"Now, it says here
it takes place in New Jersey.
1371
00:56:14,333 --> 00:56:16,711
You're gonna shoot it
in New Jersey, right?"
1372
00:56:16,836 --> 00:56:18,546
I was like,
"Oh my God, I'm in heaven!"
1373
00:56:19,255 --> 00:56:22,341
Really, I felt like,
fuck the whole past 30 years.
1374
00:56:22,341 --> 00:56:23,593
This is it!
1375
00:56:23,718 --> 00:56:25,219
[Chris] A broadcast network
1376
00:56:25,344 --> 00:56:28,639
would shoot it in LA
and do second unit in Jersey
1377
00:56:28,639 --> 00:56:31,476
and find, you know, locations
that they could double
1378
00:56:31,476 --> 00:56:34,604
to create that wonderful...
[chuckles]
1379
00:56:34,604 --> 00:56:36,314
...suspension
of disbelief illusion.
1380
00:56:36,314 --> 00:56:37,815
"Oh, I'm really in Jersey."
1381
00:56:37,815 --> 00:56:39,734
[rain pattering]
1382
00:56:39,859 --> 00:56:42,195
[David] We'll keep going,
shooting in the rain.
1383
00:56:42,195 --> 00:56:44,155
I like it when it's cloudy
because the colors
1384
00:56:44,155 --> 00:56:45,948
get nice and saturated and rich.
1385
00:56:47,200 --> 00:56:49,911
[Alik] We got into this idea
of looking for locations
1386
00:56:50,036 --> 00:56:51,746
not because
they were locations.
1387
00:56:51,871 --> 00:56:53,956
We got to find places
that have character,
1388
00:56:53,956 --> 00:56:56,667
that could basically
parallel our characters. Right?
1389
00:56:56,667 --> 00:56:59,170
All we need to do now is bring
the camera and shoot it.
1390
00:56:59,170 --> 00:57:01,923
[crew chattering]
1391
00:57:02,048 --> 00:57:03,591
[train tracks clacking]
1392
00:57:04,634 --> 00:57:07,345
[David] Well, we actually shot
all the interiors in Queens.
1393
00:57:07,345 --> 00:57:08,930
And all the exteriors,
1394
00:57:09,055 --> 00:57:10,932
I forbade any exterior shots
1395
00:57:11,057 --> 00:57:12,850
to be shot anyplace
but New Jersey
1396
00:57:12,850 --> 00:57:14,769
because I wanted it
to be realistic.
1397
00:57:14,894 --> 00:57:16,354
I knew New Jersey really well.
1398
00:57:16,896 --> 00:57:18,940
For example, the Meadowlands,
1399
00:57:19,065 --> 00:57:21,692
the combination of really
heavy industry
1400
00:57:21,692 --> 00:57:24,487
and the largest urban
wilderness in the world.
1401
00:57:24,612 --> 00:57:26,239
["State Trooper"
by Bruce Springsteen plays]
1402
00:57:26,364 --> 00:57:28,449
♪ New Jersey Turnpike ♪
1403
00:57:30,201 --> 00:57:33,162
- ♪ Ridin' on a wet night ♪
- [distant traffic noise]
1404
00:57:34,122 --> 00:57:36,916
♪ 'Neath the refinery's glow ♪
1405
00:57:37,583 --> 00:57:40,628
♪ Out where the great
black rivers flow ♪
1406
00:57:42,255 --> 00:57:43,631
[birdsong]
1407
00:57:43,756 --> 00:57:45,883
[David] Marty Scorsese
doesn't like the show.
1408
00:57:46,801 --> 00:57:50,430
Says, "I don't get it.
It's all these trees and shit."
1409
00:57:50,430 --> 00:57:54,434
All mob things before that
had been Manhattan or Brooklyn.
1410
00:57:54,434 --> 00:57:56,811
[Vito Corleone yelling]
1411
00:57:58,855 --> 00:58:02,734
[David] And I knew there was
a mob presence in New Jersey.
1412
00:58:02,734 --> 00:58:05,987
Kids whose fathers were
heavy bookmakers, loan sharks.
1413
00:58:07,113 --> 00:58:08,322
Where the Soprano house was,
1414
00:58:08,448 --> 00:58:09,866
that was the town
that we moved to
1415
00:58:09,991 --> 00:58:11,409
when I was in eighth grade.
1416
00:58:11,409 --> 00:58:14,078
There was a lot of woods
and ponds.
1417
00:58:14,078 --> 00:58:16,998
At the same time, some guy got
blown up in his garage.
1418
00:58:17,123 --> 00:58:19,333
[chuckles] Start his car...
[imitates explosion]
1419
00:58:20,209 --> 00:58:22,128
So I knew about all that,
and I thought,
1420
00:58:22,128 --> 00:58:24,338
"I think it'll actually work."
1421
00:58:25,423 --> 00:58:26,674
[Tony] Three.
1422
00:58:29,385 --> 00:58:31,721
[David] It gave it an entirely
different look.
1423
00:58:31,721 --> 00:58:34,474
And I think it was
kind of a different culture.
1424
00:58:34,474 --> 00:58:37,185
Tony was a suburbanite,
Tony and Carmela.
1425
00:58:37,894 --> 00:58:38,895
This says "with pulp."
1426
00:58:40,021 --> 00:58:41,189
You like it with pulp.
1427
00:58:41,314 --> 00:58:42,690
Not this much.
1428
00:58:43,149 --> 00:58:45,068
I like the one that says
"some pulp."
1429
00:58:47,987 --> 00:58:50,615
- The fuck was that for?
- I'll write you up a list.
1430
00:58:51,949 --> 00:58:53,785
- New game.
- [James] A regular family,
1431
00:58:53,785 --> 00:58:54,827
he's got kids.
1432
00:58:55,578 --> 00:58:58,581
- Attagirl, Mead!
- His daughter plays soccer.
1433
00:58:58,706 --> 00:58:59,582
Brick wall!
1434
00:59:02,168 --> 00:59:03,628
He loves his wife very much.
1435
00:59:04,212 --> 00:59:05,338
I think she...
1436
00:59:05,922 --> 00:59:08,049
she's the strength
of the family, pretty much.
1437
00:59:09,092 --> 00:59:10,927
He's just got a regular life.
1438
00:59:11,052 --> 00:59:12,887
His job is the Mafia.
1439
00:59:13,429 --> 00:59:14,555
That's his job.
1440
00:59:14,680 --> 00:59:16,057
It's not fair!
1441
00:59:16,182 --> 00:59:17,642
[James] He's got a regular
family on top of it,
1442
00:59:17,642 --> 00:59:20,269
which creates as many problems,
if not more,
1443
00:59:20,269 --> 00:59:21,771
as the other job.
1444
00:59:23,564 --> 00:59:24,816
When you're choosing projects,
1445
00:59:24,816 --> 00:59:26,651
what are the most
important factors for you?
1446
00:59:27,276 --> 00:59:28,986
- What comes first?
- The writing, the writing,
1447
00:59:28,986 --> 00:59:31,072
the writing, the writing,
the writing, the writing.
1448
00:59:31,197 --> 00:59:35,243
So when you got picked up
for series,
1449
00:59:35,368 --> 00:59:37,286
then you had to put together
a writers' room.
1450
00:59:37,286 --> 00:59:39,539
Was that a difficult process
in terms of
1451
00:59:39,539 --> 00:59:41,040
now figuring out how
you're going to work
1452
00:59:41,040 --> 00:59:42,417
with a bunch of other writers?
1453
00:59:42,542 --> 00:59:43,418
[David] Yes and no.
1454
00:59:43,543 --> 00:59:45,211
I had worked rooms before,
1455
00:59:45,211 --> 00:59:47,463
so I knew what to expect.
1456
00:59:47,463 --> 00:59:49,465
But this one was
gonna be different.
1457
00:59:50,216 --> 00:59:52,135
I was in a mood
where I just wasn't
1458
00:59:52,135 --> 00:59:53,845
going to accept TV writing.
1459
00:59:53,845 --> 00:59:55,972
I kept thinking,
"God, we're free here.
1460
00:59:56,097 --> 00:59:57,849
Let's really dig down
into this."
1461
00:59:57,849 --> 00:59:59,267
Let's think about it.
1462
00:59:59,392 --> 01:00:01,519
[Robin] I came on for episode,
I guess, two,
1463
01:00:01,519 --> 01:00:03,312
you know, after the pilot.
1464
01:00:03,312 --> 01:00:05,231
He talked about what he had,
1465
01:00:05,231 --> 01:00:08,401
which was an arc for the season,
which he always came in with.
1466
01:00:08,401 --> 01:00:09,902
But nothing beyond that.
1467
01:00:09,902 --> 01:00:12,405
Now, because of movie people
coming into the business,
1468
01:00:12,405 --> 01:00:14,115
you have to have
five years' worth.
1469
01:00:14,240 --> 01:00:16,617
You have to tell them everything
and know everything.
1470
01:00:16,743 --> 01:00:18,911
- And we didn't know anything.
- [writers chattering]
1471
01:00:18,911 --> 01:00:20,705
As a matter of fact,
in the very beginning,
1472
01:00:20,705 --> 01:00:22,457
David said,
"If this doesn't work,
1473
01:00:22,582 --> 01:00:23,916
that's it for me."
1474
01:00:23,916 --> 01:00:25,168
And forgive me, HBO,
1475
01:00:25,168 --> 01:00:26,878
but they were nowhere
at that point.
1476
01:00:26,878 --> 01:00:28,880
It was an elephant graveyard,
1477
01:00:28,880 --> 01:00:31,632
and they didn't know
if it would work either.
1478
01:00:31,758 --> 01:00:34,302
But they just gave us
complete freedom.
1479
01:00:34,427 --> 01:00:36,763
It was our little artistic
experience.
1480
01:00:36,763 --> 01:00:38,139
That's what it felt like.
1481
01:00:38,264 --> 01:00:39,474
[crew member] Quiet, please.
1482
01:00:39,599 --> 01:00:41,309
[Robin] It was a lot of
hard work.
1483
01:00:41,434 --> 01:00:43,394
A lot of hours.
The hours were brutal.
1484
01:00:43,394 --> 01:00:45,021
And writers were on the set.
1485
01:00:45,146 --> 01:00:47,982
So it was, you know,
from dawn...
1486
01:00:48,107 --> 01:00:49,817
Good morning. You're late.
1487
01:00:49,942 --> 01:00:52,070
Where you been? Sleeping?
1488
01:00:52,070 --> 01:00:55,531
...until you'd see the towers
coming back from New Jersey
1489
01:00:55,531 --> 01:00:57,533
at around three in the morning.
1490
01:00:58,534 --> 01:01:01,454
Maybe you'd sleep for seven
hours and it'd all start again.
1491
01:01:01,454 --> 01:01:04,290
But when you're that age
or you're working like that,
1492
01:01:04,290 --> 01:01:05,666
what else is there to do?
1493
01:01:05,792 --> 01:01:08,419
So we all worked like that,
you know.
1494
01:01:08,419 --> 01:01:10,963
It was the most fun
you can imagine.
1495
01:01:10,963 --> 01:01:12,173
For everyone.
1496
01:01:12,298 --> 01:01:13,383
I'm proud of it.
1497
01:01:14,467 --> 01:01:16,719
[David] Still my favorite line
of the whole series.
1498
01:01:16,844 --> 01:01:18,012
"Hasidim
but I don't believe 'em"?
1499
01:01:18,137 --> 01:01:19,097
No. My favorite line was...
1500
01:01:19,097 --> 01:01:21,974
Nine hundred Jews held their own
1501
01:01:21,974 --> 01:01:24,769
against 15,000 Roman soldiers.
1502
01:01:24,769 --> 01:01:26,687
"The Romans,
where are they today?"
1503
01:01:26,813 --> 01:01:29,440
- And Robin wrote this line...
- You're looking at 'em, asshole.
1504
01:01:29,440 --> 01:01:31,818
- That's great. That's great.
- [laughter]
1505
01:01:31,818 --> 01:01:34,445
That's great. It was great.
[chuckles]
1506
01:01:34,445 --> 01:01:37,073
[crew chattering]
1507
01:01:40,493 --> 01:01:42,078
[David] In episode four,
1508
01:01:42,078 --> 01:01:44,705
when we were trying to find
Chris's girlfriend,
1509
01:01:44,831 --> 01:01:47,417
we brought Drea de Matteo
back in to read.
1510
01:01:48,042 --> 01:01:49,252
[woman] Where'd you park?
1511
01:01:49,252 --> 01:01:50,420
In back, there.
1512
01:01:50,920 --> 01:01:52,046
[woman] I ain't crossing that.
1513
01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:54,340
No one followed me.
1514
01:01:54,340 --> 01:01:56,300
Adriana, you wouldn't know
if they did.
1515
01:01:57,051 --> 01:01:59,595
Oh, yeah, like Tony Soprano's
hiding in my back seat.
1516
01:01:59,595 --> 01:02:01,264
You are so paranoid!
1517
01:02:01,264 --> 01:02:02,807
Bring the car right here.
1518
01:02:03,516 --> 01:02:04,642
I know.
1519
01:02:04,642 --> 01:02:06,227
He's in disguise.
1520
01:02:06,352 --> 01:02:07,729
That could be him.
1521
01:02:07,854 --> 01:02:09,605
Hey, Tony! Or maybe...
1522
01:02:09,605 --> 01:02:12,650
[David] She got it because
it said in the script, "ow."
1523
01:02:12,650 --> 01:02:13,568
But she said...
1524
01:02:13,693 --> 01:02:15,069
Ow-ah!
1525
01:02:15,194 --> 01:02:17,113
- [woman] Get over here.
- Let go of me!
1526
01:02:17,238 --> 01:02:19,115
"Ow-ah!" Like that. That was it.
1527
01:02:19,240 --> 01:02:20,241
You're hired.
1528
01:02:20,366 --> 01:02:22,118
- [David] That was great.
- [laughter]
1529
01:02:22,243 --> 01:02:23,995
- That was great.
- Thank you.
1530
01:02:23,995 --> 01:02:27,498
I heard the nurse say you made
number two in your pants.
1531
01:02:27,498 --> 01:02:29,834
- Is that what happened?
- Get the car!
1532
01:02:29,834 --> 01:02:31,669
[siren wailing]
1533
01:02:31,669 --> 01:02:33,504
That stuff is sort of
my specialty
1534
01:02:33,504 --> 01:02:35,089
'cause I was from Queens,
1535
01:02:35,214 --> 01:02:37,800
even though I tried to
leave that behind.
1536
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:40,678
But, I mean, all the girls
in my neighborhood,
1537
01:02:40,678 --> 01:02:42,346
we were--
it's all the Italian girls.
1538
01:02:42,346 --> 01:02:44,098
[in New Jersey accent]
You gotta talk like this.
1539
01:02:44,223 --> 01:02:45,391
Don't fuck around.
1540
01:02:45,391 --> 01:02:47,185
Everything has gotta be
ten syllables.
1541
01:02:47,185 --> 01:02:49,145
I'm really fucking doing it.
1542
01:02:49,937 --> 01:02:51,439
And it's all thanks to you.
1543
01:02:52,315 --> 01:02:54,233
I couldn't do the accent
without the nails.
1544
01:02:54,233 --> 01:02:57,987
I couldn't do half of it
without the hair and makeup.
1545
01:02:58,112 --> 01:03:00,448
Why don't you forget about
working and be with me?
1546
01:03:01,074 --> 01:03:05,495
Oh, yeah, and be one of those
wives like Carmela Soprano?
1547
01:03:05,495 --> 01:03:06,871
Breastfeed a bunch of rug rats
1548
01:03:06,871 --> 01:03:08,956
then spend the rest of your life
at the gym,
1549
01:03:09,082 --> 01:03:10,625
just you and your stretch marks.
1550
01:03:11,292 --> 01:03:13,795
You're right.
My cousin's always had a brain,
1551
01:03:13,920 --> 01:03:15,338
but what does she use it for?
1552
01:03:15,338 --> 01:03:17,006
A husband who
can't even tell you
1553
01:03:17,131 --> 01:03:18,674
where the money comes from.
1554
01:03:18,674 --> 01:03:22,136
You know, just the whole way
David set that story up,
1555
01:03:23,429 --> 01:03:26,557
and then seeing the next
episodes that would come after,
1556
01:03:26,557 --> 01:03:27,683
I was mind-blown.
1557
01:03:27,683 --> 01:03:29,185
I would call my mom
from payphone
1558
01:03:29,310 --> 01:03:32,146
and read her the entire script.
1559
01:03:32,271 --> 01:03:34,440
[Robin] You'd publish a script.
It would only come out
1560
01:03:34,440 --> 01:03:37,485
right when it was being filmed,
pretty much.
1561
01:03:37,610 --> 01:03:40,279
The crew would be reading it.
You know what I mean?
1562
01:03:40,279 --> 01:03:41,948
They were reading it.
They wanted to know.
1563
01:03:41,948 --> 01:03:44,283
They took pleasure
and joy in it.
1564
01:03:45,451 --> 01:03:48,663
[Michael] When we went back and
started shooting season one,
1565
01:03:49,205 --> 01:03:51,833
it was really then
when you started seeing
1566
01:03:51,958 --> 01:03:55,044
the next few scripts
that I realized, whoa!
1567
01:03:56,462 --> 01:03:58,005
This is really
1568
01:03:59,006 --> 01:04:00,800
genius and complex.
1569
01:04:00,800 --> 01:04:02,844
You know? And really risky.
1570
01:04:03,803 --> 01:04:06,723
David, he always says,
"Television in the past
1571
01:04:06,723 --> 01:04:08,725
was always about
making you feel good."
1572
01:04:09,475 --> 01:04:11,436
Cop shows.
Why are cop shows so great?
1573
01:04:11,436 --> 01:04:14,689
'Cause at the end of the day,
the bad guy gets put in jail.
1574
01:04:15,356 --> 01:04:17,859
You know, there's some
kind of order to the universe.
1575
01:04:17,984 --> 01:04:19,861
There's some kind of justice.
1576
01:04:19,986 --> 01:04:22,113
David was all about
the opposite.
1577
01:04:28,202 --> 01:04:29,370
Are you in the Mafia?
1578
01:04:32,165 --> 01:04:34,125
- Am I in the what?
- Whatever you wanna call it.
1579
01:04:34,125 --> 01:04:35,209
Organized crime.
1580
01:04:38,212 --> 01:04:40,173
That's total crap.
Who told you that?
1581
01:04:40,173 --> 01:04:42,341
Dad, I've lived in the house
all my life.
1582
01:04:42,341 --> 01:04:43,885
I've seen police come
with warrants.
1583
01:04:44,010 --> 01:04:45,511
I've seen you going out
at three in the morning.
1584
01:04:45,511 --> 01:04:47,221
So you've never seen
Doc Cusamano
1585
01:04:47,346 --> 01:04:49,182
go out at three in the morning
on a call?
1586
01:04:49,182 --> 01:04:51,976
Did the Cusamano kids ever find
$50,000 in Krugerrands
1587
01:04:51,976 --> 01:04:54,771
and a .45 automatic while they
were hunting for Easter eggs?
1588
01:04:54,771 --> 01:04:56,314
I'm in the waste
management business.
1589
01:04:56,314 --> 01:04:58,900
Everybody immediately assumes
you're mobbed up.
1590
01:04:59,025 --> 01:05:01,235
It's a stereotype
and it's offensive.
1591
01:05:02,070 --> 01:05:04,113
And you're the last person
I would want to perpetuate it.
1592
01:05:04,113 --> 01:05:05,323
Fine.
1593
01:05:09,035 --> 01:05:10,244
There is no Mafia.
1594
01:05:11,412 --> 01:05:13,498
[David] When they saw
the fifth episode,
1595
01:05:13,498 --> 01:05:16,000
HBO said, "You've created
one of the most dynamic
1596
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:18,169
characters in television history,
1597
01:05:18,169 --> 01:05:20,004
and you're gonna blow it all."
1598
01:05:20,630 --> 01:05:21,589
What the fuck?
1599
01:05:23,549 --> 01:05:25,593
I'm not sure, but I think
I just saw Fabian Petrulio.
1600
01:05:25,718 --> 01:05:28,054
- Refresh my memory.
- What's he, before your time?
1601
01:05:28,054 --> 01:05:29,931
Made guy,
flipped about ten years ago
1602
01:05:30,056 --> 01:05:32,100
when he got busted
for peddling H.
1603
01:05:32,225 --> 01:05:33,935
Rat fuck took out
a lot of people.
1604
01:05:34,060 --> 01:05:35,645
A lot of people
from our outfit.
1605
01:05:35,645 --> 01:05:37,563
He went into the witness
protection program.
1606
01:05:37,563 --> 01:05:39,065
Then they kicked him out.
1607
01:05:39,065 --> 01:05:40,566
[Christopher]
I am your soldier, Antonio.
1608
01:05:40,566 --> 01:05:42,860
This is my duty. Like we're
always talking about.
1609
01:05:42,860 --> 01:05:44,445
[Tony] The way this went down,
1610
01:05:44,987 --> 01:05:46,531
this is my call.
1611
01:05:46,531 --> 01:05:47,990
I got to vouch for this myself.
1612
01:05:48,116 --> 01:05:49,117
[phone receiver clangs]
1613
01:05:49,784 --> 01:05:52,120
Jimmy says hello from hell,
you fuck!
1614
01:05:53,579 --> 01:05:55,289
[Chris] I brought it up
in the script.
1615
01:05:57,417 --> 01:05:59,127
And the answer was,
1616
01:05:59,252 --> 01:06:01,003
"You're gonna feel differently
when you see it."
1617
01:06:01,003 --> 01:06:03,339
[insects chirring]
1618
01:06:05,466 --> 01:06:06,300
[rustling]
1619
01:06:10,096 --> 01:06:11,139
[bird calls]
1620
01:06:12,014 --> 01:06:14,976
[Fabian grunting]
1621
01:06:15,518 --> 01:06:16,477
Good morning, rat.
1622
01:06:16,602 --> 01:06:18,771
Who are you? What is this?
1623
01:06:18,771 --> 01:06:21,274
Don't make me laugh, you pimp!
You fuck!
1624
01:06:21,274 --> 01:06:22,608
Teddy, there must be
something we can do.
1625
01:06:22,608 --> 01:06:24,694
Tony. It's Tony, you fuck.
1626
01:06:24,694 --> 01:06:26,112
Know how much trouble
you're in now?
1627
01:06:26,112 --> 01:06:28,865
You took an oath
and you broke it.
1628
01:06:28,990 --> 01:06:30,324
And then when we saw it,
1629
01:06:31,117 --> 01:06:32,034
it was even
1630
01:06:33,035 --> 01:06:35,955
more troublesome
than I thought in the script.
1631
01:06:35,955 --> 01:06:37,874
Please, Tony. I'm begging you.
1632
01:06:37,999 --> 01:06:40,460
- [Tony grunting]
- [Fabian wheezing]
1633
01:06:40,460 --> 01:06:42,170
Jimmy says hello from hell,
you fuck!
1634
01:06:42,879 --> 01:06:45,214
- [wheezing]
- [Tony grunts]
1635
01:06:45,798 --> 01:06:47,216
[David] Chris says,
"I'm seeing it now
1636
01:06:47,216 --> 01:06:48,760
and how gruesome it is.
1637
01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:50,678
And we're gonna lose
everything.
1638
01:06:50,803 --> 01:06:52,597
People, aren't--
they're gonna hate him."
1639
01:06:52,597 --> 01:06:56,726
Could you have a criminal,
a killer, as your lead?
1640
01:06:56,851 --> 01:06:58,394
Can you have an antihero
in the lead?
1641
01:06:58,519 --> 01:06:59,562
That was the big debate.
1642
01:06:59,687 --> 01:07:01,230
My big objection
was that the audience
1643
01:07:01,230 --> 01:07:03,483
was really going to
not like Tony,
1644
01:07:03,483 --> 01:07:05,359
and that we hadn't
earned that yet.
1645
01:07:06,069 --> 01:07:08,321
I mean, this was just
the fifth episode.
1646
01:07:08,821 --> 01:07:10,490
[David] I said,
"Chris, think about it."
1647
01:07:10,490 --> 01:07:11,991
How'd it go?
1648
01:07:11,991 --> 01:07:14,869
They got a 48 to 52 male-female
ratio, which is great.
1649
01:07:14,994 --> 01:07:16,454
[David] He's up there in Maine,
1650
01:07:17,538 --> 01:07:19,207
and he sees this rat.
1651
01:07:19,332 --> 01:07:22,710
- ["Manifold de Amour" plays]
- [Fabian groans]
1652
01:07:22,835 --> 01:07:25,546
[David] He's a captain
in a mob crew.
1653
01:07:26,422 --> 01:07:28,257
If he doesn't kill that guy,
1654
01:07:28,257 --> 01:07:29,759
people are going to
lose faith in him
1655
01:07:29,884 --> 01:07:31,636
or interest in him completely.
1656
01:07:31,636 --> 01:07:34,055
[Tony grunting]
1657
01:07:35,181 --> 01:07:38,726
[Chris] So if Tony
doesn't kill this guy,
1658
01:07:39,560 --> 01:07:40,728
he's full of shit.
1659
01:07:41,396 --> 01:07:43,231
And then the whole show
is full of shit.
1660
01:07:44,440 --> 01:07:46,609
And I thought,
"Well, that makes sense."
1661
01:07:46,609 --> 01:07:48,403
I said to Dave,
"Here's the problem.
1662
01:07:48,528 --> 01:07:50,446
Like, this was a bad guy.
1663
01:07:51,447 --> 01:07:55,284
So let's find ways to give Tony
1664
01:07:55,284 --> 01:07:57,078
a little bit more
justification."
1665
01:08:00,123 --> 01:08:02,417
[Carolyn] David made some
adjustments to the victim.
1666
01:08:03,376 --> 01:08:05,795
He became a more
menacing figure
1667
01:08:05,920 --> 01:08:07,547
than he had initially started.
1668
01:08:07,547 --> 01:08:09,257
["Manifold de Amour"
continues playing]
1669
01:08:13,553 --> 01:08:15,847
[Carolyn] Where we all got
down to is, like, look,
1670
01:08:15,847 --> 01:08:18,141
Chris and I are not going
to write it, direct it.
1671
01:08:18,141 --> 01:08:20,977
So at the end of the day,
I think,
1672
01:08:20,977 --> 01:08:24,731
when you hit that kind of
impasse with a show creator,
1673
01:08:24,731 --> 01:08:26,691
you kind of have to
go with them.
1674
01:08:31,946 --> 01:08:33,114
[music fades]
1675
01:08:34,907 --> 01:08:35,783
[Silvio] Better.
1676
01:08:37,410 --> 01:08:38,953
[James] They left us alone
completely,
1677
01:08:39,078 --> 01:08:40,872
and there was
some weird stuff we did.
1678
01:08:41,914 --> 01:08:43,124
[Mikey] Whoa, Junior!
1679
01:08:43,249 --> 01:08:44,792
"Whoa, Junior," what?
1680
01:08:44,917 --> 01:08:46,419
One of the episodes
about Dominic.
1681
01:08:46,419 --> 01:08:47,795
Uncle Jun's in the muff.
1682
01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:49,380
- He loves to, uh...
- What?
1683
01:08:49,380 --> 01:08:50,923
...you know, go down on women.
1684
01:08:50,923 --> 01:08:53,718
Oh, did I say muff? [laughs]
I meant rough.
1685
01:08:54,260 --> 01:08:57,055
65-year-old man, this is what
the whole episode's about.
1686
01:08:57,055 --> 01:08:59,057
I'm reading this thing going,
"We can't do this."
1687
01:08:59,057 --> 01:09:01,350
- What's that smell?
- And we did it.
1688
01:09:01,350 --> 01:09:04,228
- D'you guys go to a sushi bar?
- The fuck's he talking about?
1689
01:09:04,228 --> 01:09:05,730
I dunno.
1690
01:09:05,730 --> 01:09:07,523
I thought you were
a baccalà man, Uncle Jun.
1691
01:09:07,523 --> 01:09:08,941
What are you doing eating sushi?
1692
01:09:08,941 --> 01:09:10,818
You fucking run off
at the mouth, you know that?
1693
01:09:13,988 --> 01:09:16,240
[Tony] ♪ South of the border ♪
1694
01:09:16,240 --> 01:09:17,408
[golf club thwacks]
1695
01:09:17,408 --> 01:09:19,494
♪ Down Mexico way ♪
1696
01:09:20,995 --> 01:09:23,247
[photographers chattering]
1697
01:09:23,247 --> 01:09:25,583
[Michael] Season one was shot
in the summer of '98
1698
01:09:25,583 --> 01:09:28,336
and went on the air
in January of '99.
1699
01:09:28,461 --> 01:09:29,962
We thought we did a great job.
1700
01:09:29,962 --> 01:09:31,589
We thought it was
something really special.
1701
01:09:31,589 --> 01:09:33,341
But are people gonna watch?
1702
01:09:33,466 --> 01:09:35,760
- Mike, what's your last name?
- Imperioli.
1703
01:09:35,760 --> 01:09:37,178
And that was a big question.
1704
01:09:37,303 --> 01:09:39,263
Are people gonna watch this
on TV?
1705
01:09:39,806 --> 01:09:41,766
- You know, violence...
- Ow! Snaky motherfucker!
1706
01:09:41,766 --> 01:09:44,102
...profanity, nudity.
1707
01:09:44,102 --> 01:09:45,103
Oh, Marone.
1708
01:09:45,103 --> 01:09:47,605
It's time for your sponge bath.
1709
01:09:47,605 --> 01:09:49,690
Is there a place for that
on television?
1710
01:09:50,733 --> 01:09:52,819
Honestly, I thought it would
take a good eight or ten shows
1711
01:09:52,819 --> 01:09:54,570
before people just
got used to it
1712
01:09:54,695 --> 01:09:56,030
because it was so different.
1713
01:09:56,155 --> 01:09:57,740
It was so different,
you know? No.
1714
01:09:58,825 --> 01:10:00,701
Within two, three weeks,
it was a hit.
1715
01:10:01,577 --> 01:10:02,703
[Michael] From the beginning,
1716
01:10:02,829 --> 01:10:04,747
the reviews were
psychotically great.
1717
01:10:04,747 --> 01:10:06,749
["Can't Be Still" by Booker T.
and the M.G.'s playing]
1718
01:10:06,749 --> 01:10:08,793
The Times said it was
the greatest work
1719
01:10:08,793 --> 01:10:11,170
of pop culture in the
20th century. It was like that.
1720
01:10:14,215 --> 01:10:15,800
Like, really over the top,
1721
01:10:15,800 --> 01:10:19,429
to the point where
Saturday Night Live did a spoof.
1722
01:10:19,429 --> 01:10:21,764
[announcer] The San Francisco
Examiner says,
1723
01:10:21,764 --> 01:10:24,225
"The Sopranos is so good
that I'm afraid
1724
01:10:24,350 --> 01:10:26,728
to look away from the screen
while it's on
1725
01:10:26,853 --> 01:10:28,563
for fear that it will disappear
1726
01:10:28,688 --> 01:10:30,690
and I'll be forced
to kill myself."
1727
01:10:31,357 --> 01:10:33,151
The Chicago Tribune predicts,
1728
01:10:33,151 --> 01:10:36,362
"The Sopranos will one day
replace oxygen
1729
01:10:36,362 --> 01:10:37,780
as the thing we breathe
1730
01:10:37,780 --> 01:10:39,824
in order to stay alive."
1731
01:10:39,824 --> 01:10:41,534
The Houston Chronicle says,
1732
01:10:41,534 --> 01:10:44,245
"Compared to the guy
who created The Sopranos,
1733
01:10:44,370 --> 01:10:46,414
Michelangelo is a douchebag."
1734
01:10:46,539 --> 01:10:50,710
The reviews came out
and they were all, like, raves.
1735
01:10:50,710 --> 01:10:52,754
Except for one guy from Miami.
1736
01:10:53,713 --> 01:10:54,922
And some other critic said,
1737
01:10:55,757 --> 01:10:58,009
"We don't know where
his body is. [chuckles]
1738
01:10:58,009 --> 01:11:00,261
He's in a barrel somewhere
in Miami Bay."
1739
01:11:00,386 --> 01:11:01,304
Or something like that.
1740
01:11:01,429 --> 01:11:02,764
[Paulie] Salute.
1741
01:11:02,889 --> 01:11:04,098
[David] It got so successful
1742
01:11:04,223 --> 01:11:05,349
and so popular,
1743
01:11:05,933 --> 01:11:07,769
the best thing about it
was that people
1744
01:11:07,894 --> 01:11:11,189
were having pizza parties
and watching the show.
1745
01:11:11,731 --> 01:11:14,776
To think that people are
out there eating Italian food
1746
01:11:14,901 --> 01:11:16,402
and drinking Italian wine
1747
01:11:16,402 --> 01:11:18,905
and watching this,
family groups.
1748
01:11:18,905 --> 01:11:22,241
I just, I mean, it's getting me
choked up thinking about it now.
1749
01:11:22,241 --> 01:11:24,077
Every Sunday night, man.
1750
01:11:24,077 --> 01:11:28,206
It was Soprano night.
Everybody shut the fuck up.
1751
01:11:28,206 --> 01:11:30,208
We're eating mozzarell'
and prosciutt'
1752
01:11:30,208 --> 01:11:32,627
and we're gonna
watch this thing. [laughs]
1753
01:11:32,752 --> 01:11:34,670
[loud thunderclap]
1754
01:11:37,173 --> 01:11:38,841
[Michael] We caught lightning
in a bottle.
1755
01:11:38,841 --> 01:11:41,469
You know, the chemistry
between the cast,
1756
01:11:41,594 --> 01:11:43,221
the writing, the filmmaking.
1757
01:11:43,221 --> 01:11:44,889
[Tony] Come on, come on!
Get inside.
1758
01:11:44,889 --> 01:11:46,641
- [Meadow] It better be open.
- Forget the umbrella.
1759
01:11:49,143 --> 01:11:50,478
Artie, thank Christ!
1760
01:11:50,603 --> 01:11:52,688
[Michael] The Sopranos
really changed television.
1761
01:11:52,814 --> 01:11:53,856
What are you doing, Ton?
1762
01:11:54,524 --> 01:11:57,193
Where people realized, oh,
you can be challenging.
1763
01:11:57,318 --> 01:11:59,695
[Silvio] Look at that fucking
lovesick pygmy over there.
1764
01:11:59,821 --> 01:12:01,072
[Michael] Push the envelope.
1765
01:12:01,072 --> 01:12:03,366
God, Artie, you saved
our friggin' lives here.
1766
01:12:04,117 --> 01:12:05,827
It's beautiful, Artie.
Thank you.
1767
01:12:05,952 --> 01:12:07,787
It really redefined
what people are willing,
1768
01:12:07,787 --> 01:12:10,039
and what people want
to watch at home.
1769
01:12:10,832 --> 01:12:12,166
Ah, fuck!
1770
01:12:12,291 --> 01:12:13,209
[both] Hey!
1771
01:12:13,209 --> 01:12:14,293
You said "frig."
1772
01:12:14,293 --> 01:12:15,837
[thunder rumbling]
1773
01:12:17,964 --> 01:12:19,090
Now wait a minute.
1774
01:12:21,509 --> 01:12:23,177
I'd like to propose a toast.
1775
01:12:24,971 --> 01:12:26,097
To my family.
1776
01:12:29,726 --> 01:12:33,229
Someday soon, you're gonna have
families of your own.
1777
01:12:34,355 --> 01:12:35,857
And if you're lucky,
1778
01:12:37,066 --> 01:12:38,860
you'll remember
the little moments.
1779
01:12:40,027 --> 01:12:41,195
Like this.
1780
01:12:46,033 --> 01:12:47,368
That were good.
1781
01:12:50,705 --> 01:12:51,581
Cheers.
1782
01:13:02,216 --> 01:13:05,094
[wood creaking]
1783
01:13:05,928 --> 01:13:07,388
[thunder crackling]
1784
01:13:07,513 --> 01:13:09,724
[Michael] The first season
set everything in motion.
1785
01:13:09,849 --> 01:13:11,392
["State Trooper" playing]
1786
01:13:11,517 --> 01:13:14,520
But there was an enormous
amount of pressure on David.
1787
01:13:14,520 --> 01:13:16,606
♪ Mister state trooper ♪
1788
01:13:16,606 --> 01:13:18,566
[Michael] He set the bar
really high.
1789
01:13:18,691 --> 01:13:20,651
♪ Please don't stop me ♪
1790
01:13:20,651 --> 01:13:22,904
[Michael] And you gotta
surpass it every year.
1791
01:13:22,904 --> 01:13:25,073
♪ Please don't stop me ♪
1792
01:13:26,741 --> 01:13:29,077
♪ Please don't stop me ♪
1793
01:13:30,953 --> 01:13:32,914
[Michael]
This was only the beginning.
1794
01:13:37,085 --> 01:13:40,671
[bird calling faintly]
1795
01:13:40,671 --> 01:13:43,257
♪ Maybe you got a kid ♪
1796
01:13:44,092 --> 01:13:47,011
♪ Maybe you got a pretty wife ♪
1797
01:13:48,596 --> 01:13:51,099
♪ The only thing that I got's ♪
1798
01:13:52,725 --> 01:13:55,269
♪ Been bothering me
my whole life ♪
1799
01:13:56,729 --> 01:13:59,357
♪ Mister state trooper ♪
1800
01:14:00,733 --> 01:14:02,985
♪ Please don't stop me ♪
1801
01:14:04,695 --> 01:14:07,281
♪ Please don't you stop me ♪
1802
01:14:08,783 --> 01:14:11,285
♪ Please don't stop me ♪
1803
01:14:12,787 --> 01:14:13,996
♪ Whoo! ♪
1804
01:14:16,040 --> 01:14:20,586
♪ Ooh ♪
1805
01:14:20,586 --> 01:14:21,546
♪ Whoo! ♪
1806
01:14:28,428 --> 01:14:31,305
♪ Hey, somebody out there ♪
1807
01:14:32,473 --> 01:14:34,267
♪ Listen to my last prayer ♪
1808
01:14:34,267 --> 01:14:36,644
[music fades]