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Got a picture?
2
00:00:30,740 --> 00:00:34,035
Sopranos fever here probably
reached a peak last July
3
00:00:34,035 --> 00:00:36,662
when 14,000 wiseguy wannabes
4
00:00:36,662 --> 00:00:38,998
answered the show's
open casting call
5
00:00:38,998 --> 00:00:42,335
in decidedly unglamorous
Harrison, New Jersey.
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00:00:42,335 --> 00:00:45,963
Crowd estimates ranging from
10,000 to 25,000.
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This was after the first season.
8
00:00:48,466 --> 00:00:50,968
The line was all the way out
to the freeway.
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00:00:50,968 --> 00:00:54,889
And it was ridiculous.
10
00:00:54,889 --> 00:00:57,475
- Keep it moving, folks.
- Ladies, step forward.
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Apparently, the word got around.
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Just bring your eight-by-ten photo
to Jersey.
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There are policemen,
firemen, teachers here.
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Who wouldn't want fame and fortune?
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I'll tell you one thing.
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I am right for this part
on The Sopranos.
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You can't get more Italian than this.
They don't make them like that.
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My friend and I,
we got all dressed up and, like,
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there were 482,000 people
ahead of us.
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I don't know if we got
much of a chance now.
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Leave the area!
22
00:01:24,252 --> 00:01:27,255
You are subject to arrest
if you don't leave the area.
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The Harrison police,
concerned about public safety,
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closed down the audition.
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It's over!
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00:01:34,345 --> 00:01:36,472
So most of this mob had to be content
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with just dropping
their picture in the bin
28
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and taking their chances.
29
00:01:40,643 --> 00:01:43,187
We found Ginny Sack in that group.
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She had gone later to the same
high school I went to.
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She was a beautician, never acted.
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What the hell is this?
33
00:01:50,903 --> 00:01:53,406
I was dizzy.
I was having low blood sugar.
34
00:01:53,406 --> 00:01:55,158
What happened to the fruit salad?
35
00:01:55,158 --> 00:01:57,201
You were supposed to quit smoking
and didn't.
36
00:01:57,201 --> 00:01:58,953
Nicotine is an addictive substance!
37
00:01:58,953 --> 00:02:01,289
What's wrong?
Why are you yelling at me?
38
00:02:01,289 --> 00:02:02,874
You never doubted her for a second.
39
00:02:02,874 --> 00:02:05,793
I know I've gained weight
these last few years.
40
00:02:06,836 --> 00:02:09,547
I see the other wives,
the way men look at them.
41
00:02:10,423 --> 00:02:12,175
Don't I look at you like that?
42
00:02:14,010 --> 00:02:15,303
Haven't I always?
43
00:02:16,512 --> 00:02:17,555
I love you.
44
00:02:19,891 --> 00:02:21,267
As time went on,
45
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I began to realize that the audience
46
00:02:23,311 --> 00:02:25,730
did break down into
two different types.
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00:02:25,730 --> 00:02:29,358
There was one part that were looking
for a serial drama,
48
00:02:30,109 --> 00:02:31,569
and then there was the group
49
00:02:31,569 --> 00:02:33,279
that was called
50
00:02:33,279 --> 00:02:34,614
"Less Yakking, More Whacking."
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00:02:44,999 --> 00:02:47,919
In the show, it wasn't
an easy tone in the sense that
52
00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:50,129
it alternated light and dark,
53
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so you had to be prepared
for either one to happen
54
00:02:52,340 --> 00:02:53,883
anywhere around the corner.
55
00:02:53,883 --> 00:02:57,345
Well, I mean, I guess something
that's really important to me
56
00:02:57,345 --> 00:02:59,472
is the darkness mixed with humor.
57
00:02:59,472 --> 00:03:02,767
And when I think about that,
I think about myself
58
00:03:02,767 --> 00:03:04,936
as a kid going to my first funerals,
59
00:03:04,936 --> 00:03:07,688
seeing my grandfather
dead in the coffin
60
00:03:07,688 --> 00:03:10,066
and hearing some
lunatic conversation,
61
00:03:10,650 --> 00:03:13,319
some stupid thing that
one of my aunts was saying.
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00:03:13,319 --> 00:03:16,072
You think, "What are you
talking about?
63
00:03:16,072 --> 00:03:18,866
There's your father lying there
in a casket."
64
00:03:18,866 --> 00:03:21,619
As a writer, that made
an impression on me.
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00:03:21,619 --> 00:03:24,163
Look at her like that. Mariolina.
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00:03:24,163 --> 00:03:27,250
Gave me my first hand job,
me and Vincent Maniscalco
67
00:03:27,250 --> 00:03:29,585
in the alley behind
the chicken market.
68
00:03:29,585 --> 00:03:30,670
Junior?
69
00:03:30,670 --> 00:03:32,714
God, what am I saying
at this poor woman's wake?
70
00:03:33,297 --> 00:03:34,132
Let's go.
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00:03:35,842 --> 00:03:37,802
I would say this about The Sopranos,
72
00:03:37,802 --> 00:03:41,431
is that I really don't know whether
it was a drama or a comedy.
73
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,559
For example, Tony Sirico.
74
00:03:45,893 --> 00:03:48,020
He was a serious gangster actor,
75
00:03:48,020 --> 00:03:50,857
but the comedy just started
to come forward.
76
00:03:50,857 --> 00:03:52,316
Oh, motherfucker!
77
00:03:52,316 --> 00:03:55,069
This absurdity, which was partly him.
78
00:03:55,987 --> 00:03:56,863
Please!
79
00:03:56,863 --> 00:03:58,948
Fucking poison ivy all over.
80
00:03:59,949 --> 00:04:01,451
I was born in Brooklyn.
81
00:04:01,451 --> 00:04:03,995
I grew up on the streets.
I still got cement in my shoes.
82
00:04:03,995 --> 00:04:06,539
So, you know,
I'm well aware of the life.
83
00:04:06,539 --> 00:04:08,499
And I know a lot of guys
involved in this life.
84
00:04:08,499 --> 00:04:10,793
I can feel it itching me already.
85
00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,423
He didn't wear makeup because
he would go to tanning booths.
86
00:04:16,591 --> 00:04:18,801
Like that, you know,
he's got that reflector thing
87
00:04:18,801 --> 00:04:20,803
getting tanned? That was really Tony.
88
00:04:20,803 --> 00:04:22,221
Tony always had a tan.
89
00:04:22,972 --> 00:04:25,683
I think my character
acts like me, personally.
90
00:04:25,683 --> 00:04:27,852
But don't tell nobody.
91
00:04:28,644 --> 00:04:30,813
You realize by the time
Caitlyn's out of college,
92
00:04:30,813 --> 00:04:33,441
it'll be, like, the year 2027
or something?
93
00:04:33,441 --> 00:04:36,319
She takes after you, she won't be
out of fourth grade by then.
94
00:04:38,529 --> 00:04:40,573
- What are you doing?
- Nothing.
95
00:04:42,366 --> 00:04:43,618
And cut!
96
00:04:43,618 --> 00:04:45,036
Very nice. Check it, please.
97
00:04:45,036 --> 00:04:46,871
Tony Sirico was very fastidious
98
00:04:46,871 --> 00:04:49,373
and very particular
about how he looked.
99
00:04:49,373 --> 00:04:50,917
No one could touch his hair.
100
00:04:50,917 --> 00:04:53,836
There were no hair people
allowed to touch his hair.
101
00:04:53,836 --> 00:04:55,171
He told me the whole system.
102
00:04:55,171 --> 00:04:56,881
He would get up
at three in the morning,
103
00:04:56,881 --> 00:04:59,300
read his lines, comb his hair,
104
00:04:59,300 --> 00:05:02,095
spray the spray in the air,
the mist would settle,
105
00:05:02,095 --> 00:05:03,513
and he'd do it a few times
106
00:05:03,513 --> 00:05:05,556
until it was shellacked
and ready to go.
107
00:05:05,556 --> 00:05:06,641
The fuck you doing?
108
00:05:07,392 --> 00:05:09,685
- You think we're digging?
- We're doing "Pine Barrens."
109
00:05:09,685 --> 00:05:12,021
That's right, shithead, get to work.
110
00:05:13,272 --> 00:05:15,024
I know the ground's kind of hard,
111
00:05:15,024 --> 00:05:17,193
but give it some of that
Siberian action.
112
00:05:17,193 --> 00:05:19,737
Paulie and Christopher
were going to kill a guy,
113
00:05:19,737 --> 00:05:21,614
took him into the woods,
the guy escaped,
114
00:05:21,614 --> 00:05:23,574
then they got lost in the woods.
115
00:05:24,158 --> 00:05:25,493
Wait a minute.
116
00:05:26,494 --> 00:05:27,912
We walked in a circle.
117
00:05:28,788 --> 00:05:30,331
How's that fucking possible?
118
00:05:31,416 --> 00:05:33,084
One of the aspects of the episode
119
00:05:33,084 --> 00:05:34,419
is when you first see Paulie...
120
00:05:34,419 --> 00:05:36,170
Let's go with the satin finish.
121
00:05:36,170 --> 00:05:38,673
...he's perfectly coiffed
and he's getting a manicure.
122
00:05:38,673 --> 00:05:40,299
- Excuse me.
- The whole idea is that
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00:05:40,299 --> 00:05:41,968
he completely devolves
124
00:05:41,968 --> 00:05:44,762
to the worst version
of himself by the end.
125
00:05:44,762 --> 00:05:46,347
Fucking cunt!
126
00:05:46,347 --> 00:05:47,849
I lost my shoe.
127
00:05:48,641 --> 00:05:50,643
He's a complete mess.
128
00:05:50,643 --> 00:05:53,271
So I said to Tony Sirico,
"That's the reality
129
00:05:53,271 --> 00:05:54,814
of what would happen to your hair."
130
00:05:54,814 --> 00:05:56,315
He goes, "I'm not
messing up my hair."
131
00:05:56,315 --> 00:05:58,317
"Come on.
The whole point of this is that,
132
00:05:58,317 --> 00:06:01,487
you know, you're...
Paulie's all fucked up."
133
00:06:01,487 --> 00:06:02,905
So he said, "All right."
134
00:06:02,905 --> 00:06:06,033
And so he just like...
I said, "Come on. Tony."
135
00:06:06,033 --> 00:06:07,827
And he went, "All right, you fuck."
136
00:06:07,827 --> 00:06:09,495
He messed his hair up like crazy.
137
00:06:09,495 --> 00:06:11,539
I said, "Get this on film
before he changes his mind."
138
00:06:11,539 --> 00:06:13,791
And that's the only time
you've ever seen Tony Sirico
139
00:06:13,791 --> 00:06:15,168
with his hair like that.
140
00:06:15,168 --> 00:06:16,502
Got mayonnaise on your chin.
141
00:06:17,879 --> 00:06:18,713
What?
142
00:06:18,713 --> 00:06:21,466
Mayonnaise!
143
00:06:41,277 --> 00:06:42,945
As the show got more complicated,
144
00:06:42,945 --> 00:06:45,907
Denise and I,
we bought a house in France,
145
00:06:45,907 --> 00:06:47,283
so we would go there to work
146
00:06:47,283 --> 00:06:49,160
trying to come up
with the next season.
147
00:06:49,869 --> 00:06:51,704
She was always gardening,
so I'd go out there
148
00:06:51,704 --> 00:06:53,664
and sit there while
she was clipping and stuff,
149
00:06:53,664 --> 00:06:55,458
and I'd tell her these stories.
150
00:06:56,250 --> 00:06:58,628
Her influence, it was extraordinary.
151
00:07:02,882 --> 00:07:04,342
It was always 13 episodes.
152
00:07:05,301 --> 00:07:06,844
So I'd make 13 lines.
153
00:07:08,429 --> 00:07:11,766
Then I'd start making lines like that
that would say, "Tony."
154
00:07:11,766 --> 00:07:13,393
What does Tony do in episode one?
155
00:07:13,393 --> 00:07:15,103
What does Tony do in episode two?
156
00:07:15,103 --> 00:07:18,231
What happens...
And that was containing a plot.
157
00:07:18,231 --> 00:07:20,733
Then I started adding Carmela.
158
00:07:20,733 --> 00:07:22,276
What's Carmela doing?
159
00:07:22,276 --> 00:07:23,986
She had her own season.
160
00:07:23,986 --> 00:07:26,447
Chris. They all had their own
seasons.
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00:07:26,447 --> 00:07:29,659
Some of them had two or three.
Tony would have two or three lines
162
00:07:29,659 --> 00:07:32,078
of what happened to him
in that season.
163
00:07:32,787 --> 00:07:33,913
Then I would get back,
164
00:07:33,913 --> 00:07:35,832
I would lay it all out
for the writers
165
00:07:35,832 --> 00:07:38,042
so they knew what the direction
of the season was.
166
00:07:38,042 --> 00:07:41,003
Then we'd sit down, we'd say,
"All right, episode one.
167
00:07:41,003 --> 00:07:42,380
I know what it says up here,
168
00:07:42,380 --> 00:07:44,757
but what's this really
going to be about?"
169
00:07:45,299 --> 00:07:47,885
It was actually building a drama.
170
00:07:47,885 --> 00:07:49,679
They're meeting in a basement,
after all.
171
00:07:49,679 --> 00:07:51,973
We'd sit around bullshitting,
like you and I are doing.
172
00:07:51,973 --> 00:07:53,558
- Right.
- All day long.
173
00:07:53,558 --> 00:07:57,311
We'd talk about it
and bullshit, bullshit, bullshit,
174
00:07:57,311 --> 00:07:59,147
which a lot of good stuff
comes out of that.
175
00:07:59,147 --> 00:08:02,150
It was literally sitting
with your friends
176
00:08:02,150 --> 00:08:04,485
and, "What'd you do last night?"
177
00:08:04,485 --> 00:08:07,029
And that would digress into a story,
178
00:08:07,029 --> 00:08:09,574
or, "One time this happened
to me, or that, or..."
179
00:08:09,574 --> 00:08:12,577
And sometimes it was prompted
by David saying things like,
180
00:08:12,577 --> 00:08:14,412
"What's the worst thing
you've ever done
181
00:08:14,412 --> 00:08:15,663
to somebody in a relationship?"
182
00:08:16,914 --> 00:08:20,001
Really, Tony, just tell me.
How come I can't see you again?
183
00:08:20,001 --> 00:08:21,169
'Cause you fuck Ralph.
184
00:08:21,169 --> 00:08:22,670
You got morals all of a sudden?
185
00:08:22,670 --> 00:08:24,422
I don't got morals,
but I do got rules.
186
00:08:24,422 --> 00:08:28,551
And you'd just tell stories.
And it was very therapeutic.
187
00:08:28,551 --> 00:08:31,179
I mean, again, we were also
together for years.
188
00:08:31,179 --> 00:08:33,723
So, I mean, in that room
we went through,
189
00:08:33,723 --> 00:08:36,309
you know, divorces
and children being born
190
00:08:36,309 --> 00:08:39,479
and parents dying, and a lot--
191
00:08:39,479 --> 00:08:41,439
You know, the stuff of life.
192
00:08:41,439 --> 00:08:45,276
The actor is the instrument
for conveying ideas.
193
00:08:45,985 --> 00:08:47,236
During the next...
194
00:08:47,236 --> 00:08:49,447
I told a story about
how when I started writing,
195
00:08:49,447 --> 00:08:51,157
I also took acting classes.
196
00:08:51,157 --> 00:08:52,492
This is Acting for Writers?
197
00:08:52,492 --> 00:08:55,995
And that became part of
the first episode I ever wrote.
198
00:08:55,995 --> 00:08:57,663
Help me, Daddy!
199
00:08:59,207 --> 00:09:01,292
Dad, help me!
200
00:09:02,001 --> 00:09:03,294
Daddy!
201
00:09:03,294 --> 00:09:05,505
You can depend on me.
202
00:09:06,089 --> 00:09:06,923
Trust me.
203
00:09:08,841 --> 00:09:11,552
I told them a story about a visit
to a psychic I had.
204
00:09:11,552 --> 00:09:14,013
That became a story
where Paulie visits a psychic.
205
00:09:14,013 --> 00:09:15,598
Charles Pagano.
206
00:09:16,182 --> 00:09:17,558
How the fuck do you know that?
207
00:09:17,558 --> 00:09:19,769
He says he was your first,
208
00:09:20,728 --> 00:09:21,896
but I feel many more.
209
00:09:21,896 --> 00:09:23,689
- Hey!
- That one's laughing.
210
00:09:24,690 --> 00:09:25,650
Poison ivy?
211
00:09:27,985 --> 00:09:29,904
He wants to know if it still itches.
212
00:09:30,780 --> 00:09:32,824
Don't fuck with me.
Who you been talking to?
213
00:09:33,658 --> 00:09:36,619
All my stories, they come directly
214
00:09:36,619 --> 00:09:40,665
from my personal experiences,
seeing and hearing and watching.
215
00:09:41,457 --> 00:09:43,167
26 Grady Court.
216
00:09:43,167 --> 00:09:44,752
- 26. Good.
- This is where I grew up.
217
00:09:44,752 --> 00:09:46,045
The building I grew up in.
218
00:09:46,796 --> 00:09:50,174
And here's my famous apartment
right here, 107.
219
00:09:50,842 --> 00:09:53,219
I grew up in a place called
Maverick Housing Projects
220
00:09:53,219 --> 00:09:54,804
in East Boston.
221
00:09:54,804 --> 00:09:57,807
Whether it was shoplifting
to whatever we did
222
00:09:57,807 --> 00:09:59,475
to make money as a kid, you know.
223
00:10:00,309 --> 00:10:02,353
And when I'm like 13, 14,
224
00:10:02,353 --> 00:10:06,399
I found my way
into the local social club
225
00:10:06,399 --> 00:10:09,026
with these neighborhood gangsters.
226
00:10:09,026 --> 00:10:11,404
If I'm getting an invitation
to the dance,
227
00:10:11,404 --> 00:10:13,489
I wish the feds would
hurry the fuck up about it.
228
00:10:13,489 --> 00:10:15,116
"Hey, kid, do me a favor.
229
00:10:15,116 --> 00:10:16,993
Just sweep the floors."
230
00:10:16,993 --> 00:10:18,911
And I worked the card games.
231
00:10:18,911 --> 00:10:21,080
- Yeah, I'm in.
- 400 to you, Sil.
232
00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,292
Behind closed doors,
I was with these guys.
233
00:10:24,292 --> 00:10:26,210
Don't look at the floor. Look at me.
234
00:10:26,210 --> 00:10:28,588
So once we got in the room together
235
00:10:28,588 --> 00:10:31,966
to write characters,
like Bobby Baccala...
236
00:10:31,966 --> 00:10:35,011
To the victor belongs the spoils.
237
00:10:35,011 --> 00:10:36,679
Get the fuck out of here before
238
00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:39,265
I shove your quotations book
up your fat ass.
239
00:10:40,641 --> 00:10:42,727
...or Richie Aprile...
240
00:10:42,727 --> 00:10:46,272
I did a lot of meditation
in the can on this.
241
00:10:46,272 --> 00:10:47,732
On what?
242
00:10:47,732 --> 00:10:50,234
You can't believe
how clear you see things.
243
00:10:51,444 --> 00:10:52,320
Do you ever meditate?
244
00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,322
- Me? Meditate?
- Beansie...
245
00:10:54,322 --> 00:10:56,616
- Are you crazy?
- Not as crazy as I used to be.
246
00:10:57,909 --> 00:11:00,161
Still crazy enough
to take an eye out.
247
00:11:00,161 --> 00:11:02,121
What's going on here, Rich?
248
00:11:02,121 --> 00:11:03,623
This is where I could contribute
249
00:11:03,623 --> 00:11:07,043
based on my experiences
around these wiseguys.
250
00:11:07,168 --> 00:11:10,463
Sucking up to Tony Soprano
has done wonders for you.
251
00:11:10,463 --> 00:11:12,632
Look at somebody like Uncle Junior
252
00:11:12,632 --> 00:11:14,509
or Tony or Paulie Walnuts.
253
00:11:14,509 --> 00:11:16,677
These are, like, petty,
horrible people.
254
00:11:16,677 --> 00:11:20,932
So you felt free to talk about
anything you wanted.
255
00:11:20,932 --> 00:11:22,850
It was all just, hey,
this is a writers' room.
256
00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:24,894
We're writing about bad people.
257
00:11:24,894 --> 00:11:26,270
Bad people do bad things,
258
00:11:26,270 --> 00:11:28,356
and we got to access
those parts of ourself.
259
00:11:28,356 --> 00:11:32,443
We said things that nowadays
260
00:11:32,443 --> 00:11:33,945
would be frowned upon.
261
00:11:33,945 --> 00:11:38,866
We could have been mistaken
for being racist, sexist,
262
00:11:38,866 --> 00:11:40,618
you-name-it-ist, you know.
263
00:11:40,618 --> 00:11:43,162
We considered having an assistant
in there for a while,
264
00:11:44,789 --> 00:11:46,999
and realized we couldn't do that.
265
00:11:47,583 --> 00:11:50,211
If she had a bathing suit on,
if you're-- are you serious?
266
00:11:50,211 --> 00:11:51,587
I think she stayed at the door
267
00:11:51,587 --> 00:11:53,297
and as he goes,
she's calling after him...
268
00:11:53,297 --> 00:11:55,508
So how did you make the transition
269
00:11:55,508 --> 00:11:58,052
from being a cast member
to being a writer?
270
00:11:58,052 --> 00:12:01,305
You know, I didn't start writing
on the show
271
00:12:01,305 --> 00:12:04,016
because I wanted to give
my character juicy stuff to do.
272
00:12:04,016 --> 00:12:06,728
It was really because I really loved
all the characters.
273
00:12:06,728 --> 00:12:09,522
I just fell in love with all of them.
274
00:12:09,522 --> 00:12:11,566
What I learned from David was,
275
00:12:11,566 --> 00:12:15,069
you know, specificity,
specifics, detail.
276
00:12:15,695 --> 00:12:17,071
Everything was thought out.
277
00:12:18,823 --> 00:12:21,033
At some point during the process,
278
00:12:21,033 --> 00:12:23,661
David would get up
and go on the couch
279
00:12:23,661 --> 00:12:25,830
and just lay down and go to sleep.
280
00:12:25,830 --> 00:12:27,290
And we would just keep talking.
281
00:12:27,874 --> 00:12:29,625
But he wasn't really asleep.
282
00:12:29,625 --> 00:12:31,627
He'd have his eyes closed, thinking.
283
00:12:32,128 --> 00:12:34,047
I couldn't stand talking anymore,
284
00:12:34,047 --> 00:12:35,882
and I would be on the couch by myself
285
00:12:35,882 --> 00:12:37,925
and they'd go on talking.
286
00:12:38,885 --> 00:12:41,095
And finally I would get
something done.
287
00:12:41,095 --> 00:12:43,097
At some point, he would get up
288
00:12:43,097 --> 00:12:44,974
and silence would befall the room,
289
00:12:44,974 --> 00:12:47,018
he would pick up a marker,
go to the board,
290
00:12:47,018 --> 00:12:48,644
and then write out
291
00:12:48,644 --> 00:12:52,231
a fully fleshed-out 12-beat story.
292
00:12:52,231 --> 00:12:54,984
David starts filling the whiteboard.
293
00:12:54,984 --> 00:12:57,653
You know, big--
three gigantic whiteboards.
294
00:12:57,653 --> 00:12:59,906
He's going nuts,
filling the whole thing.
295
00:13:00,656 --> 00:13:03,493
And we're all like,
"Yeah, that's great..."
296
00:13:04,202 --> 00:13:07,038
Chiming in and this thing gets done.
297
00:13:08,164 --> 00:13:09,540
We broke for lunch, we come back,
298
00:13:09,540 --> 00:13:11,250
he's looking at it, goes,
"This is fucking horrible."
299
00:13:11,250 --> 00:13:13,586
Erases the whole-- It took us hours.
300
00:13:13,586 --> 00:13:15,338
Every year we would start,
I'd say, "Remember,
301
00:13:15,338 --> 00:13:18,925
the first five ideas,
we're going to throw those out.
302
00:13:18,925 --> 00:13:20,176
Don't even bring them up.
303
00:13:20,176 --> 00:13:23,513
Idea number six, maybe you should..."
304
00:13:23,513 --> 00:13:25,515
- This includes me.
- Right.
305
00:13:25,515 --> 00:13:26,641
"...we'll talk, we'll voice it.
306
00:13:26,641 --> 00:13:29,060
Everything else, we've seen before.
307
00:13:29,727 --> 00:13:30,770
It's not good."
308
00:13:31,646 --> 00:13:33,523
You're talking about
important things.
309
00:13:33,523 --> 00:13:36,526
You're talking about life,
death, love, violence.
310
00:13:37,985 --> 00:13:40,571
Shut up, don't turn around.
311
00:13:40,571 --> 00:13:44,242
I still feel proud that we never
did violence for violence sake.
312
00:13:44,242 --> 00:13:45,451
I didn't find that.
313
00:13:45,451 --> 00:13:46,953
It was consistent
with the characters.
314
00:13:46,953 --> 00:13:48,996
Yeah, I thought it was earned.
315
00:13:48,996 --> 00:13:53,418
I don't think any of us ever
were gratuitous with violence.
316
00:13:53,418 --> 00:13:56,671
I don't think we ever said,
"We got to show this gory thing."
317
00:13:56,671 --> 00:13:57,588
It was the opposite.
318
00:13:57,588 --> 00:13:59,674
I'll give you all my money!
319
00:14:04,303 --> 00:14:05,304
No!
320
00:14:05,304 --> 00:14:07,640
- No!
- Shut up!
321
00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:09,100
- Come on!
- Get the panties off.
322
00:14:09,100 --> 00:14:10,685
No, stop it!
323
00:14:11,978 --> 00:14:14,564
Please! No!
324
00:14:16,023 --> 00:14:17,984
- No!
- You fucking bitch.
325
00:14:17,984 --> 00:14:20,111
No!
326
00:14:21,946 --> 00:14:25,450
Stop it!
327
00:14:36,419 --> 00:14:41,174
Melfi's rape was very, very violent
and incredibly disturbing to watch
328
00:14:41,174 --> 00:14:43,051
because it made her choice
329
00:14:43,051 --> 00:14:46,345
whether or not to tell Tony
all the more poignant
330
00:14:46,345 --> 00:14:48,222
because you saw what happened to her.
331
00:14:49,974 --> 00:14:51,559
Did they let him go?
332
00:14:51,559 --> 00:14:55,188
Somebody misplaced the evidence kit,
for a little while or something--
333
00:14:55,188 --> 00:14:57,940
I don't know what the fuck they did,
those stupid idiots.
334
00:14:57,940 --> 00:15:00,276
Did they just let him out
until the trial?
335
00:15:00,276 --> 00:15:01,736
Because I can identify him.
336
00:15:02,528 --> 00:15:03,404
It's a legal thing.
337
00:15:03,404 --> 00:15:05,406
I think they just
have to let him skip.
338
00:15:05,406 --> 00:15:06,741
That's impossible.
339
00:15:06,741 --> 00:15:08,785
I just told you everything
he told me.
340
00:15:10,328 --> 00:15:12,997
That employee of the month cocksucker
341
00:15:12,997 --> 00:15:15,583
is back on the street
and who's going to stop him?
342
00:15:15,583 --> 00:15:16,626
You?
343
00:15:17,210 --> 00:15:20,004
Who could I sic on
that son of a bitch
344
00:15:20,004 --> 00:15:22,173
to tear him to shreds?
345
00:15:31,682 --> 00:15:32,517
What's the matter?
346
00:15:33,810 --> 00:15:35,353
Hey. Come on.
347
00:15:36,521 --> 00:15:37,688
What did I do?
348
00:15:38,815 --> 00:15:39,732
Come on, huh?
349
00:15:39,732 --> 00:15:41,859
I remember reading the script
350
00:15:41,859 --> 00:15:43,319
and not finishing it,
351
00:15:43,820 --> 00:15:46,447
and I called David. I said, "Why?
352
00:15:47,156 --> 00:15:48,783
Why would you hurt her?
353
00:15:49,492 --> 00:15:55,498
She's the only one
trying to have a sense of right,
354
00:15:55,498 --> 00:15:57,959
a sense of reason.
355
00:15:59,669 --> 00:16:01,587
Why are you violating her?
356
00:16:01,587 --> 00:16:04,340
I can't even get through it,
I'm so upset."
357
00:16:05,299 --> 00:16:08,594
"Could you just read it
to the end, Lorraine?"
358
00:16:08,594 --> 00:16:11,180
And I said, "Yeah, okay."
359
00:16:11,806 --> 00:16:12,765
And then...
360
00:16:16,728 --> 00:16:17,770
What?
361
00:16:19,605 --> 00:16:21,315
I mean, you want to say something?
362
00:16:29,907 --> 00:16:30,950
No.
363
00:16:32,034 --> 00:16:34,620
When she says, "No,"
364
00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:37,790
it hit me like a ton of bricks.
365
00:16:38,666 --> 00:16:41,169
There's a fork in the road,
366
00:16:41,169 --> 00:16:44,047
and she has to choose that fork.
367
00:16:44,630 --> 00:16:46,090
I mean, let's put it this way.
368
00:16:47,050 --> 00:16:50,136
She knew if she told him
about the rape,
369
00:16:52,346 --> 00:16:54,474
then it was all over.
370
00:16:55,224 --> 00:16:57,018
She didn't go to school
371
00:16:57,935 --> 00:17:00,396
for 15 years
372
00:17:01,606 --> 00:17:03,149
to become a gangster.
373
00:17:08,112 --> 00:17:10,156
Even the most violent episodes
374
00:17:10,156 --> 00:17:13,534
had such... beauty to them.
375
00:17:13,534 --> 00:17:16,329
Like the episode where
the stripper gets killed.
376
00:17:17,121 --> 00:17:19,665
It tells the story of Meadow
in college.
377
00:17:20,958 --> 00:17:21,918
Do you have a condom?
378
00:17:27,256 --> 00:17:30,176
Against this young girl
who would be the same age.
379
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,142
The show was always shocking
somebody about something.
380
00:17:38,142 --> 00:17:39,852
That make you feel good?
381
00:17:40,686 --> 00:17:42,271
You feel like a man?
382
00:17:42,271 --> 00:17:45,400
You could push the envelope
and let people be uncomfortable.
383
00:17:46,776 --> 00:17:49,278
Forgive me, but like,
without a trigger warning.
384
00:17:49,946 --> 00:17:52,824
The whole point is
you want to surprise people
385
00:17:52,824 --> 00:17:55,284
and give them feelings
that maybe are uncomfortable
386
00:17:55,284 --> 00:17:57,286
and have them learn
to deal with them.
387
00:17:57,286 --> 00:18:00,164
That, my friend, is life.
388
00:18:00,164 --> 00:18:02,125
You're not going to be given
trigger warnings
389
00:18:02,125 --> 00:18:03,793
when terrible things happen.
390
00:18:15,847 --> 00:18:18,516
Ralphie beating
the stripper to death.
391
00:18:18,516 --> 00:18:22,437
You needed to see what an absolute
despicable person this was
392
00:18:22,437 --> 00:18:24,814
in order to understand
393
00:18:24,814 --> 00:18:26,941
these are the guys
you're rooting for.
394
00:18:26,941 --> 00:18:28,276
Look at you now.
395
00:18:30,486 --> 00:18:32,238
It was interesting,
every once in a while,
396
00:18:32,238 --> 00:18:33,740
the audience would be
lulled into feeling
397
00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:35,533
"Oh, these are big, fun teddy bears
398
00:18:35,533 --> 00:18:37,493
you can talk to
over the backyard fence."
399
00:18:37,493 --> 00:18:39,787
And that's true
until you owe them money,
400
00:18:39,787 --> 00:18:41,539
and then they're not funny anymore.
401
00:18:41,539 --> 00:18:43,750
And then-- so we would,
every once in a while,
402
00:18:43,875 --> 00:18:47,336
remind people, this is who
Tony Soprano really is.
403
00:18:47,336 --> 00:18:48,629
You finished?
404
00:18:52,633 --> 00:18:53,634
Thank you, T.
405
00:18:54,802 --> 00:18:56,304
'Cause that sugarless motherfucker,
406
00:18:57,221 --> 00:18:59,140
it's the last fucking drink
you're ever gonna have.
407
00:18:59,140 --> 00:19:02,977
Oh! Swear to God! Mommy!
Mommy, please, Tony.
408
00:19:02,977 --> 00:19:05,772
I said to the writers,
look, he's a killer.
409
00:19:06,689 --> 00:19:09,400
He's a philanderer.
He's a motherfucker.
410
00:19:11,486 --> 00:19:13,946
He's a fool, in many ways.
411
00:19:13,946 --> 00:19:15,907
Maybe it sounds fucking crazy to you.
412
00:19:15,907 --> 00:19:18,117
But Tony's always got to be
the smartest guy in the room.
413
00:19:18,117 --> 00:19:19,702
Nothing sounds crazy,
the older I get.
414
00:19:22,538 --> 00:19:24,082
He's not fun all the time.
415
00:19:25,625 --> 00:19:29,337
This is a bad guy,
extremely violent person.
416
00:19:30,755 --> 00:19:31,672
You want coffee?
417
00:19:33,341 --> 00:19:34,217
No.
418
00:19:34,217 --> 00:19:36,177
And I always felt that
419
00:19:36,177 --> 00:19:38,304
if there was any lack of realism,
420
00:19:38,930 --> 00:19:42,016
it was that he was more
reflective than reality.
421
00:19:42,767 --> 00:19:43,935
Tony thinks too much.
422
00:19:43,935 --> 00:19:45,061
He's too worried.
423
00:19:45,895 --> 00:19:48,898
But something was happening to him
that he couldn't control.
424
00:19:48,898 --> 00:19:50,066
The panic attacks, really.
425
00:19:50,066 --> 00:19:51,609
If it hadn't been
for the panic attacks,
426
00:19:51,609 --> 00:19:53,653
I don't think he would have
gone to a shrink.
427
00:19:53,653 --> 00:19:55,947
I don't got time for these
fucking attacks.
428
00:19:55,947 --> 00:19:57,824
It was so good for months.
429
00:19:57,824 --> 00:19:59,492
But he couldn't afford
to be collapsing
430
00:19:59,492 --> 00:20:01,160
in front of his crew.
431
00:20:01,953 --> 00:20:04,622
And obviously there was a lot
underneath there.
432
00:20:04,622 --> 00:20:07,792
He was very depressed
and didn't understand or know it.
433
00:20:08,543 --> 00:20:10,920
He had a lot of fears,
didn't know it.
434
00:20:12,088 --> 00:20:14,674
Do you have any qualms about
how you actually
435
00:20:15,842 --> 00:20:17,009
make a living?
436
00:20:18,344 --> 00:20:19,387
Yeah.
437
00:20:21,556 --> 00:20:23,558
I find I have to be the sad clown.
438
00:20:24,684 --> 00:20:26,227
Laughing on the outside,
439
00:20:27,270 --> 00:20:28,896
crying on the inside.
440
00:20:30,690 --> 00:20:32,817
I feel exhausted
just talking about it.
441
00:20:33,943 --> 00:20:36,988
It's my feeling, and I've been
to a lot of therapy,
442
00:20:36,988 --> 00:20:40,533
you're really never held to account
with a psychiatrist.
443
00:20:42,034 --> 00:20:44,662
And that's always kind of
bothered me a little bit.
444
00:20:45,246 --> 00:20:47,165
"You mean anything I do is...?"
445
00:20:47,165 --> 00:20:49,417
"You have to understand
what my parents are like,
446
00:20:49,417 --> 00:20:51,002
and so I can't be blamed?"
447
00:20:51,002 --> 00:20:52,378
Hello?
448
00:20:55,798 --> 00:20:58,843
Theoretically, therapy is supposed to
make you a better person.
449
00:20:58,843 --> 00:21:00,094
All right, let me hear it.
450
00:21:00,094 --> 00:21:01,637
Instead, it made him
a better mobster.
451
00:21:01,637 --> 00:21:03,848
He could actually take
what other people
452
00:21:03,848 --> 00:21:05,433
were feeling into account,
453
00:21:06,517 --> 00:21:08,394
for 20 or 30 seconds.
454
00:21:08,394 --> 00:21:11,606
All we want you to do is talk to him.
455
00:21:11,606 --> 00:21:13,066
After all, he's your uncle.
456
00:21:13,066 --> 00:21:14,984
- Come on.
- That's right.
457
00:21:15,651 --> 00:21:18,362
As we said in the show,
as Livia said,
458
00:21:18,362 --> 00:21:19,280
"Psychiatry..."
459
00:21:19,989 --> 00:21:23,159
That's nothing but a racket
for the Jews.
460
00:21:23,159 --> 00:21:25,578
That's what my mother
would have said about psychiatry.
461
00:21:25,578 --> 00:21:27,580
They knew nothing about it.
462
00:21:27,580 --> 00:21:28,623
Melfi.
463
00:21:28,623 --> 00:21:31,876
So it was really important to me
for her to be Italian.
464
00:21:31,876 --> 00:21:33,378
What part of the boot you from, hon?
465
00:21:33,378 --> 00:21:34,962
"Dr. Melfi."
466
00:21:36,339 --> 00:21:38,966
My father's people were from Caserta.
467
00:21:38,966 --> 00:21:40,093
Avellino.
468
00:21:40,968 --> 00:21:43,179
My mother would have loved it
if you and I got together.
469
00:21:43,179 --> 00:21:46,849
And not to be too forceful,
470
00:21:47,433 --> 00:21:49,519
or to be even that sympathetic.
471
00:21:50,228 --> 00:21:52,438
What's the one thing every woman--
472
00:21:52,438 --> 00:21:54,315
your mother, your wife,
your daughter--
473
00:21:54,315 --> 00:21:55,525
have in common?
474
00:21:55,525 --> 00:21:57,318
They all break my balls.
475
00:21:57,318 --> 00:21:59,070
Her character was based on
476
00:21:59,070 --> 00:22:01,406
the psychologist
I was going to at that time.
477
00:22:01,406 --> 00:22:02,782
They're all Italian. So what?
478
00:22:02,782 --> 00:22:05,451
So, maybe by coming clean with me,
479
00:22:05,451 --> 00:22:07,245
you're dialoguing with them.
480
00:22:07,245 --> 00:22:10,873
I think I began to realize
that what I was doing there was
481
00:22:10,873 --> 00:22:12,875
re-mothering myself.
482
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,877
What you were doing
there in therapy...
483
00:22:14,877 --> 00:22:16,546
- With her.
- Right.
484
00:22:17,505 --> 00:22:19,549
Was, I was getting a new mother.
485
00:22:19,549 --> 00:22:20,550
What?
486
00:22:20,550 --> 00:22:23,136
And certainly,
that's what Tony was doing.
487
00:22:23,136 --> 00:22:25,388
You've made me all of the things
488
00:22:25,388 --> 00:22:27,432
you feel are missing in your wife
489
00:22:28,599 --> 00:22:29,892
and in your mother.
490
00:22:38,067 --> 00:22:40,570
You're making me out to be some
fucking mama's boy.
491
00:22:41,738 --> 00:22:42,739
I'm a man.
492
00:22:43,740 --> 00:22:46,284
Now that we're sitting
in this psychiatrist's office
493
00:22:46,284 --> 00:22:47,869
and we're analyzing these guys,
494
00:22:48,536 --> 00:22:50,121
he needed a mother.
495
00:22:50,121 --> 00:22:51,205
Ma?
496
00:22:51,205 --> 00:22:53,332
His mother was a lunatic.
497
00:22:53,332 --> 00:22:54,751
You know my good jewelry?
498
00:22:54,876 --> 00:22:56,169
The stuff Dad gave you.
499
00:22:57,336 --> 00:22:59,422
Some of those pieces
came right out of Cartier's window.
500
00:22:59,422 --> 00:23:02,425
I gave it all
to your cousin Josephine.
501
00:23:03,676 --> 00:23:05,303
What the fuck? The good jewelry?
502
00:23:05,303 --> 00:23:06,804
She always admired it.
503
00:23:06,804 --> 00:23:08,097
I think they're a lot alike,
504
00:23:08,097 --> 00:23:09,432
that's where
the conflict comes from.
505
00:23:09,432 --> 00:23:12,185
You gave a fucking cousin
Cartier dinner rings,
506
00:23:12,185 --> 00:23:13,644
and you give me a vibrating chair?
507
00:23:13,644 --> 00:23:17,065
He tries because he's Italian
and it's his mother,
508
00:23:17,065 --> 00:23:19,984
but she knows all the buttons
to push on him
509
00:23:19,984 --> 00:23:21,360
and consistently does it.
510
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:25,073
Listen, before you do any more
serious damage to yourself
511
00:23:25,073 --> 00:23:26,991
or your grandchildren's inheritance,
512
00:23:26,991 --> 00:23:28,701
you're going to stop
living alone right now.
513
00:23:28,701 --> 00:23:31,204
I'm not going to that nursing home.
514
00:23:31,204 --> 00:23:33,956
Then I will get a durable
power of attorney over you,
515
00:23:33,956 --> 00:23:35,333
and I will place you there.
516
00:23:35,333 --> 00:23:36,626
Then kill me now.
517
00:23:37,418 --> 00:23:38,336
Go on. Go.
518
00:23:38,336 --> 00:23:42,382
Go into the ham and take
the carving knife and stab me.
519
00:23:42,382 --> 00:23:45,676
Here! Now, please!
520
00:23:45,676 --> 00:23:48,429
It would hurt me less
than what you just said.
521
00:23:48,429 --> 00:23:50,765
You know, I know seniors
that are inspired!
522
00:23:53,643 --> 00:23:57,522
Livia was an amalgam,
whether it was intended,
523
00:23:57,522 --> 00:24:00,817
whether David saw it that way
or anybody else saw that,
524
00:24:00,817 --> 00:24:02,235
but it was truly an amalgam.
525
00:24:02,235 --> 00:24:03,694
The writers on The Sopranos,
526
00:24:03,694 --> 00:24:06,114
the one thing we had in common
was we all had the same mom.
527
00:24:06,114 --> 00:24:08,241
And I had a terrible
relationship with my mother.
528
00:24:08,241 --> 00:24:10,451
My mother, just to sum up my mom,
529
00:24:10,451 --> 00:24:13,371
who was absolutely
the rock of our family.
530
00:24:13,371 --> 00:24:15,164
My dad died on a Thursday,
on Monday morning,
531
00:24:15,164 --> 00:24:17,208
my mom was back at work,
with five kids.
532
00:24:17,208 --> 00:24:18,501
God bless her.
533
00:24:18,501 --> 00:24:20,628
But we did not have
a great relationship.
534
00:24:20,628 --> 00:24:23,297
When I got into NYU,
I called my mother and I said,
535
00:24:23,297 --> 00:24:25,133
"Mom, I got accepted
to New York University."
536
00:24:25,133 --> 00:24:27,135
I had been living alone
at that point and she said,
537
00:24:27,135 --> 00:24:28,469
"I'll give you six months."
538
00:24:28,469 --> 00:24:31,139
And I went, "Okay, thanks."
539
00:24:31,139 --> 00:24:33,057
When I got into law school,
I called my mother.
540
00:24:33,057 --> 00:24:35,184
I said, "Mom, I got accepted
to law school."
541
00:24:35,184 --> 00:24:37,895
And she said, "Another one of your
harebrained schemes!"
542
00:24:39,063 --> 00:24:42,024
There's things in that show
that I literally picked them,
543
00:24:42,024 --> 00:24:43,693
you know, visiting my mother.
544
00:24:43,693 --> 00:24:45,361
She was living in a senior housing.
545
00:24:45,361 --> 00:24:47,238
- Who is it?
- It's me, Ma.
546
00:24:47,238 --> 00:24:50,241
The fucking lady next door
kept running the water.
547
00:24:50,241 --> 00:24:51,534
There it is again.
548
00:24:52,952 --> 00:24:54,746
Drove my mother insane.
549
00:24:54,746 --> 00:24:57,790
That's enough water.
How much water does she need?
550
00:24:58,332 --> 00:25:01,002
She runs the water all day.
551
00:25:01,002 --> 00:25:03,171
Water, water, water!
552
00:25:03,171 --> 00:25:05,798
I'm living next door to Gunga Din!
553
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:08,426
It's not concocted.
554
00:25:08,426 --> 00:25:11,554
It's all based on stuff that's,
you know, our real life.
555
00:25:11,554 --> 00:25:13,931
And it all started with David
and his life,
556
00:25:13,931 --> 00:25:16,225
but we recognized similar problems
557
00:25:16,225 --> 00:25:17,894
and similar things that make us laugh
558
00:25:17,894 --> 00:25:19,812
or make us frustrated and stuff.
559
00:25:19,812 --> 00:25:22,732
And if it fit with David
and it fit with Tony Soprano,
560
00:25:22,732 --> 00:25:24,317
that was part of the show.
561
00:25:25,902 --> 00:25:27,445
When I was about eight or nine,
562
00:25:27,445 --> 00:25:30,448
we used to go down to the shore
in Belmar, New Jersey.
563
00:25:31,574 --> 00:25:33,701
And we were going out
somewhere at night,
564
00:25:33,701 --> 00:25:34,702
going down the stairs,
565
00:25:34,702 --> 00:25:37,121
and my father fell
and ripped his pants.
566
00:25:37,121 --> 00:25:39,165
My mother went crazy laughing.
567
00:25:40,792 --> 00:25:43,127
That came from that.
Most people didn't understand.
568
00:25:43,127 --> 00:25:45,630
"What's she laughing at?
That's so horrible."
569
00:25:46,381 --> 00:25:48,925
And Nancy said to my wife Denise,
570
00:25:48,925 --> 00:25:50,343
first season, she said,
571
00:25:51,219 --> 00:25:54,639
"I trust that this creature
I'm portraying is deceased?"
572
00:25:55,556 --> 00:25:57,725
I say what your mother has,
at the very least,
573
00:25:57,725 --> 00:26:01,104
is what we call borderline
personality disorder.
574
00:26:01,104 --> 00:26:02,855
These people's internal phobias
575
00:26:02,855 --> 00:26:04,982
are the only things
that exist to them.
576
00:26:04,982 --> 00:26:07,777
The real world, real people
are peripheral.
577
00:26:07,777 --> 00:26:10,446
These people have no love
or compassion.
578
00:26:11,447 --> 00:26:13,282
In the original feature script
579
00:26:13,282 --> 00:26:17,078
and also in the last episode
of season one,
580
00:26:17,078 --> 00:26:19,747
Melfi was going to tell him,
"It's your mother
581
00:26:19,747 --> 00:26:21,040
who's out to kill you."
582
00:26:21,999 --> 00:26:25,837
You twisted, fucking bitch.
That's my mother we're talking about.
583
00:26:26,462 --> 00:26:29,215
And he goes up to
the retirement center,
584
00:26:29,215 --> 00:26:32,343
and he grabs a pillow,
and he smothers her to death.
585
00:26:32,343 --> 00:26:33,594
That's what it was in the movie,
586
00:26:33,594 --> 00:26:35,763
and that's what it was
going to be in the show.
587
00:26:36,305 --> 00:26:41,310
But Nancy, she had lung cancer
and emphysema.
588
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,272
As the end was coming,
589
00:26:44,272 --> 00:26:47,108
she said, "David, I just...
just keep me working."
590
00:26:47,775 --> 00:26:48,818
Your mom's had a stroke.
591
00:26:48,818 --> 00:26:50,486
So that was changing the whole story.
592
00:26:50,486 --> 00:26:51,446
Stroke?
593
00:26:51,446 --> 00:26:53,698
The news on TV yesterday,
it really upset her.
594
00:26:53,698 --> 00:26:55,158
Not that it's any of my business.
595
00:26:55,158 --> 00:26:57,452
Anyhow, it just happened.
The EMTs are--
596
00:26:57,452 --> 00:26:59,203
I'm going to live
a nice, long, happy life.
597
00:26:59,203 --> 00:27:00,538
Which is more than I can say for you.
598
00:27:00,538 --> 00:27:01,706
- That's enough!
- Yeah?
599
00:27:02,707 --> 00:27:04,083
Keep her moving, keep moving.
600
00:27:04,083 --> 00:27:06,377
I tried to do the right thing,
you try to have me whacked?
601
00:27:06,377 --> 00:27:07,545
She doesn't understand you.
602
00:27:07,545 --> 00:27:10,757
She's smiling!
Look at the look on her face!
603
00:27:10,757 --> 00:27:11,841
She's smiling!
604
00:27:12,383 --> 00:27:13,885
Get off me!
605
00:27:13,885 --> 00:27:16,345
Yeah. So we kept her working.
606
00:27:16,345 --> 00:27:17,638
I wasn't always perfect,
607
00:27:17,638 --> 00:27:19,932
but I always tried to do
the best I could.
608
00:27:22,101 --> 00:27:24,562
And I know you didn't, any of you,
609
00:27:24,562 --> 00:27:27,273
didn't like it when I tried
to tell you what to do.
610
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,736
Babies are like animals.
611
00:27:31,736 --> 00:27:33,571
They're no different than dogs.
612
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,200
Somebody has to teach them
right from wrong.
613
00:27:39,619 --> 00:27:40,953
But she didn't live that long.
614
00:27:48,211 --> 00:27:49,295
She was wonderful.
615
00:27:53,341 --> 00:27:54,384
People loved Livia.
616
00:27:54,384 --> 00:27:56,135
They just got such a kick out of her.
617
00:27:57,178 --> 00:27:59,764
I don't know how many thousands
of times I heard,
618
00:27:59,764 --> 00:28:01,474
"That's just like my grandmother!"
619
00:28:01,474 --> 00:28:03,142
"That's just like my aunt!"
620
00:28:03,142 --> 00:28:05,686
And yet my mother,
who it was patterned after,
621
00:28:05,686 --> 00:28:07,563
was, I thought,
622
00:28:07,563 --> 00:28:11,275
completely out there by herself
in some other universe.
623
00:28:12,610 --> 00:28:13,820
I knew people had mother issues.
624
00:28:13,820 --> 00:28:16,197
I didn't think I was alone
on the reservation,
625
00:28:16,197 --> 00:28:18,199
but I really did think my mother
626
00:28:18,199 --> 00:28:20,284
was out in some other universe.
627
00:28:20,284 --> 00:28:23,704
It's really about her fears
and terrors and anxieties.
628
00:28:24,622 --> 00:28:26,999
But what I didn't understand then,
629
00:28:26,999 --> 00:28:30,211
the thing I learned
many, many years later,
630
00:28:30,211 --> 00:28:32,422
I was living out in California.
631
00:28:32,422 --> 00:28:34,632
I was talking to my mother
on the phone.
632
00:28:34,632 --> 00:28:36,759
This was toward the end of her life.
633
00:28:36,759 --> 00:28:38,594
We were talking about my grandfather.
634
00:28:38,594 --> 00:28:41,723
She said, "It's like Aunt Louise,
he didn't mean to hurt her."
635
00:28:43,099 --> 00:28:44,517
I said, "What do you mean?"
636
00:28:45,309 --> 00:28:48,730
She said, "Well, yes, he kicked her
and he didn't mean to."
637
00:28:48,730 --> 00:28:50,523
I said, "What do you mean
he kicked her?"
638
00:28:51,149 --> 00:28:53,484
She said, "Well, yes,
he kicked her in the vagina."
639
00:28:54,736 --> 00:28:55,903
I said, "What?"
640
00:28:56,904 --> 00:28:58,906
She said, "Yeah,
he kicked her in the vagina."
641
00:28:59,449 --> 00:29:01,075
I said, "What was going on?"
642
00:29:01,075 --> 00:29:02,326
"Oh, I don't know.
643
00:29:02,326 --> 00:29:04,287
She was getting married the next day.
644
00:29:04,287 --> 00:29:07,331
And he was just upset."
645
00:29:09,959 --> 00:29:11,127
I just thought,
646
00:29:12,086 --> 00:29:14,297
this is-- things started
to make sense to me.
647
00:29:15,048 --> 00:29:17,884
Because I remember
my mother screaming
648
00:29:18,676 --> 00:29:20,053
in a nightmare saying,
649
00:29:20,053 --> 00:29:21,888
"Papa, put your pants back on!
650
00:29:21,888 --> 00:29:24,557
Don't do--
Papa, put your pants back on!"
651
00:29:24,557 --> 00:29:25,641
So I have no proof,
652
00:29:26,309 --> 00:29:28,269
but he was a bad guy
653
00:29:29,353 --> 00:29:30,646
and so was my father's father.
654
00:29:32,065 --> 00:29:34,108
Some of these guys
from Southern Italy...
655
00:29:34,901 --> 00:29:36,069
Wow.
656
00:29:50,625 --> 00:29:53,669
I came here to Hollywood
to make movies,
657
00:29:53,669 --> 00:29:56,172
and I got sidetracked into TV
658
00:29:56,172 --> 00:29:58,132
and to becoming a writer,
659
00:29:58,132 --> 00:30:01,010
basically because of what I would say
were my own weaknesses.
660
00:30:01,010 --> 00:30:03,096
One, I became scared to direct,
661
00:30:03,096 --> 00:30:05,848
and also there was money involved.
662
00:30:06,557 --> 00:30:08,559
But then the second year of the show,
663
00:30:08,559 --> 00:30:11,813
my feature agent took me out
to lunch and he said,
664
00:30:11,813 --> 00:30:15,066
"I want to impress upon you
that you are a brand now.
665
00:30:15,066 --> 00:30:17,026
And why I'm saying this
to you because
666
00:30:17,026 --> 00:30:19,821
now you can get to do
all those movies you want."
667
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,033
Many people probably would have quit
then and there, right?
668
00:30:24,033 --> 00:30:25,576
And maybe I should have.
669
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,913
But I just loved doing
The Sopranos so much
670
00:30:28,913 --> 00:30:30,248
that I stuck with it.
671
00:30:31,249 --> 00:30:33,459
They talk about
universe-building all the time.
672
00:30:34,168 --> 00:30:36,087
The more I did The Sopranos,
673
00:30:36,087 --> 00:30:39,340
the less I could watch anything else.
674
00:30:39,340 --> 00:30:41,676
It wouldn't make sense to me.
675
00:30:41,676 --> 00:30:44,470
It wasn't in the universe
where I was existing.
676
00:30:44,470 --> 00:30:46,973
Not only those characters,
I was living there.
677
00:30:48,975 --> 00:30:50,351
It's all about the characters.
678
00:30:50,351 --> 00:30:51,561
What's going on?
679
00:30:51,561 --> 00:30:53,813
I mean, the story comes out
of those characters
680
00:30:54,689 --> 00:30:56,441
and in that little universe.
681
00:30:58,317 --> 00:30:59,819
Over and over again,
682
00:30:59,819 --> 00:31:02,405
every character
made a deal with the devil.
683
00:31:02,989 --> 00:31:05,283
What I said, it's about
money and death, right?
684
00:31:05,283 --> 00:31:07,618
Why do we have to get rid
of the body?
685
00:31:07,618 --> 00:31:09,162
With the fucking questions now?
686
00:31:09,746 --> 00:31:11,831
Everybody made a deal with the devil.
687
00:31:11,831 --> 00:31:13,875
There was this issue
of an outstanding loan.
688
00:31:13,875 --> 00:31:15,376
Can I stop you for a second?
689
00:31:15,376 --> 00:31:17,211
Melfi made a deal with the devil.
690
00:31:17,211 --> 00:31:19,338
I don't know where
this story is going.
691
00:31:21,174 --> 00:31:23,634
But there are a few
ethical ground rules
692
00:31:23,634 --> 00:31:25,470
we should quickly get out of the way.
693
00:31:27,096 --> 00:31:31,934
What you tell me here falls under
doctor-patient confidentiality,
694
00:31:32,935 --> 00:31:34,479
except, if I was...
695
00:31:36,481 --> 00:31:39,942
if I was to hear, let's say,
a murder was to take place.
696
00:31:39,942 --> 00:31:42,070
Not that I'm saying it would, but if.
697
00:31:42,612 --> 00:31:44,697
If a patient comes to me
and tells me a story
698
00:31:44,697 --> 00:31:46,240
where someone's going to get hurt,
699
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:48,409
I'm supposed to go
to the authorities.
700
00:31:48,993 --> 00:31:50,536
Would I have to go to the police?
701
00:31:50,536 --> 00:31:51,537
Technically.
702
00:31:51,537 --> 00:31:52,830
Technically.
703
00:31:53,414 --> 00:31:55,166
I don't know what happened
with this fellow.
704
00:31:55,166 --> 00:31:58,127
I'm... I'm just saying.
705
00:31:59,462 --> 00:32:01,047
Isn't that a deal with the devil?
706
00:32:01,547 --> 00:32:02,423
Here.
707
00:32:10,515 --> 00:32:12,642
He's a good man, a good father.
708
00:32:12,642 --> 00:32:15,395
You tell me
he's a depressed criminal,
709
00:32:16,187 --> 00:32:17,605
prone to anger,
710
00:32:18,231 --> 00:32:19,899
serially unfaithful.
711
00:32:19,899 --> 00:32:23,653
Is that your definition
of a good man?
712
00:32:24,946 --> 00:32:27,490
Carmela, she was married
to the devil.
713
00:32:27,490 --> 00:32:29,492
She married him
and stayed married to him.
714
00:32:32,161 --> 00:32:35,289
You can leave now or stay
and hear what I have to say.
715
00:32:38,793 --> 00:32:42,380
You must trust your initial impulse
and consider leaving him.
716
00:32:43,297 --> 00:32:45,717
You'll never be able to
feel good about yourself.
717
00:32:45,717 --> 00:32:49,512
You'll never be able to quell
the feelings of guilt and shame
718
00:32:50,388 --> 00:32:51,681
that you talked about
719
00:32:52,682 --> 00:32:54,058
as long as you're his accomplice.
720
00:32:56,394 --> 00:32:57,270
Leave him.
721
00:32:57,770 --> 00:33:01,107
Take only the children,
what's left of them, and go.
722
00:33:01,941 --> 00:33:04,235
My priest said I should try
and work with him,
723
00:33:04,235 --> 00:33:05,945
help him to be a better man.
724
00:33:05,945 --> 00:33:07,280
How's that going?
725
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,537
She was told, "Take your kids
and leave now."
726
00:33:15,371 --> 00:33:17,415
That old psychiatrist,
727
00:33:17,415 --> 00:33:18,875
that was the only person
728
00:33:18,875 --> 00:33:21,753
that ever spoke the truth about it
in the whole show.
729
00:33:21,753 --> 00:33:23,004
Tony.
730
00:33:24,172 --> 00:33:26,966
I'm not charging you
because I won't take blood money.
731
00:33:26,966 --> 00:33:28,051
Happy birthday.
732
00:33:28,051 --> 00:33:29,302
You can't either.
733
00:33:31,846 --> 00:33:33,473
One thing you can never say,
734
00:33:35,266 --> 00:33:36,809
that you haven't been told.
735
00:33:38,102 --> 00:33:39,979
You're living off of his blood money.
736
00:33:39,979 --> 00:33:41,981
Tony, what did you do?
737
00:33:41,981 --> 00:33:44,776
Take your children now and leave.
738
00:33:44,776 --> 00:33:45,985
Oh my God.
739
00:33:45,985 --> 00:33:47,528
We're having a good week.
740
00:33:48,571 --> 00:33:49,405
She didn't do it.
741
00:33:49,405 --> 00:33:52,325
Oh my God! What a car!
742
00:33:52,325 --> 00:33:54,702
It's a very interesting thing,
the level of denial
743
00:33:55,244 --> 00:33:57,538
that someone like her
would have to live with.
744
00:33:57,538 --> 00:34:00,875
Or the stories she tells herself
in order to make that okay.
745
00:34:01,626 --> 00:34:03,086
I don't think there was
anything going on
746
00:34:03,086 --> 00:34:05,380
she didn't know about,
at least peripherally.
747
00:34:14,180 --> 00:34:16,516
If Tony's the devil,
is there a deal with the devil?
748
00:34:16,516 --> 00:34:18,184
He obviously made
his deal with the devil.
749
00:34:18,184 --> 00:34:21,020
You know, he's really
the devil's representative,
750
00:34:21,020 --> 00:34:22,522
however you want to put it.
751
00:34:23,940 --> 00:34:25,942
But he wasn't happy
with his deal, was he?
752
00:34:26,734 --> 00:34:28,277
See, that's what I often felt.
753
00:34:28,778 --> 00:34:31,030
People said, "Oh, he should
have been punished."
754
00:34:31,823 --> 00:34:32,949
And my response always:
755
00:34:32,949 --> 00:34:36,327
"He was punished every day, this guy.
756
00:34:36,327 --> 00:34:39,831
You didn't see him be miserable
for all these years?"
757
00:34:40,790 --> 00:34:43,167
It's a man in struggle.
He doesn't have a religion.
758
00:34:43,167 --> 00:34:44,544
He doesn't believe in the government.
759
00:34:44,544 --> 00:34:46,295
Mr. Soprano was kind enough
to come with us.
760
00:34:46,295 --> 00:34:49,215
He doesn't believe in anything
except his code of honor.
761
00:34:49,215 --> 00:34:51,175
I'm sure Agent Harris explained
762
00:34:51,175 --> 00:34:52,969
that there's something
we'd like you to hear.
763
00:34:52,969 --> 00:34:55,638
And his code of honor
is all going to shit.
764
00:34:57,098 --> 00:35:00,393
What are you talking about, meetings?
With who, for Christ's sake, Livia?
765
00:35:00,393 --> 00:35:01,811
All of them.
766
00:35:01,811 --> 00:35:02,937
Raymond.
767
00:35:02,937 --> 00:35:04,105
Larry.
768
00:35:04,105 --> 00:35:06,524
Three of my capos have
their mothers in his place?
769
00:35:07,442 --> 00:35:10,278
If this is true, Livia,
you know what I...
770
00:35:10,278 --> 00:35:11,863
I mean, I'm the boss,
for Christ's sake.
771
00:35:11,863 --> 00:35:13,740
If I don't act, blood or no...
772
00:35:15,658 --> 00:35:17,034
I have to.
773
00:35:17,910 --> 00:35:19,495
Dead now, motherfucker.
774
00:35:24,584 --> 00:35:26,127
So he has nothing left
775
00:35:26,127 --> 00:35:27,879
and he's looking around
and he doesn't--
776
00:35:27,879 --> 00:35:29,464
It was that that searching
777
00:35:29,464 --> 00:35:31,799
that I think a lot of America does
half the time.
778
00:35:31,799 --> 00:35:33,676
You can go buy things,
you can do whatever,
779
00:35:33,676 --> 00:35:36,387
but it was that he had
no center left.
780
00:35:36,387 --> 00:35:39,390
He's a guy who always tries to
do the right thing in his mind,
781
00:35:39,390 --> 00:35:42,894
which ends up screwing up
everybody's life, pretty much.
782
00:35:42,894 --> 00:35:44,562
He's always trying to do
the right thing
783
00:35:44,562 --> 00:35:46,481
and it's never really
the right thing.
784
00:35:48,024 --> 00:35:49,650
Like blowing up his friend's
restaurant
785
00:35:49,650 --> 00:35:51,944
to stop a hit from being done there.
786
00:35:51,944 --> 00:35:53,696
He thinks it's the right thing,
787
00:35:53,696 --> 00:35:56,657
instead it reverberates down the path
and screws up everybody's life.
788
00:35:58,910 --> 00:36:00,369
The fuck are you doing?
789
00:36:00,369 --> 00:36:01,621
Look me in the eye.
790
00:36:02,663 --> 00:36:06,084
Tell me you didn't lay a finger
on my place.
791
00:36:06,876 --> 00:36:09,045
I think the show got deeper
as it went on.
792
00:36:09,045 --> 00:36:10,755
I didn't burn down your restaurant.
793
00:36:10,755 --> 00:36:12,590
I think Jim was a lot of
the reason for that.
794
00:36:12,590 --> 00:36:13,925
I swear on my mother.
795
00:36:18,888 --> 00:36:20,390
Jimmy had magic,
796
00:36:20,390 --> 00:36:22,308
and I think that magic kind of
797
00:36:22,308 --> 00:36:24,936
permeated in concentric circles
798
00:36:24,936 --> 00:36:27,397
out to everybody else,
the crew, the directors,
799
00:36:27,397 --> 00:36:29,440
the writers, the actors.
800
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:30,775
Very quiet.
801
00:36:33,403 --> 00:36:35,154
It was always great,
802
00:36:35,154 --> 00:36:37,490
from the beginning to the very end.
803
00:36:38,116 --> 00:36:40,243
Background! Action!
804
00:36:40,243 --> 00:36:43,287
It was like playing,
it always felt like playing with him,
805
00:36:43,287 --> 00:36:45,039
the way little kids play.
806
00:36:45,039 --> 00:36:47,458
Like, "You be the mommy
and I'll be the daddy."
807
00:36:47,458 --> 00:36:50,336
It was as easy and carefree as that.
808
00:36:51,421 --> 00:36:53,131
22, take eight. Pick up eight mark.
809
00:36:54,173 --> 00:36:55,049
Action!
810
00:36:55,049 --> 00:36:56,134
Go ahead.
811
00:36:56,884 --> 00:36:58,594
Tell me again I sound like your wife.
812
00:37:00,638 --> 00:37:01,681
Go ahead.
813
00:37:05,351 --> 00:37:07,729
He would just, you know, fuck around.
814
00:37:08,646 --> 00:37:12,442
He would throw kisses at me
and take his clothes off.
815
00:37:12,442 --> 00:37:15,778
I mean, he was just a lunatic.
816
00:37:17,071 --> 00:37:19,323
- Okay.
- Wait a minute. Hold on.
817
00:37:19,323 --> 00:37:21,784
Go ahead. Tell me again
I sound like your wife.
818
00:37:29,333 --> 00:37:31,044
He was great to that crew.
819
00:37:31,044 --> 00:37:32,253
Made them laugh.
820
00:37:33,129 --> 00:37:36,674
And he gave each of
the cast members $30,000.
821
00:37:36,674 --> 00:37:38,760
You mean after his big negotiation
822
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,888
where he held out and HBO paid him
a million dollars an episode?
823
00:37:41,888 --> 00:37:42,805
Yeah.
824
00:37:44,515 --> 00:37:46,142
When Jim got the deal,
825
00:37:46,142 --> 00:37:47,769
none of us even knew
it was on the table.
826
00:37:47,769 --> 00:37:49,562
We didn't know to negotiate.
827
00:37:50,730 --> 00:37:52,231
I think he felt terrible about that.
828
00:37:52,231 --> 00:37:57,278
So he called us all
into his trailer one by one
829
00:37:57,278 --> 00:37:59,739
and gave everybody a check
for $30,000.
830
00:37:59,739 --> 00:38:01,032
What?
831
00:38:02,950 --> 00:38:06,120
I never got $30,000.
832
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:07,121
All right.
833
00:38:07,121 --> 00:38:09,499
This is where
I turn the camera on you.
834
00:38:09,499 --> 00:38:11,167
No, I don't know anything about that.
835
00:38:11,167 --> 00:38:13,378
He gave money to cast members?
836
00:38:13,378 --> 00:38:15,213
Yeah, that makes--
That sounds like him.
837
00:38:15,797 --> 00:38:19,717
He was a very good-hearted, kind man.
838
00:38:21,386 --> 00:38:22,929
Looking out for his friends.
839
00:38:26,766 --> 00:38:28,559
He was a generous person.
840
00:38:29,185 --> 00:38:31,687
I think he felt HBO had fucked them.
841
00:38:31,687 --> 00:38:35,733
And he wanted to do something
to make up for it, to help.
842
00:38:37,193 --> 00:38:40,530
I also think that there was
maybe a shred of regret
843
00:38:40,530 --> 00:38:43,074
for the days he didn't
show up for work.
844
00:38:43,074 --> 00:38:44,575
Everybody was ready...
845
00:38:47,370 --> 00:38:48,621
Where's Jim?
846
00:38:48,621 --> 00:38:52,208
Look, we all partied
and we had a great fucking time.
847
00:38:52,208 --> 00:38:54,752
And maybe there were
some mornings where it just
848
00:38:54,752 --> 00:38:57,588
was a little harder to get out
of bed for all of us.
849
00:38:57,588 --> 00:38:59,257
It wasn't just Jim.
850
00:38:59,257 --> 00:39:02,760
What started to happen was,
aside from the money that it cost,
851
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,013
there's the worry about, you know,
what's happening to him.
852
00:39:07,473 --> 00:39:10,560
And then ultimately, he had to agree
that we could dock him
853
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,730
$100,000 a day for every day
he didn't show up.
854
00:39:13,730 --> 00:39:15,106
All right, this is a pick-up.
855
00:39:15,773 --> 00:39:18,276
I think what Jim didn't know
or expect
856
00:39:18,985 --> 00:39:22,113
is just how difficult it is to be
the lead of a series.
857
00:39:23,698 --> 00:39:25,867
I had no clue.
858
00:39:25,867 --> 00:39:27,952
I walked in with a big smile
on my face
859
00:39:27,952 --> 00:39:30,997
and I got punched right in the nose
and I said,
860
00:39:30,997 --> 00:39:32,665
"I got to figure out some way
to do this."
861
00:39:32,665 --> 00:39:34,876
I had no clue how to prepare for it.
862
00:39:36,878 --> 00:39:41,466
You'll start Monday morning,
usually 5:30, 6:00, even earlier.
863
00:39:41,466 --> 00:39:44,093
It'll go to... you go 14 hours.
864
00:39:44,093 --> 00:39:46,179
And because the actors have
a 12-hour turnaround,
865
00:39:46,179 --> 00:39:48,014
you go 8:00 and you start
at 8:00 the next day,
866
00:39:48,014 --> 00:39:49,140
then you work till 10:00,
867
00:39:49,140 --> 00:39:51,184
then you start 10:00 the next day,
you'll work till 12:00.
868
00:39:51,184 --> 00:39:53,936
Then you're going to come home
and you've got to memorize
869
00:39:53,936 --> 00:39:58,649
seven, eight pages,
four or five scenes for the next day.
870
00:39:58,649 --> 00:40:00,401
And they can work you later
on a Friday night.
871
00:40:00,401 --> 00:40:03,071
So Friday you're usually there
till 2:00, 3:00 in the morning.
872
00:40:03,071 --> 00:40:05,782
Sometimes we've seen
the sun come up on Saturday,
873
00:40:05,782 --> 00:40:08,201
and then Monday morning,
you start all over again.
874
00:40:09,744 --> 00:40:13,039
He probably quit the show
every other day, I would say.
875
00:40:13,039 --> 00:40:14,582
You know, maybe every day.
876
00:40:14,582 --> 00:40:15,958
But giving him...
877
00:40:15,958 --> 00:40:17,835
Every other day,
878
00:40:17,835 --> 00:40:20,213
we would go to a bar and, you know...
879
00:40:21,422 --> 00:40:23,841
We would have
the exact same conversation.
880
00:40:23,841 --> 00:40:27,387
We would get drunk, you know,
say, "I'm done.
881
00:40:27,387 --> 00:40:28,805
I can't, I'm not going back."
882
00:40:28,805 --> 00:40:30,306
And I would say, "Okay,
883
00:40:30,306 --> 00:40:33,017
you got a hundred people
depending on you here."
884
00:40:33,017 --> 00:40:36,521
You know? And he's like,
"Ah yeah, yeah. Okay."
885
00:40:36,521 --> 00:40:37,688
You know.
886
00:40:38,314 --> 00:40:40,233
So usually he would come back.
887
00:40:40,233 --> 00:40:43,361
But then a few times,
he disappeared for a few days.
888
00:40:43,361 --> 00:40:44,779
You know, it just got to him.
889
00:40:47,573 --> 00:40:49,075
And action.
890
00:40:49,867 --> 00:40:52,370
I'm going to tell you something
you're not going to like.
891
00:40:55,456 --> 00:40:56,416
Fuck.
892
00:40:56,958 --> 00:40:58,084
Just cut it.
893
00:40:59,419 --> 00:41:00,670
This fucking scene.
894
00:41:01,587 --> 00:41:06,050
He felt that he had to go to places,
he said, that were
895
00:41:07,635 --> 00:41:08,761
destructive to him.
896
00:41:08,761 --> 00:41:09,679
You know what?
897
00:41:10,304 --> 00:41:13,349
- And painful for him.
- You're fucking crazy.
898
00:41:13,975 --> 00:41:16,269
All I ever asked for was kindness.
899
00:41:16,269 --> 00:41:17,520
Come here.
900
00:41:18,646 --> 00:41:20,481
You listen to me
and you listen to me good.
901
00:41:21,274 --> 00:41:23,109
No more calls, no more nothing.
902
00:41:23,109 --> 00:41:25,361
You see me, you cross the street.
903
00:41:25,361 --> 00:41:27,613
You're a dangerous fuck
and I don't want you in my life.
904
00:41:28,740 --> 00:41:30,366
No, don't. Don't go!
905
00:41:31,159 --> 00:41:32,034
I'll call your wife!
906
00:41:35,371 --> 00:41:36,205
What'd you say?
907
00:41:38,666 --> 00:41:41,461
I'll go to Columbia.
I'll tell your daughter about us.
908
00:41:42,045 --> 00:41:44,589
Some of the things I'll use
to get angry
909
00:41:45,882 --> 00:41:48,342
are... lack of sleep
910
00:41:50,053 --> 00:41:52,388
will piss you off to no end.
911
00:41:53,681 --> 00:41:55,433
Sleep two, three hours a night
for two nights
912
00:41:55,433 --> 00:41:59,270
before you have a violent scene,
every single thing that anyone does
913
00:41:59,270 --> 00:42:00,605
will piss you off.
914
00:42:01,647 --> 00:42:02,940
Now you listen to me.
915
00:42:03,649 --> 00:42:05,985
You go near my wife or my family,
916
00:42:05,985 --> 00:42:07,236
and I'll fucking kill you.
917
00:42:07,236 --> 00:42:09,280
You understand me?
I'll fucking kill you.
918
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,408
Kill me. Kill me, you cocksucker.
919
00:42:12,408 --> 00:42:14,660
I'll do a lot of weird things.
Bang my head on things.
920
00:42:14,660 --> 00:42:16,204
You do whatever you need to do.
921
00:42:16,204 --> 00:42:18,081
Put a rock in your shoe,
a very pointy rock.
922
00:42:18,081 --> 00:42:19,415
Walk around with that all day.
923
00:42:20,249 --> 00:42:22,668
I mean, it's silly, but it works.
You're mad.
924
00:42:23,586 --> 00:42:25,630
And slowly, things become
more accessible to you.
925
00:42:25,630 --> 00:42:27,757
But I find I need to be alone.
926
00:42:28,424 --> 00:42:30,927
I'm not the type that's going to be
chatting a lot
927
00:42:30,927 --> 00:42:32,762
before I have to do something.
928
00:42:32,762 --> 00:42:34,472
I'll drink six cups of coffee.
929
00:42:35,223 --> 00:42:36,974
I don't recommend that
to anybody, but...
930
00:42:37,767 --> 00:42:39,060
And then you're mad.
931
00:42:39,060 --> 00:42:41,396
I'll try anything
to get where I have to go.
932
00:42:41,396 --> 00:42:43,272
As long as it's not
gonna hurt anybody.
933
00:42:43,773 --> 00:42:47,151
Fucking goddamn! Fucking bitch!
934
00:42:48,236 --> 00:42:49,529
Goddamn it, Tony!
935
00:43:01,582 --> 00:43:03,292
He would get himself ready
for a scene
936
00:43:03,292 --> 00:43:05,169
by punching the inside
of the car so much
937
00:43:05,169 --> 00:43:06,546
his knuckles would be bruised.
938
00:43:06,546 --> 00:43:09,048
He'd have to do these
things to himself.
939
00:43:13,428 --> 00:43:17,348
When Jim killed the snitch,
he really hurt his hands.
940
00:43:17,348 --> 00:43:19,434
The rope or whatever it was.
941
00:43:24,397 --> 00:43:26,023
He was incredibly invested
942
00:43:26,023 --> 00:43:28,359
in making that character believable,
943
00:43:28,359 --> 00:43:31,237
and unless you're really diligent,
944
00:43:31,237 --> 00:43:33,239
you can end up taking your work home.
945
00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:35,533
As an actor, that's not
always a great idea.
946
00:43:35,533 --> 00:43:39,579
So yeah, I think it may have
taken a toll on him.
947
00:43:42,790 --> 00:43:45,668
When you said to me,
"He said it was difficult for him,"
948
00:43:45,668 --> 00:43:47,128
and I said, "That's what he said."
949
00:43:47,128 --> 00:43:48,129
Right.
950
00:43:48,129 --> 00:43:51,549
To a certain extent,
I'm being a wiseass
951
00:43:51,549 --> 00:43:54,844
because obviously there was other
things going on in his life also.
952
00:43:55,678 --> 00:43:59,140
And he had some problems
which are now well-known
953
00:44:00,558 --> 00:44:02,560
that were continuing to go on.
954
00:44:03,269 --> 00:44:05,313
How do you recover
from a shoot like that?
955
00:44:05,980 --> 00:44:07,273
You drink.
956
00:44:07,273 --> 00:44:09,275
I don't know.
957
00:44:10,651 --> 00:44:14,906
We did an intervention with him
at my apartment in New York,
958
00:44:16,032 --> 00:44:19,160
and that was to try to get him to go
959
00:44:19,911 --> 00:44:22,997
to a facility, you know, for rehab.
960
00:44:22,997 --> 00:44:26,084
And we had had a lot
of friction by that point.
961
00:44:26,084 --> 00:44:30,380
And the ruse was
I was inviting Jimmy over
962
00:44:30,380 --> 00:44:33,132
so we could talk things through
and clear the air.
963
00:44:34,258 --> 00:44:37,095
And then he came up, everybody,
964
00:44:37,095 --> 00:44:39,430
we had the rehearsal
the day before or whatever.
965
00:44:39,430 --> 00:44:41,391
His sister, everybody were there,
966
00:44:41,391 --> 00:44:43,518
and he walked in,
he saw everybody sitting there,
967
00:44:43,518 --> 00:44:45,353
and he went, "Oh, fuck this."
968
00:44:45,353 --> 00:44:48,272
And he walked out
and everybody went, "Jimmy."
969
00:44:48,272 --> 00:44:51,067
And he turned to me
and he went, "Fire me."
970
00:44:52,026 --> 00:44:53,194
And he left.
971
00:44:57,532 --> 00:44:59,659
Jim had, you know, like all of us,
972
00:44:59,659 --> 00:45:01,536
his own things to work out.
973
00:45:01,536 --> 00:45:05,289
And his life changed dramatically
in the course of that show.
974
00:45:05,289 --> 00:45:06,499
Relax, man.
975
00:45:06,499 --> 00:45:09,168
Get the fuck away from me.
You understand me?
976
00:45:09,168 --> 00:45:10,712
Yeah. Just relax.
977
00:45:11,754 --> 00:45:13,631
I'm gonna break your fucking face.
978
00:45:13,631 --> 00:45:16,843
He went from being
a relatively unknown actor
979
00:45:16,843 --> 00:45:19,846
to being a huge star,
extremely recognizable,
980
00:45:19,846 --> 00:45:22,223
and it was a little strange for him,
981
00:45:22,223 --> 00:45:25,518
that kind of eradication of privacy.
982
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:29,981
He was really in the spotlight
wherever he went.
983
00:45:29,981 --> 00:45:31,566
He didn't blend into the crowd.
984
00:45:31,566 --> 00:45:33,401
Stop it. My kid's with me.
985
00:45:33,401 --> 00:45:35,403
And he was very different
than Tony Soprano.
986
00:45:36,154 --> 00:45:37,530
He was very laid back.
987
00:45:37,530 --> 00:45:39,282
You know, he wore Birkenstocks
988
00:45:39,282 --> 00:45:41,951
and liked Green Day and AC/DC.
989
00:45:41,951 --> 00:45:44,370
- What kind of puppy?
- He's a Chihuahua Pomeranian.
990
00:45:44,370 --> 00:45:46,914
What's funny is that a lot of fans
look at Tony Soprano
991
00:45:46,914 --> 00:45:48,374
as kind of a role model,
992
00:45:48,374 --> 00:45:51,127
which is very scary in a lot of ways.
993
00:45:51,669 --> 00:45:54,297
So maybe that, you know,
I mean, he probably felt that.
994
00:45:55,339 --> 00:45:57,675
People thinking he's Tony Soprano
and he's not.
995
00:45:58,468 --> 00:46:01,387
He's really a good guy
and really complicated.
996
00:46:02,472 --> 00:46:03,473
You might say,
997
00:46:05,433 --> 00:46:06,684
and I'm not sure about this,
998
00:46:06,684 --> 00:46:10,313
maybe there was more Tony there
than he wanted to admit.
999
00:46:10,313 --> 00:46:12,023
That it was too easy for him.
1000
00:46:12,023 --> 00:46:13,649
Can I tell you something, Tony?
1001
00:46:14,150 --> 00:46:15,735
Don't pretend like I got a choice.
1002
00:46:16,527 --> 00:46:17,528
The last year,
1003
00:46:18,404 --> 00:46:21,699
I have been dreaming,
and fantasizing,
1004
00:46:21,699 --> 00:46:23,284
and in love with Furio.
1005
00:46:30,208 --> 00:46:32,668
He talked to you! Oh, poor you!
1006
00:46:32,668 --> 00:46:34,545
He made me feel like I mattered!
1007
00:46:34,545 --> 00:46:36,130
You asked me the other day,
1008
00:46:36,130 --> 00:46:37,882
what Irina's cousin has
that you don't have.
1009
00:46:37,882 --> 00:46:40,885
And I thought about it because
it's a good fucking question.
1010
00:46:40,885 --> 00:46:43,054
And she's sexy enough,
even with the one pin gone,
1011
00:46:43,054 --> 00:46:44,055
but that's not it.
1012
00:46:44,055 --> 00:46:46,808
I could converse with her
'cause she had something to say!
1013
00:46:46,808 --> 00:46:48,810
I am here!
1014
00:46:48,810 --> 00:46:50,186
I have things to say!
1015
00:46:50,186 --> 00:46:52,188
Besides "Bring the fucking
chairs down"
1016
00:46:52,188 --> 00:46:53,523
and "Did you sign the living trust?"
1017
00:46:53,523 --> 00:46:56,192
She's a grown fucking woman
who's been kicked around!
1018
00:46:56,192 --> 00:46:58,528
And she's been on her own
and she's had to fight!
1019
00:46:58,528 --> 00:46:59,737
And struggle!
1020
00:46:59,737 --> 00:47:01,531
Unlike me, is that it?
1021
00:47:01,531 --> 00:47:03,950
Who the fuck wanted it like this?
1022
00:47:03,950 --> 00:47:07,203
Who the fuck pissed and moaned
at just the idea
1023
00:47:07,203 --> 00:47:09,163
of me with a fucking
real estate license?
1024
00:47:09,163 --> 00:47:11,666
Free to sit back for 20 fucking years
1025
00:47:11,666 --> 00:47:13,292
and fiddle with the air conditioning,
1026
00:47:13,292 --> 00:47:15,086
and fucking bitch and complain
1027
00:47:15,086 --> 00:47:18,339
and fucking
bitch, bitch, bitch to me!
1028
00:47:18,339 --> 00:47:20,466
To your priest! Fuck it!
1029
00:47:22,427 --> 00:47:24,929
And people say,
"Oh, the show got darker." Well...
1030
00:47:26,097 --> 00:47:27,265
he got darker.
1031
00:47:34,272 --> 00:47:35,773
I am Resurrection.
1032
00:47:37,608 --> 00:47:39,819
And I am Life, says the Lord.
1033
00:47:41,821 --> 00:47:44,407
Whoever has faith in me
shall have life,
1034
00:47:46,242 --> 00:47:47,785
even though he died...
1035
00:47:49,495 --> 00:47:51,247
And everyone who has life
1036
00:47:51,247 --> 00:47:54,917
and has committed himself
to me in faith,
1037
00:47:56,961 --> 00:47:58,171
shall not die forever.
1038
00:48:01,591 --> 00:48:03,426
Jim, if heaven exists,
1039
00:48:03,426 --> 00:48:06,304
what would you like to hear God say
when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
1040
00:48:07,388 --> 00:48:09,849
Take over for a while.
I'll be right back.
1041
00:48:10,475 --> 00:48:12,643
No, no, no.
1042
00:48:12,643 --> 00:48:14,937
That's it.
1043
00:48:14,937 --> 00:48:17,857
You dare not change it.
It's too good.
1044
00:48:17,857 --> 00:48:19,484
Think of the possibilities.
1045
00:48:24,489 --> 00:48:26,657
This is years after the show ended.
1046
00:48:27,408 --> 00:48:28,659
His agent called me.
1047
00:48:33,164 --> 00:48:34,165
And she said...
1048
00:48:35,583 --> 00:48:37,293
She was, I don't mean blunt,
1049
00:48:37,418 --> 00:48:39,420
she was just very
straightforward about it.
1050
00:48:41,172 --> 00:48:42,423
Were you surprised?
1051
00:48:42,423 --> 00:48:43,508
No.
1052
00:48:48,221 --> 00:48:49,138
Dear Jimmy,
1053
00:48:50,515 --> 00:48:52,934
your family asked me
to speak at your service,
1054
00:48:52,934 --> 00:48:55,645
and I am so honored and touched.
1055
00:48:57,480 --> 00:48:59,941
I tried to write
a traditional eulogy,
1056
00:49:01,025 --> 00:49:03,444
but it came out like bad TV.
1057
00:49:05,530 --> 00:49:06,906
So I'm writing you this letter,
1058
00:49:06,906 --> 00:49:08,991
but it is being done
to and for an audience,
1059
00:49:08,991 --> 00:49:10,952
so we'll give the funny
opening a try.
1060
00:49:11,661 --> 00:49:14,372
One day we were on the set
shooting a scene,
1061
00:49:14,372 --> 00:49:17,500
and it said, "Tony opens the door
angrily and he closes it,
1062
00:49:17,500 --> 00:49:18,668
then he starts to speak."
1063
00:49:19,377 --> 00:49:22,964
The cameras rolled and
you opened the refrigerator door,
1064
00:49:22,964 --> 00:49:24,799
and you slammed it really hard,
1065
00:49:24,799 --> 00:49:26,759
and you kept slamming it
and slamming it
1066
00:49:26,759 --> 00:49:28,720
and you went apeshit
on that refrigerator.
1067
00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:30,888
And so we finally had to call cut.
1068
00:49:30,888 --> 00:49:34,100
And I remember you saying,
"Ah, this role,
1069
00:49:35,143 --> 00:49:36,519
the places it takes me to
1070
00:49:36,519 --> 00:49:39,397
and the things I have to do,
it's so dark."
1071
00:49:39,397 --> 00:49:40,606
And I remember saying,
1072
00:49:40,606 --> 00:49:42,942
"Did I tell you to destroy
the refrigerator?
1073
00:49:42,942 --> 00:49:45,027
Did it say anywhere in the script,
1074
00:49:45,027 --> 00:49:46,487
'Tony destroys the refrigerator'?
1075
00:49:48,448 --> 00:49:51,784
It says, 'Tony angrily shuts
the refrigerator door.'
1076
00:49:51,784 --> 00:49:53,119
That's what it says.
1077
00:49:53,119 --> 00:49:54,912
You destroyed the refrigerator."
1078
00:49:58,374 --> 00:50:00,710
Another memory image of you
that comes to mind is,
1079
00:50:00,710 --> 00:50:02,837
we were shooting in that
really hot summer
1080
00:50:02,837 --> 00:50:04,756
in humid New Jersey heat.
1081
00:50:04,756 --> 00:50:07,216
And you were sitting in
an aluminum beach chair
1082
00:50:08,259 --> 00:50:10,219
with a wet handkerchief on your head.
1083
00:50:11,512 --> 00:50:13,765
And I was filled with love.
1084
00:50:14,390 --> 00:50:18,311
And I knew then
that I was in the right place.
1085
00:50:19,353 --> 00:50:20,229
Because...
1086
00:50:21,856 --> 00:50:24,067
I said, "Wow, I haven't seen
that done
1087
00:50:24,067 --> 00:50:28,529
since my father used to do it
and my Italian uncles used to do it
1088
00:50:28,529 --> 00:50:30,865
and my Italian grandfather
used to do it
1089
00:50:30,865 --> 00:50:33,409
it in this same hot sun
in New Jersey."
1090
00:50:33,409 --> 00:50:37,413
And I was so proud of our heritage.
1091
00:50:44,921 --> 00:50:47,965
It made me so proud of our heritage
to see you do that.
1092
00:50:48,966 --> 00:50:51,344
I really feel that,
though I'm older than you,
1093
00:50:51,344 --> 00:50:54,597
that, and always felt,
that we are brothers.
1094
00:50:55,556 --> 00:50:58,309
Now, to talk about a third guy
between us,
1095
00:50:58,309 --> 00:51:00,603
there was you and me
and this third guy.
1096
00:51:01,562 --> 00:51:04,690
People always say, "Tony Soprano,
1097
00:51:04,690 --> 00:51:07,318
why did we love him so much
when he was such a prick?"
1098
00:51:08,194 --> 00:51:10,822
And my theory was,
is they saw the little boy.
1099
00:51:11,906 --> 00:51:13,574
They felt and they loved
the little boy.
1100
00:51:13,574 --> 00:51:15,743
And they sensed his love and hurt.
1101
00:51:16,619 --> 00:51:19,247
And you brought all of that to it.
1102
00:51:19,956 --> 00:51:21,124
Cut it.
1103
00:51:22,625 --> 00:51:23,793
Let's go again.
1104
00:51:24,752 --> 00:51:28,214
Working with Jim as Tony,
when you were writing,
1105
00:51:28,214 --> 00:51:30,591
did you see elements
of yourself in Tony?
1106
00:51:32,552 --> 00:51:34,429
Toward the end, I began to.
1107
00:51:35,471 --> 00:51:39,058
I was beginning to see that
we had merged in some way,
1108
00:51:39,058 --> 00:51:40,268
some strange way.
1109
00:51:42,145 --> 00:51:43,604
There were two Davids.
1110
00:51:43,604 --> 00:51:46,607
He was so fucking funny
when he wanted to be.
1111
00:51:46,607 --> 00:51:50,236
He was so, so great
when he wanted to be.
1112
00:51:51,112 --> 00:51:57,243
But this person that knowingly
made you feel like
1113
00:51:58,035 --> 00:52:03,207
you... had some hand in the cause
1114
00:52:03,207 --> 00:52:06,878
of his dour state or whatever,
or his unhappy--
1115
00:52:06,878 --> 00:52:09,047
or you had to do something
1116
00:52:09,047 --> 00:52:11,215
to make him happy or whatever,
1117
00:52:11,215 --> 00:52:13,426
that wasn't going to happen.
1118
00:52:14,886 --> 00:52:19,223
The third season comes along,
and I didn't go back, you know?
1119
00:52:23,603 --> 00:52:24,729
I wasn't happy.
1120
00:52:26,898 --> 00:52:31,235
A large part of what happened to me
is that it became toxic.
1121
00:52:32,320 --> 00:52:34,989
We didn't leave that room
except to go on the set,
1122
00:52:34,989 --> 00:52:40,286
which was its own exhausting,
you know, horror.
1123
00:52:40,286 --> 00:52:42,121
You know, just a lot of work,
1124
00:52:42,121 --> 00:52:44,665
just have to be there
and not really have a role
1125
00:52:45,500 --> 00:52:46,876
that your mind could--
1126
00:52:46,876 --> 00:52:49,128
You know, at the end,
my mind was not on it.
1127
00:52:49,128 --> 00:52:51,047
And he knew that. And he was mad.
1128
00:52:51,047 --> 00:52:54,592
I made a couple of bad mistakes.
I did.
1129
00:52:55,385 --> 00:52:57,220
You know, when he fired me,
1130
00:52:58,679 --> 00:53:00,848
we were in that, it was so awful.
1131
00:53:00,848 --> 00:53:02,183
And he...
1132
00:53:02,183 --> 00:53:05,395
Everything that David
accused me of I did.
1133
00:53:05,395 --> 00:53:08,689
I interrupted him during
conversations with other people.
1134
00:53:08,689 --> 00:53:11,109
That was one thing I did.
1135
00:53:11,109 --> 00:53:12,985
I did, like, a few bad things.
1136
00:53:17,240 --> 00:53:18,199
And that was what--
1137
00:53:18,199 --> 00:53:22,328
that ultimately was what it was
with me and him.
1138
00:53:22,328 --> 00:53:24,580
Because you had to behave yourself.
1139
00:53:25,957 --> 00:53:28,876
You had to behave.
He's a very coded person.
1140
00:53:28,876 --> 00:53:32,171
He has a code of cool and behavior
1141
00:53:32,171 --> 00:53:34,632
and what is acceptable
and what is not.
1142
00:53:34,632 --> 00:53:36,926
And I think that I,
1143
00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:40,263
you know, I probably
1144
00:53:41,055 --> 00:53:43,558
morphed into that mother category
1145
00:53:43,558 --> 00:53:47,395
of, you know, black-holedness
for him, you know.
1146
00:53:47,979 --> 00:53:50,398
In the writers' room,
it's collaborative.
1147
00:53:51,107 --> 00:53:52,442
But it's still your vision.
1148
00:53:52,442 --> 00:53:53,609
Did that cause tension?
1149
00:53:53,609 --> 00:53:55,153
Let's put it this way,
1150
00:53:55,153 --> 00:53:57,447
I used to sometimes get very angry
1151
00:53:58,614 --> 00:54:00,533
because no one was
coming up with anything.
1152
00:54:00,533 --> 00:54:04,328
And then, since those days,
I've thought,
1153
00:54:04,912 --> 00:54:07,165
"Yeah, maybe that's because
you said no to everything.
1154
00:54:07,790 --> 00:54:08,833
So they stopped."
1155
00:54:10,168 --> 00:54:11,753
This attitude of yours,
1156
00:54:11,753 --> 00:54:14,672
it's a lot of what's made you
an effective leader.
1157
00:54:14,672 --> 00:54:17,216
But we all got flaws, even you.
1158
00:54:18,634 --> 00:54:21,846
Seven deadly sins,
and yours is pride.
1159
00:54:23,723 --> 00:54:26,434
David, look, you know,
he's very uncompromising,
1160
00:54:26,434 --> 00:54:29,479
but there has to be a part of you
that is ruthless and merciless
1161
00:54:29,479 --> 00:54:31,647
when it comes to protecting the art.
1162
00:54:32,940 --> 00:54:35,026
I think that's true
with every art form.
1163
00:54:37,195 --> 00:54:38,196
All due respect,
1164
00:54:39,197 --> 00:54:42,075
you got no fucking idea
what it's like to be number one.
1165
00:54:42,658 --> 00:54:44,202
Every decision you make
1166
00:54:44,202 --> 00:54:46,913
affects every facet
of every other fucking thing.
1167
00:54:46,913 --> 00:54:48,623
It's too much to deal with, almost.
1168
00:54:49,499 --> 00:54:50,416
And in the end,
1169
00:54:51,167 --> 00:54:52,543
you're completely alone with it all.
1170
00:54:54,504 --> 00:54:56,964
There was an enormous amount
of pressure on him
1171
00:54:56,964 --> 00:54:59,092
because now you're...
1172
00:55:00,343 --> 00:55:02,595
you set the bar really high
1173
00:55:02,595 --> 00:55:05,515
and you gotta surpass it
every year, you know?
1174
00:55:05,515 --> 00:55:06,682
You got to make it better.
1175
00:55:06,682 --> 00:55:08,726
Not just satisfy the audience,
1176
00:55:08,726 --> 00:55:11,062
but make it better,
more interesting, stranger.
1177
00:55:11,646 --> 00:55:13,439
Think about the risks he took.
1178
00:55:13,439 --> 00:55:17,527
You know, his whimsical nature,
that wonder.
1179
00:55:17,527 --> 00:55:19,028
"And what if we just do this?"
1180
00:55:19,028 --> 00:55:20,446
Think I want to come home.
1181
00:55:20,446 --> 00:55:22,448
There are some
non-negotiable conditions.
1182
00:55:22,448 --> 00:55:23,741
Like what?
1183
00:55:23,741 --> 00:55:25,451
You can't have your horse in here.
1184
00:55:25,451 --> 00:55:27,370
- Why not?
- Are you kidding me?
1185
00:55:27,370 --> 00:55:30,123
The smell and shit
all over the place?
1186
00:55:30,123 --> 00:55:31,541
I'll clean up after her.
1187
00:55:31,541 --> 00:55:32,875
You always say that.
1188
00:55:33,793 --> 00:55:37,463
It really was just from this guy's
heart and imagination.
1189
00:55:37,463 --> 00:55:40,299
And we knew if you wanted
to even change a word
1190
00:55:40,299 --> 00:55:43,553
of your dialogue, they're like,
"We got to call the Master Cylinder,"
1191
00:55:43,553 --> 00:55:45,847
- which is what we referred to him as.
- The Master Cylinder?
1192
00:55:45,847 --> 00:55:49,100
The Master Cylinder
up in the tower somewhere.
1193
00:55:49,100 --> 00:55:51,728
And we'd wait to get the word back,
"He said that's all right"
1194
00:55:51,728 --> 00:55:53,229
or "No, keep it as it is."
1195
00:55:53,229 --> 00:55:56,733
But 'cause it mattered to him
and it was his-- it was his project.
1196
00:55:57,233 --> 00:56:00,153
You know, we were there
to serve his project.
1197
00:56:00,153 --> 00:56:01,487
Everybody, eyes right here.
1198
00:56:01,487 --> 00:56:03,281
That's what we're hired to do.
1199
00:56:05,658 --> 00:56:06,659
Just hug me.
1200
00:56:10,329 --> 00:56:13,207
The person who set
the highest standards was David.
1201
00:56:13,207 --> 00:56:14,417
And it did torment him.
1202
00:56:14,417 --> 00:56:16,377
And he was never satisfied
with the work.
1203
00:56:17,545 --> 00:56:19,422
He was one of those guys that just...
1204
00:56:21,382 --> 00:56:22,592
"David, enjoy it."
1205
00:56:24,886 --> 00:56:26,262
Come on, buddy.
1206
00:56:26,262 --> 00:56:27,972
David, congrats, man.
1207
00:56:27,972 --> 00:56:29,599
- How are you? Thank you.
- Good.
1208
00:56:29,599 --> 00:56:31,142
It's good to see you too.
1209
00:56:36,355 --> 00:56:39,192
Every couple of decades or so,
1210
00:56:39,192 --> 00:56:41,986
somebody comes along
and changes the game.
1211
00:56:43,571 --> 00:56:45,990
The nice thing about being
from New Jersey
1212
00:56:45,990 --> 00:56:48,117
is they never see us coming.
1213
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:54,165
Uncompromising, unrelenting,
1214
00:56:54,165 --> 00:56:58,211
innovative, idealistic,
romantic to a fault,
1215
00:56:59,087 --> 00:57:02,673
and, yes, a cynical,
self-destructive contrarian.
1216
00:57:03,758 --> 00:57:06,636
In other words, my kind of guy.
1217
00:57:27,907 --> 00:57:30,535
Change my meat to Black Forest.
1218
00:57:53,975 --> 00:57:55,852
Fucking dreams, Jesus Christ.
1219
00:57:55,852 --> 00:57:57,478
I want to talk to you about dreams.
1220
00:57:57,478 --> 00:57:58,396
It's all right.
1221
00:57:58,396 --> 00:58:01,023
Dreams and movies are so close,
1222
00:58:01,733 --> 00:58:04,444
that you can go from right here
in this room--
1223
00:58:04,444 --> 00:58:06,863
Bam! To, you know, anywhere.
1224
00:58:06,863 --> 00:58:08,281
Right. Free association.
1225
00:58:08,281 --> 00:58:09,365
Yeah.
1226
00:58:35,224 --> 00:58:36,059
Come on, Ton.
1227
00:58:36,059 --> 00:58:38,478
Sooner or later,
you got to face facts.
1228
00:58:38,478 --> 00:58:40,813
- I don't want to hear it.
- Well, you're gonna hear it.
1229
00:58:50,406 --> 00:58:54,410
I had dreams for a long time
I had murdered someone.
1230
00:58:58,623 --> 00:59:01,834
And the weight of it got to me
too late in the game.
1231
00:59:02,460 --> 00:59:04,629
And I was saying to myself
in the dream,
1232
00:59:04,629 --> 00:59:06,130
"What did you do that for?
1233
00:59:07,340 --> 00:59:10,093
You've thrown everything away.
You're finished.
1234
00:59:11,010 --> 00:59:12,720
The hell did you do that for?"
1235
00:59:13,888 --> 00:59:15,056
And now the news...
1236
00:59:25,650 --> 00:59:27,652
You want to take it for a test drive?
1237
00:59:30,405 --> 00:59:33,324
The fun thing about dreams
in The Sopranos is that
1238
00:59:33,324 --> 00:59:35,701
when you've got a character
who's supposed to be,
1239
00:59:35,701 --> 00:59:37,036
you know, in control,
1240
00:59:37,745 --> 00:59:39,872
but dreams, you're never in control.
1241
00:59:39,872 --> 00:59:41,457
No, never.
1242
00:59:53,469 --> 00:59:57,432
In the Kevin Finnerty dream sequence,
what was Tony trying to get at?
1243
00:59:57,432 --> 00:59:58,766
What the hell?
1244
01:00:00,810 --> 01:00:01,978
This isn't my wallet.
1245
01:00:03,438 --> 01:00:04,522
Oh, no.
1246
01:00:04,522 --> 01:00:08,025
He was saying, "Who am I
and where am I going?"
1247
01:00:09,402 --> 01:00:10,570
And he was terrified.
1248
01:00:13,114 --> 01:00:17,160
Tony's fatal flaw as a mobster
is that he had a conscience.
1249
01:00:17,160 --> 01:00:19,829
Listen, we're just impressed
to be in the presence of a man
1250
01:00:19,829 --> 01:00:22,081
whose sales team snatched
the brass ring
1251
01:00:22,081 --> 01:00:23,916
12 consecutive quarters.
1252
01:00:23,916 --> 01:00:25,793
I mean, it's not such a big deal.
1253
01:00:27,003 --> 01:00:28,296
There's always a faster gun.
1254
01:00:30,423 --> 01:00:32,550
As David even said,
Tony in another life
1255
01:00:32,550 --> 01:00:34,385
would be a guy
who sells lawn furniture
1256
01:00:34,385 --> 01:00:36,095
on the Garden State Parkway.
1257
01:00:36,095 --> 01:00:37,805
And Kevin Finnerty,
1258
01:00:37,805 --> 01:00:39,974
that was the alternate version
of who Tony was.
1259
01:00:39,974 --> 01:00:41,476
I came here because
1260
01:00:41,476 --> 01:00:44,145
I thought you could help me
reach Finnerty.
1261
01:00:45,104 --> 01:00:46,230
Now, I have his wallet.
1262
01:00:46,230 --> 01:00:49,108
I have his briefcase,
but I'm not him.
1263
01:00:49,108 --> 01:00:50,985
One day we will all die,
1264
01:00:51,611 --> 01:00:53,863
and then we'll be the same
as that tree.
1265
01:00:53,863 --> 01:00:55,448
No me, no you.
1266
01:00:56,491 --> 01:01:00,286
At his core, he understands
right from wrong.
1267
01:01:00,286 --> 01:01:02,497
And again,
you're in the wrong business
1268
01:01:02,497 --> 01:01:04,582
if you're going to be worrying
about stuff like that
1269
01:01:04,582 --> 01:01:06,918
because you're going to be
doing a lot of wrong.
1270
01:01:07,043 --> 01:01:08,503
I had fucked-up dreams last night.
1271
01:01:09,587 --> 01:01:10,588
Fever dreams.
1272
01:01:12,882 --> 01:01:14,884
I shot this guy.
He's a friend of mine.
1273
01:01:15,426 --> 01:01:17,762
So, you know, it's interesting
that Tony,
1274
01:01:17,762 --> 01:01:19,764
he had the outlet in therapy.
1275
01:01:19,764 --> 01:01:21,974
I was-- I was filled with...
1276
01:01:21,974 --> 01:01:23,810
- Anger.
- Yeah, right. Anger.
1277
01:01:23,810 --> 01:01:24,977
You know everything.
1278
01:01:24,977 --> 01:01:26,979
You've never dealt with your anger.
1279
01:01:26,979 --> 01:01:28,189
And look at the cost.
1280
01:01:28,189 --> 01:01:30,983
You are the biggest threat
to yourself.
1281
01:01:31,734 --> 01:01:33,403
But that's what being
a human being is.
1282
01:01:33,403 --> 01:01:36,155
But some people are more
self-destructive than others.
1283
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:40,868
You just wash it down like a pill.
1284
01:01:41,619 --> 01:01:44,705
And then peyote, you know,
later on in the show.
1285
01:01:44,705 --> 01:01:48,543
Which was another way of him
sort of exploring the bigger picture.
1286
01:01:50,795 --> 01:01:51,879
I get it.
1287
01:01:59,887 --> 01:02:00,972
I get it!
1288
01:02:12,191 --> 01:02:14,402
At the beginning of every episode,
1289
01:02:14,402 --> 01:02:17,655
we'd all sit around a table
and read through the script together.
1290
01:02:18,239 --> 01:02:20,992
But we'd all walk in
kind of like, "Are you all right?"
1291
01:02:20,992 --> 01:02:23,870
Kind of like,
"Is this your last episode?"
1292
01:02:23,870 --> 01:02:26,914
It's like, you never really knew
who was going to be around
1293
01:02:26,914 --> 01:02:29,292
for the next couple of episodes.
It was hysterical.
1294
01:02:29,292 --> 01:02:31,419
And we'd all be like,
"Hey, no, I'm good."
1295
01:02:32,378 --> 01:02:33,755
We were all scared of it.
1296
01:02:34,464 --> 01:02:38,009
Yeah, the guys were like,
"Who's gonna get it next?"
1297
01:02:38,885 --> 01:02:42,555
And the ritual was if David
invited you for lunch or dinner,
1298
01:02:43,264 --> 01:02:44,640
you were fucked.
1299
01:02:45,433 --> 01:02:48,770
The phone call
from the Master Cylinder.
1300
01:02:50,521 --> 01:02:52,648
But, you know, he's the boss.
1301
01:02:54,317 --> 01:02:56,277
The part of you that
you were seeing in Tony,
1302
01:02:56,277 --> 01:02:58,237
was the boss part?
The idea that you're--
1303
01:02:58,237 --> 01:03:00,865
Well, I thought that...
1304
01:03:02,116 --> 01:03:03,493
You fucking--
1305
01:03:03,493 --> 01:03:05,703
...when someone had to die
on the show,
1306
01:03:09,165 --> 01:03:10,666
I would have to tell the actor.
1307
01:03:12,168 --> 01:03:14,587
And it was hard for me.
1308
01:03:16,089 --> 01:03:16,964
Jesus Christ.
1309
01:03:18,341 --> 01:03:20,218
People were really
broken up about it.
1310
01:03:20,218 --> 01:03:21,469
I got to sit down.
1311
01:03:22,637 --> 01:03:24,138
I feel like I can't stand.
1312
01:03:24,138 --> 01:03:25,681
Some would kind of beg, almost.
1313
01:03:25,681 --> 01:03:27,809
- Is that okay, Tony?
- 'Cause it's their job.
1314
01:03:27,809 --> 01:03:28,810
It's their livelihood.
1315
01:03:31,270 --> 01:03:33,106
Vincent Pastore, Big Pussy.
1316
01:03:33,106 --> 01:03:34,899
We fought for him.
1317
01:03:34,899 --> 01:03:37,151
"Don't kill him.
Don't kill him, David.
1318
01:03:37,151 --> 01:03:38,945
Give him another season."
1319
01:03:38,945 --> 01:03:40,113
Well, you know what?
1320
01:03:41,280 --> 01:03:42,657
This is a mob show.
1321
01:03:42,657 --> 01:03:43,825
People gotta go.
1322
01:03:44,325 --> 01:03:45,618
Oh, fuck.
1323
01:03:46,911 --> 01:03:47,870
Adriana.
1324
01:03:47,870 --> 01:03:50,331
And I tried to distance myself
with all of it.
1325
01:03:50,331 --> 01:03:51,541
What about her?
1326
01:03:53,960 --> 01:03:54,794
Feds.
1327
01:03:55,545 --> 01:03:57,505
By thinking the way he was thinking.
1328
01:03:57,505 --> 01:03:58,506
Gotta go.
1329
01:04:02,093 --> 01:04:03,678
Jesus fucking Christ.
1330
01:04:03,678 --> 01:04:05,596
Once we made the decision
1331
01:04:05,596 --> 01:04:08,683
that Adriana was going to start
cooperating with the feds,
1332
01:04:09,600 --> 01:04:10,935
the writing was on the wall.
1333
01:04:11,561 --> 01:04:14,897
At some point, this was not
going to end well for Adriana.
1334
01:04:15,481 --> 01:04:16,941
I'm going to take care of it.
1335
01:04:17,817 --> 01:04:20,403
David sat me down on set
1336
01:04:20,403 --> 01:04:22,697
and he said, "I'm going to
shoot this two ways.
1337
01:04:22,697 --> 01:04:25,575
I'm going to shoot it
where you get away,
1338
01:04:26,784 --> 01:04:28,911
and I'm going to shoot
it where they kill you,
1339
01:04:29,662 --> 01:04:32,540
and no one's going to know
how it ends until it airs.
1340
01:04:33,332 --> 01:04:36,169
Because we have confidentiality
issues on the set,
1341
01:04:37,003 --> 01:04:39,130
nobody can know
what's really going on."
1342
01:04:39,130 --> 01:04:41,049
And I said,
"But I'm going to be dead.
1343
01:04:41,924 --> 01:04:43,426
And I'm not going to be on
the show anymore."
1344
01:04:43,426 --> 01:04:44,927
And he was like...
1345
01:04:46,721 --> 01:04:47,805
And I took another job
1346
01:04:48,514 --> 01:04:50,683
because I didn't know,
and I was scared,
1347
01:04:51,184 --> 01:04:53,811
and he was fucking pissed
1348
01:04:54,604 --> 01:04:56,230
because now that's going to get out.
1349
01:04:57,273 --> 01:05:00,568
But I had to take that job.
I thought I'd never work again.
1350
01:05:00,568 --> 01:05:04,280
I knew that playing Adriana
for five seasons
1351
01:05:04,280 --> 01:05:06,074
and being known for that,
1352
01:05:06,074 --> 01:05:07,825
that that was going to be my life.
1353
01:05:07,825 --> 01:05:10,203
I knew I was going to be
stereotyped forever.
1354
01:05:10,203 --> 01:05:13,081
So I was like, I better just take
advantage of this right now.
1355
01:05:14,957 --> 01:05:16,751
- Hello?
- Yeah. It's me.
1356
01:05:16,751 --> 01:05:19,253
Jesus, I don't even know
how to say this.
1357
01:05:21,005 --> 01:05:24,050
It's Christopher.
He tried to commit suicide.
1358
01:05:24,050 --> 01:05:25,635
Oh my God, is he all right?
1359
01:05:25,635 --> 01:05:26,928
He's fine.
1360
01:05:26,928 --> 01:05:30,098
He was up by Ramapo.
Apparently, he took some pills,
1361
01:05:30,681 --> 01:05:32,975
and this trooper found him
in a bathroom at this diner,
1362
01:05:32,975 --> 01:05:34,936
and they brought him to the hospital.
1363
01:05:36,479 --> 01:05:38,481
Anyway, I'm on my way up there now
1364
01:05:38,481 --> 01:05:41,442
and I'm going to send Sil by
to pick you up then, okay?
1365
01:05:41,442 --> 01:05:42,735
Jesus Christ.
1366
01:05:45,780 --> 01:05:48,908
As sad as I was to go in the end,
I was ready.
1367
01:05:48,908 --> 01:05:50,576
I knew that that was...
1368
01:05:51,119 --> 01:05:52,453
that that's how it needed to be.
1369
01:05:52,995 --> 01:05:56,332
It was very difficult because
it's the characters and the actors.
1370
01:05:56,332 --> 01:05:58,084
It wasn't only Adriana.
1371
01:05:58,084 --> 01:05:59,752
It was Drea de Matteo.
1372
01:06:00,795 --> 01:06:04,507
David did not want to see her
get shot because he loved her.
1373
01:06:07,009 --> 01:06:09,262
Why are you crying?
He's going to be fine.
1374
01:06:11,222 --> 01:06:13,725
I couldn't bear to see
Adriana get shot.
1375
01:06:14,225 --> 01:06:15,893
I couldn't have watched that.
1376
01:06:16,436 --> 01:06:19,397
So we broke the style of the show.
1377
01:06:19,397 --> 01:06:22,150
Any other victim on that show,
you saw him get hit.
1378
01:06:25,611 --> 01:06:28,865
We started talking about it like,
how should we do this?
1379
01:06:28,865 --> 01:06:31,909
If it's not going to happen
on camera naturally,
1380
01:06:31,909 --> 01:06:34,036
then we have to find
a poetic transition.
1381
01:06:36,414 --> 01:06:39,292
She's not wild and begging,
so I think she's more--
1382
01:06:39,292 --> 01:06:41,377
- We're rolling, guys.
- This, you know?
1383
01:06:44,297 --> 01:06:45,173
Action!
1384
01:06:45,673 --> 01:06:48,426
That was, by far, the hardest scene
that I've ever played.
1385
01:06:48,426 --> 01:06:50,219
And of course, she's so great,
1386
01:06:50,219 --> 01:06:53,431
she was like,
"Don't take it easy on me.
1387
01:06:53,973 --> 01:06:54,807
You know?
1388
01:06:55,767 --> 01:06:58,895
It's obviously going
to be my last scene, you know?
1389
01:06:59,771 --> 01:07:01,272
Let's make it good, right?"
1390
01:07:01,272 --> 01:07:04,025
I was like, "Stevie, we've got
to fucking go.
1391
01:07:04,025 --> 01:07:06,277
I'm a cunt. You're a mafioso.
1392
01:07:06,277 --> 01:07:08,905
Grab me by my hair
and let's fucking go."
1393
01:07:10,698 --> 01:07:11,657
Oh, no.
1394
01:07:14,202 --> 01:07:15,328
Oh, no.
1395
01:07:17,997 --> 01:07:19,999
- Come on.
- No! Please!
1396
01:07:19,999 --> 01:07:22,043
Where you fucking going?
1397
01:07:22,043 --> 01:07:23,252
Come on!
1398
01:07:23,252 --> 01:07:25,380
- Fucking cunt.
- No! Please!
1399
01:07:25,380 --> 01:07:26,839
No!
1400
01:07:27,632 --> 01:07:31,803
No!
1401
01:07:34,555 --> 01:07:36,391
When I wrote the scene,
1402
01:07:36,391 --> 01:07:40,311
it is scripted that the camera
just drifts into the sky.
1403
01:07:40,311 --> 01:07:42,313
And it was going to connect to
the camera drifting down
1404
01:07:42,313 --> 01:07:45,191
to find Tony and Carmela
in another scene.
1405
01:07:46,025 --> 01:07:48,361
On purpose, the last scene
of that show,
1406
01:07:48,361 --> 01:07:50,988
Tony and Carmela are in the woods,
1407
01:07:50,988 --> 01:07:53,408
and she's talking about buying
this piece of property.
1408
01:07:54,325 --> 01:07:55,993
Yeah, it's a gorgeous piece of land.
1409
01:07:57,120 --> 01:07:58,246
And with this view?
1410
01:07:59,372 --> 01:08:01,082
Well worth 600,000.
1411
01:08:02,291 --> 01:08:04,669
The surveyor's coming on Tuesday.
1412
01:08:05,294 --> 01:08:08,339
And he's, like, thinking only
about Adriana.
1413
01:08:10,758 --> 01:08:14,679
Some of these things get me choked up
when I think about that character
1414
01:08:14,679 --> 01:08:16,097
getting it like that.
1415
01:08:17,223 --> 01:08:19,434
And it was also the end
of Drea de Matteo.
1416
01:08:20,143 --> 01:08:21,686
We wouldn't have Drea anymore.
1417
01:08:22,770 --> 01:08:25,148
- You alright?
- Yeah. Me? Yeah.
1418
01:08:26,232 --> 01:08:27,316
Absolutely.
1419
01:08:47,462 --> 01:08:50,590
At what point did you start
thinking about ending the show?
1420
01:08:51,257 --> 01:08:52,717
There were seven seasons,
1421
01:08:52,717 --> 01:08:55,053
but they called it 6A and 6B,
1422
01:08:55,053 --> 01:08:58,347
which is how HBO got out of
giving the actors raises.
1423
01:09:00,391 --> 01:09:02,727
If they had called it season seven,
1424
01:09:02,727 --> 01:09:05,229
they would have been
contractually entitled to a raise.
1425
01:09:05,229 --> 01:09:06,481
Cut.
1426
01:09:07,440 --> 01:09:10,401
Two years before that,
Chris Albrecht said to me,
1427
01:09:10,401 --> 01:09:13,654
"You better start thinking about
how you want to end this show."
1428
01:09:14,405 --> 01:09:17,492
And I had never thought about it.
Because ending?
1429
01:09:17,492 --> 01:09:19,410
When you cancel the show.
I don't know.
1430
01:09:19,410 --> 01:09:21,704
That's what happens to
all television shows, isn't it?
1431
01:09:21,704 --> 01:09:23,122
They finally get canceled.
1432
01:09:24,248 --> 01:09:25,958
But this was a different thing.
1433
01:09:27,543 --> 01:09:30,797
You directed the first episode,
and then you didn't direct any others
1434
01:09:30,797 --> 01:09:32,757
while you were writing and producing.
1435
01:09:32,757 --> 01:09:35,718
But then you came back
and directed the last episode.
1436
01:09:35,718 --> 01:09:38,262
Yeah. With Alik, same DP.
1437
01:09:40,223 --> 01:09:41,766
By then we've both evolved.
1438
01:09:41,766 --> 01:09:43,434
I mean, ten years has passed.
1439
01:09:43,434 --> 01:09:44,769
- Yeah, long time.
- Yeah.
1440
01:09:45,311 --> 01:09:47,647
So I think what we did
is in the last episode,
1441
01:09:48,272 --> 01:09:50,191
we talked a lot about 2001,
1442
01:09:51,067 --> 01:09:53,986
about point of view
that gets interrupted
1443
01:09:53,986 --> 01:09:56,114
by the character entering
into the point of view.
1444
01:09:58,282 --> 01:10:00,410
The astronaut begins to see himself.
1445
01:10:04,330 --> 01:10:05,540
Got the space suit on.
1446
01:10:06,374 --> 01:10:08,668
And he comes into himself
in a mirror.
1447
01:10:11,879 --> 01:10:14,757
And he turns and there he is
without the spacesuit on.
1448
01:10:16,426 --> 01:10:17,969
And then finally, he's eating dinner,
1449
01:10:17,969 --> 01:10:21,097
just all by himself
and getting older.
1450
01:10:22,724 --> 01:10:25,226
He looks behind
and he sees himself in the bed
1451
01:10:25,226 --> 01:10:26,602
as an old man.
1452
01:10:30,815 --> 01:10:32,191
This simple technique,
1453
01:10:33,401 --> 01:10:35,361
it's always mesmerized me, that.
1454
01:10:36,696 --> 01:10:38,656
And for that episode,
1455
01:10:38,656 --> 01:10:41,993
Tony, all the way through,
everyone he goes to see,
1456
01:10:41,993 --> 01:10:43,578
he walks into his own POV.
1457
01:10:53,921 --> 01:10:55,798
It made me think of time
1458
01:10:57,633 --> 01:10:59,635
and I guess approaching death.
1459
01:11:00,178 --> 01:11:01,763
Sir.
1460
01:11:01,763 --> 01:11:02,889
Excuse me.
1461
01:11:04,766 --> 01:11:06,476
Or approaching something.
1462
01:11:07,727 --> 01:11:09,604
There's something mystical about it.
1463
01:11:24,535 --> 01:11:25,661
For the last scene,
1464
01:11:25,661 --> 01:11:27,830
the first idea that I carried
for a long time
1465
01:11:28,873 --> 01:11:31,751
was that Tony was going to
go back into Manhattan,
1466
01:11:31,751 --> 01:11:35,171
through the Lincoln Tunnel
for a meeting,
1467
01:11:35,171 --> 01:11:37,423
and that he was going to meet
his demise there.
1468
01:11:38,007 --> 01:11:40,051
I didn't know that he was
going to meet his demise,
1469
01:11:40,051 --> 01:11:40,968
but it didn't look good.
1470
01:11:40,968 --> 01:11:42,428
I guess that's what
was going to happen.
1471
01:11:43,888 --> 01:11:45,681
If you were in the audience,
you'd think,
1472
01:11:46,224 --> 01:11:48,601
"I don't think this is going to
work out well for him."
1473
01:11:48,601 --> 01:11:50,103
But you would never know.
1474
01:11:51,229 --> 01:11:54,315
And then I was driving down
Ocean Boulevard here,
1475
01:11:54,315 --> 01:11:57,527
and I saw this diner, and I thought,
"Maybe the ending should take place
1476
01:11:57,527 --> 01:11:59,904
in a place they go to eat
all the time."
1477
01:11:59,904 --> 01:12:01,697
- Quiet, please.
- Quiet.
1478
01:12:15,670 --> 01:12:17,505
And when I said,
"So, I'm thinking about
1479
01:12:17,505 --> 01:12:18,423
'Don't Stop Believing,'"
1480
01:12:18,423 --> 01:12:21,300
everybody went, "Oh, fuck.
Are you fucking kidding?
1481
01:12:22,009 --> 01:12:24,846
The last of the whole
goddamn series?"
1482
01:12:33,688 --> 01:12:35,440
Everybody was up in arms.
1483
01:12:36,023 --> 01:12:38,484
And I said, "Well, you just
decided it for me."
1484
01:12:42,029 --> 01:12:43,823
Hey.
1485
01:12:45,992 --> 01:12:47,910
But it wasn't just to be contrary.
1486
01:13:00,214 --> 01:13:01,632
What looks good tonight?
1487
01:13:02,717 --> 01:13:03,718
I don't know.
1488
01:13:03,718 --> 01:13:05,178
The more I was working with it,
1489
01:13:05,178 --> 01:13:08,347
I started to hear
one of the lyrics in that song:
1490
01:13:08,347 --> 01:13:09,724
"The movie never ends.
1491
01:13:09,724 --> 01:13:11,559
It goes on and on and on and on."
1492
01:13:11,559 --> 01:13:13,853
I thought, "Wow."
1493
01:13:20,526 --> 01:13:22,779
The whole episode,
there's a circularity.
1494
01:13:22,779 --> 01:13:25,406
It feels like you're returning
to episode one.
1495
01:13:26,199 --> 01:13:27,200
Get back.
1496
01:13:27,200 --> 01:13:28,493
The exploding Weber,
1497
01:13:30,078 --> 01:13:30,912
the exploding car.
1498
01:13:30,912 --> 01:13:33,498
If you don't like that ramp,
I'll build you another one.
1499
01:13:33,498 --> 01:13:34,540
Maybe it's the wood.
1500
01:13:34,540 --> 01:13:36,417
I was struck by the circularity.
1501
01:13:36,417 --> 01:13:38,336
Like the first episode, last episode.
1502
01:13:38,336 --> 01:13:40,213
Hey, kids! Come here.
1503
01:13:40,213 --> 01:13:43,174
There's a vibe of, kind of,
the patterns of life
1504
01:13:43,174 --> 01:13:45,218
that you keep seeing happening
1505
01:13:45,218 --> 01:13:46,594
over and over and over again.
1506
01:13:46,594 --> 01:13:48,262
You know, sometimes...
1507
01:13:49,680 --> 01:13:50,932
life is good.
1508
01:13:50,932 --> 01:13:52,392
Life is often good.
1509
01:14:00,900 --> 01:14:02,110
And also the diner scene,
1510
01:14:02,110 --> 01:14:04,404
a lot of the conversation is
"remember when."
1511
01:14:04,404 --> 01:14:06,489
Right. Yeah.
1512
01:14:06,489 --> 01:14:07,657
To my family.
1513
01:14:08,241 --> 01:14:09,700
In the first season, Tony had said...
1514
01:14:09,700 --> 01:14:11,619
You remember the little moments
1515
01:14:13,079 --> 01:14:13,996
like this.
1516
01:14:19,168 --> 01:14:20,461
That were good.
1517
01:14:21,379 --> 01:14:22,880
So buck up.
1518
01:14:23,464 --> 01:14:25,258
And A.J. brings that back up to him.
1519
01:14:25,258 --> 01:14:26,426
Focus on the good times.
1520
01:14:26,426 --> 01:14:27,885
Don't be sarcastic.
1521
01:14:28,553 --> 01:14:29,846
Isn't that what you said one time?
1522
01:14:29,846 --> 01:14:32,014
Try to remember the times
that were good?
1523
01:14:32,014 --> 01:14:33,891
- I did?
- Yeah.
1524
01:14:36,936 --> 01:14:38,354
Well, it's true, I guess.
1525
01:14:40,273 --> 01:14:43,609
That scene, you know, builds
on itself like a pyramid structure
1526
01:14:43,609 --> 01:14:45,695
where we just build, build, build.
1527
01:14:46,612 --> 01:14:48,656
What you're watching
is a lot of shit going on.
1528
01:14:48,656 --> 01:14:50,324
She's trying to park her car.
1529
01:14:50,324 --> 01:14:51,701
There are a lot of people,
characters,
1530
01:14:51,701 --> 01:14:53,995
the guy in the Members Only jacket.
1531
01:15:00,835 --> 01:15:04,213
Other possible threats
are walking in.
1532
01:15:10,053 --> 01:15:12,430
There's tension building
in that diner scene.
1533
01:15:12,430 --> 01:15:13,931
We're expecting something.
1534
01:15:16,476 --> 01:15:18,352
I went ahead and ordered
some for the table.
1535
01:15:39,082 --> 01:15:40,666
And then it goes to black.
1536
01:15:41,584 --> 01:15:43,461
It was so sudden and strange.
1537
01:15:44,087 --> 01:15:46,339
Really took everybody by surprise.
1538
01:15:46,964 --> 01:15:49,258
I started calling everybody
and I'm like,
1539
01:15:49,258 --> 01:15:51,177
"Yo, did my TV just go out?"
1540
01:15:52,011 --> 01:15:55,139
I was with Jim and Jim said,
"That's it?
1541
01:15:56,557 --> 01:15:58,810
That's it?" He was--
He couldn't believe it.
1542
01:15:58,810 --> 01:16:00,603
- Oh, so Jim didn't know?
- Nope.
1543
01:16:02,563 --> 01:16:03,481
Was he pissed?
1544
01:16:04,315 --> 01:16:07,443
I think he was in shock
like everybody else.
1545
01:16:07,443 --> 01:16:08,611
It was just like...
1546
01:16:10,154 --> 01:16:11,072
that's it.
1547
01:16:12,115 --> 01:16:13,866
That's the end of the story.
1548
01:16:14,659 --> 01:16:16,828
And I'm thinking to myself,
"This is David.
1549
01:16:17,453 --> 01:16:18,663
This is fucking David.
1550
01:16:18,663 --> 01:16:21,541
This is exactly how he wanted
to end the show.
1551
01:16:22,500 --> 01:16:25,837
He doesn't want anyone to know
what's going on right now."
1552
01:16:28,381 --> 01:16:30,508
I think what I was thinking about was
1553
01:16:31,300 --> 01:16:32,844
the universe goes on and on.
1554
01:16:35,346 --> 01:16:36,597
You may not go on and on,
1555
01:16:36,597 --> 01:16:38,725
but the universe is
going to go on and on.
1556
01:16:40,852 --> 01:16:42,437
The movie is going to keep going.
1557
01:16:46,357 --> 01:16:49,402
There is a resolution
of irresolution, right?
1558
01:16:49,402 --> 01:16:51,487
Which opens up a very interesting
1559
01:16:51,487 --> 01:16:53,781
poetic point of open ending.
1560
01:16:53,781 --> 01:16:56,325
Countless people have said to me,
1561
01:16:57,660 --> 01:16:58,995
"All right, I know you know.
1562
01:16:59,871 --> 01:17:02,123
What really happened?"
1563
01:17:02,123 --> 01:17:06,544
Vanity Fair did an article like
ten years after Sopranos.
1564
01:17:07,920 --> 01:17:10,590
And they came to me
and they said, you know,
1565
01:17:10,590 --> 01:17:13,051
"What's the ending?
What was the real ending?"
1566
01:17:13,051 --> 01:17:15,970
You know, I said, "Okay, all right,
1567
01:17:15,970 --> 01:17:18,765
once and for all, what happened
at the end was,
1568
01:17:19,682 --> 01:17:22,810
the director yelled cut
and the actors went home."
1569
01:17:23,936 --> 01:17:26,022
What could it have been?
Tony getting killed?
1570
01:17:26,022 --> 01:17:27,398
The family getting wiped out?
1571
01:17:27,398 --> 01:17:29,275
And then everyone goes, "Yeah."
1572
01:17:29,275 --> 01:17:31,736
You know, big resolution
and impact means nothing
1573
01:17:31,736 --> 01:17:34,155
because 20 minutes later
you forget the whole show.
1574
01:17:34,155 --> 01:17:36,741
But if you build philosophical end,
1575
01:17:37,617 --> 01:17:40,203
open end,
which is what it has become,
1576
01:17:40,870 --> 01:17:43,539
this show is going to live forever.
Nobody's going to figure it out.
1577
01:17:43,539 --> 01:17:45,625
The ending is whatever
you want it to be.
1578
01:17:47,877 --> 01:17:48,836
He died an old man...
1579
01:17:48,836 --> 01:17:51,506
Somebody came out of the bathroom
and shot him in the head...
1580
01:17:51,506 --> 01:17:54,342
Everyone stands around
the water cooler one last time
1581
01:17:54,342 --> 01:17:59,430
and just says, "I can't fucking
believe what I just watched."
1582
01:18:00,431 --> 01:18:02,475
"What happened?"
1583
01:18:02,475 --> 01:18:04,143
What do you have left with?
1584
01:18:05,353 --> 01:18:07,605
You have left with
something to resolve.
1585
01:18:08,648 --> 01:18:10,733
Okay. And how are you
going to resolve it?
1586
01:18:10,733 --> 01:18:12,527
By watching the show again.
1587
01:18:19,826 --> 01:18:21,244
When you were done, were you done?
1588
01:18:21,244 --> 01:18:23,830
Had you made peace with that?
Were you sad? Were you...
1589
01:18:24,872 --> 01:18:26,124
Wanted to do something else?
1590
01:18:26,124 --> 01:18:27,542
I wanted to...
1591
01:18:28,668 --> 01:18:31,713
I wanted to get down to what
I had always wanted to do,
1592
01:18:31,713 --> 01:18:34,298
which was make a fucking movie.
1593
01:18:37,176 --> 01:18:38,344
And...
1594
01:18:39,512 --> 01:18:42,056
It's for sure I had done
enough Sopranos,
1595
01:18:42,056 --> 01:18:44,726
but it was over. It just felt right.
1596
01:18:44,726 --> 01:18:46,018
It was over.
1597
01:18:47,103 --> 01:18:49,689
All right, guys, here we go.
Here, all here.
1598
01:18:54,610 --> 01:18:57,822
As time went on, I missed the people.
1599
01:18:59,240 --> 01:19:00,742
It really was like a family.
1600
01:19:02,952 --> 01:19:04,829
And I missed the problem-solving.
1601
01:19:05,955 --> 01:19:07,206
There's writing,
1602
01:19:07,206 --> 01:19:10,293
and then there's, like,
what color hat should he have on?
1603
01:19:10,877 --> 01:19:12,211
A red hat.
1604
01:19:12,211 --> 01:19:15,173
Well, he can't have a red hat
because she's got a red hat.
1605
01:19:15,173 --> 01:19:17,759
We can't shoot there because
we can see the Shell sign.
1606
01:19:17,759 --> 01:19:19,761
Or during the editing process.
1607
01:19:20,303 --> 01:19:23,473
Well, why black?
Why? Why cut to black?
1608
01:19:25,349 --> 01:19:28,019
There was that scene
between Meadow and A.J.
1609
01:19:28,019 --> 01:19:30,772
"Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening."
1610
01:19:30,772 --> 01:19:33,608
Oh my God, I'm so glad I'm not
in high school anymore.
1611
01:19:33,608 --> 01:19:35,318
- You read this?
- This is a long time back.
1612
01:19:35,318 --> 01:19:37,528
- He was doing his homework.
- What does it mean?
1613
01:19:37,528 --> 01:19:39,822
I have to turn in a close read
by tomorrow.
1614
01:19:39,822 --> 01:19:40,990
What does it mean?
1615
01:19:40,990 --> 01:19:43,076
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
1616
01:19:43,076 --> 01:19:46,871
But I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep"?
1617
01:19:46,871 --> 01:19:49,123
"Woods on a Snowy Evening,"
I think is the name of the poem.
1618
01:19:49,123 --> 01:19:51,084
- Oh, the Robert Frost?
- Robert Frost poem.
1619
01:19:51,918 --> 01:19:53,419
And she says...
1620
01:19:53,419 --> 01:19:54,879
What's covering the field?
1621
01:19:54,879 --> 01:19:56,464
- Snow.
- Yay!
1622
01:19:57,173 --> 01:19:58,674
And what does snow symbolize?
1623
01:19:59,175 --> 01:20:00,009
Christmas?
1624
01:20:00,009 --> 01:20:01,219
Hello.
1625
01:20:01,969 --> 01:20:02,845
Cold?
1626
01:20:03,554 --> 01:20:06,391
Endless white, endless nothing?
1627
01:20:06,391 --> 01:20:08,017
- I don't know.
- Death.
1628
01:20:08,017 --> 01:20:09,435
I thought black was death.
1629
01:20:09,435 --> 01:20:11,104
"I thought black meant death."
1630
01:20:12,605 --> 01:20:14,190
So that was in my head also.
1631
01:20:14,816 --> 01:20:18,820
But, see, now people will say,
"See, he admitted Tony died."
1632
01:20:19,654 --> 01:20:20,613
The truth is--