Why James Gandolfini put stones in his shoes during the making of ‘The Sopranos’
It takes a lot of work to deliver one of the greatest long-form performances in the history of television, with James Gandolfini adopting plenty of unusual tricks in order to embody Tony Soprano.
The results speak for themselves, though, with David Chase’s street-level crime classic lauded as one of the greatest TV shows ever made. Gandolfini’s sensitive yet fearsome protagonist was a hugely important aspect of what made the series so memorable across six seasons and 86 episodes.
Of course, no man is an island, with the success of The Sopranos resulting from its razor-sharp writing, fully-rounded characters, phenomenal casting, atmospheric production design, and immaculate direction, among many other elements. Still, at the end of the day, Gandolfini was billed first in the credits.
The actor’s career-defining turn would land him a Golden Globe for ‘Best Actor – Television Series Drama’ from four nominations and three Primetime Emmys for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series’ from six nods in total. However, Gandolfini wasn’t above either making himself uncomfortable – or being made uncomfortable by others – to get the job done.
Costume designer Juliet Polcsa admitted she had a hand in it on the Talking Sopranos podcast, dressing the leading man in clothes she knew he would despise. “I knew all the things that Jim hated – clothes that made him feel uncomfortable,” she explained. “So I made that costume all the things Jim didn’t like because I figured it would make him mad. You were helping his performance.”
Gandolfini was hardly above irritating himself, either, laying out a variety of methods he used to get into character. “Sleep two or three hours a night for two nights before you have a really violent scene. Every single thing that anyone does will piss you off,” he said. “I’ll do a lot of weird things; bang my head on things.”
“You do whatever you need to do. You could put a rock in your shoe, a very pointy rock. Walk around with that all day. I mean, it’s silly, but it works,” the actor shared. Co-star Steve Schirripa echoed that sentiment when he detailed how Gandolfini would willingly stuff his shoes full of stones for the sake of getting himself worked up.
“When he had to be mad and uncomfortable, he would put rocks in his shoes. It would hurt his feet and get him pissed off,” Schirripa confirmed, further outlining the lengths Gandolfini would go to to ensure that Tony was being presented as suitably enraged whenever the scene called for it. Method acting of a different kind, he evidently wasn’t above putting his feet through agony in the name of authenticity.
It may not have been the most straightforward approach, but based on the status The Sopranos holds in the pantheon of small screen greats, it was worth the annoyance.
