Why ‘The Sopranos’ started fining James Gandolfini $250,000 a day: “Fuck it”
There are many TV shows with a claim to being ‘the best’. There are straightforward dramas like Breaking Bad and The Wires, or comedies in the vein of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Simpsons. Then you’ve got miniseries; one-shot stories like Band of Brothers and Chernobyl; anthology series like The Twilight Zone; or how about a moving nature documentary, David Attenborough’s Planet Earth. However, in terms of impact on television as a medium, you could argue that no show has been more important than The Sopranos.
Airing on HBO between 1999 and 2007, The Sopranos followed the story of the titular New Jersey crime family through their various ups and downs. The great and the good have all praised the show for fundamentally changing what television could be. It treated the small screen like the big one, treating each episode and series as its own movie. High production values, stellar writing, top quality acting, the show had it all, and people just couldn’t get enough.
There are many great Sopranos characters, but the emotional core of the series is most definitely James Gandolfini. It’s his character, Tony Soprano’s, emotional meltdown that kicks the saga off, as he begins his therapy sessions with Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). Tony’s unique position as a ruthless criminal and a multi-layered human being not only drives the show, but it exemplifies its entire ethos. The role made Gandolfini, but he didn’t always treat it with a great deal of respect.
In his biography of the leading man, Gandolfini: Jim, Tony and the Life of a Legend, author Jason Bailey discusses how the star’s personal life impacted his work on the show. Around season three, the midway point of the series, he began no-showing tapings, causing untold chaos for the other cast members and crew. For cinematographer Phil Abraham, it was a completely new experience.
“I can’t say I’ve ever been on a show where something like that has gone on, but this was sort of a different beast,” he recalled (via Vanity Fair). Abraham, who also directed the season six episode “Remember When”, stated that the network tried to intervene, but had little success. “At a certain point, HBO was fining him 250 grand a day,” he said. “And he would say, ‘Fuck it. I can’t come in to work.’ So we knew then, it’s not just him doing a lot of blow [cocaine] and drinking, and he’s not getting up because he doesn’t want to get up. No, it was deeper than that.”
Much like his famous alter ego, Gandolfini had his demons. He struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for most of his adult life, leaning heavily on booze and cocaine to get through daily life. He almost quit the show after an intervention was held, but this wasn’t enough to save him. On June 19th 2013, Gandolfini suffered a heart attack while on holiday with his family in Rome and died. He was just 51 years old.
The signs were all there that Gandolfini was heading for a tragic end. His absenteeism was just the tip of the iceberg for this generational star, who could and should have enjoyed a much longer life and career. Hopefully, he has finally found his peace.
