In 2021, ‘Sopranos’ creator David Chase frequently referenced the damaged relationship between him and James Gandolfini while promoting the prequel film ‘Many Saints of Newark’, which came as a surprise to fans of the show as there was never any indication that things were so rocky behind the scenes.

Chase told The Guardian at the time:

“He was tired of me, for sure. And I was kind of tired of him.”

“We were done with each other [in 2007] when the series ended.”

Tensions between Galdolfini and David Chase are further explored in a new documentary titled “Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos,” which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival this week. In the doc, Chase acknowledges that Gandolfini “had to go places that were destructive to him, and painful” to play Tony.

According to a USA Today review of the doc, Gandolfini would deprive himself of sleep for days before shooting a violent scene, would walk around with rocks in his shoes to get angry, and purposely bruise his hands by hitting the inside of his Tony Soprano’s car.

The review also notes that a hungover Gandolfini would frequently miss filming:

“Gandolfini would often not show up to work if [he and his co-stars] stayed out late drinking together the night before.”

Former HBO executive Chris Albrecht claims he tried convincing Gandolfini to go to rehab during the later seasons of the show – to which Gandolfini once reacted by shouting “Fire me” before “storming” away. According to the documentary, Gandolfini “threatened to quit the show nearly every other day” for different reasons.

Gandolfini knew the show could not go on without him, being the main character and all. He used this fact to get what he wanted from show producers.

Edie Falco, who played Tony’s long-suffering wife Carmela Soprano, described Gandolfini in the doc as a “very good, kindhearted man” but admits the role “may have taken a toll on him.”

Former HBO CEO Jeff Bewkes wrote in the 2021 book “Tinderbox” that he feared that Gandolfini would die while The Sopranos was still on TV:

“We were concerned about Gandolfini staying alive. Occasionally he would go on a bender or a coke binge. We had to stop production. It cost a lot of money and was hard on the other actors’ schedules.”

Apparently they even tried an intervention with Gandolfini, which turned out to be a complete disaster. When Gandolfini entered the apartment to find friends and family waiting, he realised what was happening and told them, “Oh, f–k this. F–k all of you.” Gandolfini eventually stormed out of the building — but not before daring Albrecht to fire him from the Sopranos, which he obviously couldn’t do.

Wonder if all this was before or after the intervention for Chrisopher Moltisanti on the show itself, which went just as badly?

The good news is that Gandolfini was able to complete all six seasons of the Sopranos, and even reconciled with David Chase in 2012 for the film “Not Fade Away.”

Chase recalls in the doc:

“Things were fine [between us during the movie]. It was refreshed.”

Gandolfini died of a heart attack in 2013.

The new documentary features audition tapes of cast members, interviews, and discussion around the show’s ending. The doc will stream on Max at a date to be announced. Sounds like a must-watch for any fan of the Sopranos.

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