The Mob Never Says Goodbye
The Mob never says goodbye, so why is Gandolfini?
"When it's over the right way, I'll see you later," said James Gandolfini, star of the HBO series, The Sopranos. This will be the fifth and second-to last season of the mob hit that has made Gandolfini, among others, Emmy winners.
The sixth season will be the last for the mob crew from New Jersey. However, this season will stir a lot of emotions. While the usual tight-lipped David Chase, the show's creator and executive producer, is still keeping mum, he did give a little insight on how he got the idea for this season's story.
Chase was inspired by a New Jersey newspaper article. It was about an organized crime wave in which many key players were prosecuted in the 1980s. "A lot of those guys are getting out of jail, they've served their time and are hitting the streets again," said Chase. One of which is Steve Buscemi, 46, of Reservoir Dogs fame. Buscemi will be playing Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto.
Besides the addition of new characters, Chase also provided that this season, "has to do with the limitations of family relationships and friendships in a materialistic world."
After a 15-month hiatus from the show, Gandolfini, 42, had some reservations about coming back to work. Last season, Tony and wife, Carmela, played by Emmy winner Edie Falco, split up due to Tony's extramarital activities. In a way, this parallels his own life after recently splitting from his wife, Marcy, in December 2002. The newly-engaged actor has to go through the emotions again when he gets back on the set.
"Having gone through something similar in his personal life, it was difficult having to dredge those things up sometimes," Gandolfini said. "He's got a lot of rage and you have to scrape that up. . . Fourteen hours a day for eight or nine months a year, it starts to take a toll after a while."
So, we only have 23 more episodes to last us a lifetime. Good thing it came out on DVD. The decision to end the series seems amicable between everyone. The one-time idea of the show becoming a movie is probably not going to happen because Chase believes the final 10 episodes will be its own movie. As for Gandolfini, "I'm not ready to say good-bye to the character, but I'm not going to miss him."