The late James Gandolfini will be honored at this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards, seeing as the Sopranos star appears in one of the critical indie hits of the year, Enough Said. He also appears on the cover of GQ this month.
Gandolfini’s friend and fellow actor Steve Buscemi will be on hand to present the tribune, reports Variety. The Boardwalk Empire called it an “honor” to be presenting and called Gandolfini a “friend, an inspiration, and an extraordinary talent whose presence is missed by all of us who knew and loved him.”
“We are honored to pay tribute to a man whose life and work has inspired and moved so many who knew him personally, or through his vast body of work on the stage and screen, where he collaborated with so many independent artists to bring to life unforgettable, iconic characters,” Joana Vicente, Executive Director of the Independent Filmmaker Project, said in a statement today.
Gandolfini died in June at age 51 from a heart attack. His sudden death shocked Hollywood, as he had just completed several projects and had some in the works. One of these was the romantic comedy Enough Said with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which was released in October and has earned critical praise.
He is also on the cover of GQ this month as one of the magazine’s men of the year. Friend Michael Koboid shared stories of Gandolfini, including the story of how his body was taken from Rome, where he died, back to the U.S. He said that an Irish billionaire’s Airbus A319 was suddenly available to take Gandolfini’s body back to the States and United Airlines stepped in to help pay for the refueling costs.
The Gotham Independent Film Awards are set for Dec. 2 in New York.
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