Arguably one of the best TV shows of all time and definitely one of my favorites debuted a day like today 26 years ago. For any Sopranos fans, here are some cool facts that maybe you didn’t know:
Tony Soprano was almost played by someone else
We can’t imagine a world where James Gandolfini didn’t play Tony Soprano, but this, in fact, was almost a reality. As it turns out, the show’s creator, David Chase, was originally debating whether to cast Steven Van Zandt as Tony. However, he ultimately decided to give Gandolfini the role and had Van Zandt play Silvio.
The series was originally a feature film
Chase originally wrote The Sopranos as a movie, not a series. It wasn’t until he got feedback from his manager, Lloyd Braun, that he decided to turn it into a television show.
It was heavily inspired by the creator’s life
Chase drew on experiences from his personal life when writing scenes for the hit show. For instance, Lorraine Bracco’s character, Dr. Melfi, was based on his therapist, and Tony’s mother, Livia, was influenced by his mother. “I used to tell people stories about my mother, things she said and did,” Chase told 60 Minutes in a 2005 interview. “My wife, first of all, said, ‘One day you have to write about her because she’s hysterical.’”
The show is named after the creator’s high school friends
Chase didn’t choose the title to be The Sopranos just because it sounded good. Instead, he named it after his high school friends.
Fox passed on the series
It’s hard to imagine any network passing on the mega-series now, but Fox did.
