The opening of "The Sopranos"/HBO
25 years after the airing of the series "The Sopranos", a new book reveals the problematic conduct of the late American actor James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano, on the set of the series in its last seasons, including his failure to arrive for filming or his many delays.
The book, written by Mark Cayman who served as a location finder in the series for six seasons, and later became one of the producers of the series "The White Lotus", claims that the problematic behaviors began to appear in the fifth season.
So, for example, during the filming of the episode "Pie-O-My" at a New Jersey racetrack, the cast and crew stayed close to the location after filming.
"I was at the hotel bar when the staff member closest to James asked if I wanted to come to Atlantic City with James and a few others. It was an hour away. I declined," Caymain writes.
"The next morning I wasn't surprised when James couldn't be woken up."
Gandolfini ended up arriving on set four hours late, and the book further claims that he "cussed, learned only half the text by heart, did take after take, and was vulgar."
The book also claims that the cable network HBO, which aired the series, inserted a clause in the actor's contract requiring him to pay the costs of filming days if he continued to miss filming time.
Gandolfini, who won three Emmys and a Golden Globe for his role and died just over 10 years ago at the age of 51, behaved problematically in part because of his "discomfort" with fame, Cayman argues in his book.
In another case, the book claims, the crew was told that Gandolfini wouldn't come to the shoot at all, which caused actress Edie Falco, who played Carmella Soprano, "to be disgusted by his behavior and say, 'Are you kidding me?'"
Cayman adds that many times Gandolfini came to the set "unprepared, cursed himself, and asked a crew member to tell him what his lines were."
Cayman adds that despite the frustrations Gandolfini caused with crew members, he was loved on the set.
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The Sopranos
James Gandolfini