HBO Paid a Massive $3000000 to James Gandolfini Not to Accept an Acclaimed Role in Another TV Series
Late actor James Gandolfini was popularly known for portraying the character of Tony Soprano in HBO’s Italian-American Mafia crime drama The Sopranos from 1999 to 2007. The actor received critical acclaim for his performance on the show which is described as one of the greatest and most influential performances in television history.
Created by David Chase, The Sopranos spanned over six seasons and eighty-six episodes and is to date regarded as one of the most prominent series of all time. The show has been credited with marking the Second Golden Age of Television and the audience notes that it was indeed James Gandolfini’s character that has stayed with them till date. A report suggested that the late actor could have appeared in the place of Michael Scott but declined to take over.
HBO offered $3 Million to The Sopranos actor James Gandolfini to decline the role on The Office
The Sopranos actors Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa played Christopher Moltisanti and Bobby Baccalieri on the show respectively. The actors appeared on the episode of Imperioli and Schirripa’s Talking Sopranos podcast alongside guest Ricky Gervais to talk about the show.
Gervais played David Brent on the original British version of The Office and counterpart of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott. The actors revealed during the podcast that James Gandolfini was considered as a replacement of Steve Carell on the show The Office after the actor decided to quit. Imperiolli and Schirripa said via IndieWire,
“You know, they talked about having Gandolfini at one point replace him—did you know that? I think before James Spader and after Steve Carell, they offered James Gandolfini, I want to say, $4 million to play him for the season. HBO paid him $3 million not to do it.”
Steve Schirripa noted that according to them HBO forking out a hefty amount might have been due to the late actor’s ongoing deal with the company at the point. It had been known that the actor had filmed a pilot with Riz Ahmed for The Night Of and John Turturro stepped in to replace the actor after he passed away.
As for The Office, Steve Carell left the show after season 7 and the series started to struggle without the actor which led to the makers finding an apt replacement for him. Actors including Kathy Bates, James Spader, and Catherine Tate stepped in to be Dunder Mifflin’s regional manager but couldn’t sustain for a very long time. There were cameos from Ray Romano and Ricky Grevais as David Brent after which NBC decided to approach James Gandolfini for the part.
James Gandolfini was unsure about playing a comic role in The Office
In a 2020 book The Office by Andy Green, writer Daniel Chun revealed the situation where James Gandolfini decided to decline the offer to play regional manager at Dunder Mifflin. He said via Collider,
“I remember him being really, really complimentary, but he wasn’t super familiar with the show. He had watched a few episodes and was really unsure about comedy. He was like, ‘I don’t one hundred percent know how to play this.”
Actor Will Ferrell was brought in to play the general manager after Carell but it was finally Spader who made it through for the part. Michael Scott returned for Dwight Schrute’s wedding in the series finale. At the reunion event of The Sopranos, Lorraine Bracco shared with People;
“I always think about him (James Gandolfini). I have moments that I have in my mind or something will happen, that Jimmy will come back to me.”
James Gandolfini’s son Michael Gandolfini stepped in as Tony Soprano for the 2021 prequel movie Many Saints of Newark with Kathrine Norducci adding that he is a part of the family and they all look at Michael with so much love noting that Jimmy would be so happy that they all love his son so much.
The Office is available to stream on Peacock and The Sopranos on Netflix.
