Why The Sopranos Star Michael Imperioli Threw His Emmy In The Trash
HBO’s “The Sopranos” was one of the most popular shows of all time. Starring James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, the show was a huge hit from the beginning. But the show wasn’t just about Tony. It’s true that he was the main character, but a lot of other characters shared the spotlight with him. Christopher Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli (who threw his Emmy in the trash), was one of these characters.
Michael Imperioli is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, though he began his career before appearing on the hit HBO series. He won the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Emmy in 2004, the same year that his on-screen partner Drea de Matteo won that award. Imperioli was nominated for five Primetime Emmy awards during the show’s six seasons, earning nods each year for 2001, ’03, ’06, and ’07 and winning the award in 2004. He recounted the tale of the night he won his Emmy and how his award ended up in the trash in a new interview.
His feelings on EGOT
Noisey recently asked Imperioli which of the other awards in an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) was he likely to achieve next and he explained the story of his Emmy finding its way to the trash:
“I don’t give a sh*t. Those are good for business those things, that’s really what they’re good for because you know it’ll give you opportunity. I remember Robert Duvall got interviewed going into the year he was nominated for something, someone said ‘Do you want to win?’ He goes ‘Of course, I want to win everybody (wants to), these are some of the most competitive people in the world they all want to win.’ But when you lose the next morning you already forgot about and you go on. Very different experience winning because the moment they say the winner is… and call your name all that focus of everybody in that room is now on you. That I didn’t expect and that was weird it was like all of a sudden like a hit of acid just exploding in your brain because it becomes very surreal.”
A swoon-worthy moment?
He continued with, “That night I won, my wife and I go to bed she says ‘You know you think you’re a really big deal with this Emmy,’ and then she goes ‘I am not impressed’ and she said ‘And if you had any balls you’d take that Emmy and throw it right in the garbage.’ The booze had been flowing, I took that Emmy threw it in the garbage. We both went to bed, wake up the next morning 11 o’clock, first thing she says ‘Can you order coffee? And don’t forget to take your Emmy out of the garbage.'”
It’s funny that Michael Imperioli actually threw the precious Emmy in the trash because his wife wasn’t thrilled with the award. They laughed about it later, though, and since the award was in fact recovered later, it’s all well and good.
