“James was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. I remember telling him many times, ‘You don’t get it. You’re like Mozart.’ There would be silence at the other end of the phone,” David Chase recalled yesterday, in a statement given to press following the sudden death of James Gandolfini. And it’s hard to disagree that the actor was indeed a composer, crafting performances on the stage and screen that will live far beyond his tragically too brief career.
At 51 years old, topping out at six feet, with a mischievous, unnerving glare and the look of a bruiser, Gandolfini could tower over bigger men. Indeed, few standing beside him could overshadow the presence of the actor, who gifts and skill were immeasurable. His body of acting work is a masterclass in exhausted machismo, anxiety and wounded pride haunting the steps of his most iconic embodiments. And while Tony Soprano will always be his pinnacle achievement, the kind of performance in a culturally game changing show that few actors are blessed to be part of, Gandolfini was eager to show he could be much more — and he did.
So below, are five laudable highlights from a versatile, often surprising career. One that was promising to go in even bolder and more interesting directions, and while we’re never get to see what further talents he could share, Gandolfini left us with more than enough proof that we’ve said goodbye one of the finest out there.
Postscript: Note, this feature was originally written one day after James Gandolfini passed away and does not include his terrific performance in Nicole Holofcener’s “Enough Said” (2013), but yes, it’s excellent, as is he and definitely deserves a slot here.
“The Sopranos” (1999-2007)
About that those eyes that David Chase spoke of, they seemed to be the key to Gandolfini’s greatest role, as the iconic mobster Tony Soprano. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and that’s the role Tony Soprano eventually found himself in HBO’s seminal show about a mobster trying to weigh his home and family life against his crime organization responsibilities, simultaneously putting them in danger as he slowly ascended to the top. The key to the beloved Tony Soprano was conflict coming from the tremendous emotional depth and sensitivity, that this man, a brute on the outside, actually possessed. Even as he pursued everything he desired — luxury, girls, booze, money, power, clout — the price that came with these vices tortured his soul, and ran counter to the well of emotion he felt for his family and the children he adored. Essentially wanting his cake and eating it too, while loyal and loving, Soprano also resented the burdens and responsibilities he was given, both as a husband and parent and the boss of a crime syndicate that seemed to bring with it more problems the further up the ladder he ascended. But the complex, contradictory mien of Tony Soprano, the various tenors of anger, sadness, exhaustion and frustration on the page were illuminated by his vessel, James Gandolfini. Complicated, flawed, surprisingly sympathetic even as he did horrible things, Gandolfini found the humanity in Tony Soprano, and gave him your empathy with his soul. One of the most beloved characters to ever appear on TV, Tony Soprano may have cut to black years ago, but Gandolfini’s indelible rendering of this tragic and layered character and his legacy, will live on.