“The Sopranos” aired its final episode in the summer of 2007. Today, thanks to streaming media, HBO’s American crime family drama is as popular as ever. Check out the “Talking Sopranos” podcast for proof. Co-hosted by former cast members Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) and Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti), the rewatch podcast boasts millions of streams and a Webby for 2021’s Best Television & Film Podcast.
On February 1, at 8 p.m., fans of the drama series will have a chance to experience it in person when Schirripa, Imperioli, and Vincent Pastore (Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero) visit The Grand Opera House in Wilmington to share stories, slides, and backstage secrets.
Schirripa, who played Baccalieri for all six seasons, calls the event “a little peek behind the curtain.”
When he first scored the part, he was working as entertainment director for the Riviera in Vegas. “I was just a small bit player,” he says. “I flew myself in and out. Paid my own way” But as he worked his way up the ranks of TV’s fictional Lupertazzi crime family, his own life changed too.
“In Season 3, they moved me and my family back to New York. …I was 40. I just took a shot. My wife was all for it. We had two kids. We had a big house in Vegas. I had a good job. I left the job, and people thought I was crazy. And maybe I was,” Schirripa says.
It was a pretty big gamble, even for a guy who worked at a casino.
For characters like Baccalieri, who lived inside the violent world of “The Sopranos,” the end could come in the blink of an eye. The show’s actors lived with the same fear.
“The work is good,” Schirripa says. “You work with the people you like, and let’s not kid ourselves, storyline, no storyline, you’re out of work, right?. I mean, it was a real concern for everybody, you know. Once they knocked off Vinny Pastore, Big Pussy, you say, ‘Oh, that’s a major character’”
As it happens, his character survived nearly the full run of the show, rising from a midlevel hustler to acting boss-in-waiting. But he also wasn’t the typical wise guy. Schirripa describes his character as a good guy, an uncommonly sensitive soul among hardened career criminals.
The actor credits creator David Chase and the show’s talented writers for giving him a multidimensional character to explore. But Schirripa’s warm portrayal deserves as much of the praise.
Baccalieri is one of the few who retained his core humanity even as the show’s other leads took darker turns. Still, “If they gave you a good send-off, that kind of became a badge of honor,” he says. “You know, when they killed you, did you just fade away, or did they give you a good kill?
“I got a good one.”
Today, Schirripa splits his time between California and New York, where he’s filming CBS’s “Blue Bloods.” “I came in to do one, maybe two episodes” as Det. Anthony Abetemarco, he says. “I wound up doing 147.”
You can ask him all about it—and pretty much anything else—during the Q&A session at The Grand, where all topics are on the table.
“If you’re a ‘Sopranos’ fan,” says Schirripa, “you’re in for a good night.”
For information and tickets, visit thegrandwilmington.org.
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