NEW YORK – Seventeen years later, the debate surrounding the finale of “The Sopranos” continues (and on and on and on).
In “Wise Guy,” a new documentary that premiered late Thursday night at the Tribeca Festival, series creator David Chase continues to stir things up about the HBO drama’s famously ambiguous ending.
In the final section of the doc, Chase discusses the finale in detail. He was deeply inspired by the ending of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey” and how astronaut Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) encounters different ages of himself. Chase tries to mirror that with New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), who continually encounters his own POV shots throughout the episode.
“It reminds me of death,” Chase says in the documentary. “There’s something enchanting about it.”
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Despite opposition from the writers’ room, Chase chose Journey’s 1981 anthem, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, as the final song because of its lyrics. (“You may not go on, but the universe does,” he explains.) He initially saw the ending as a reversal of the opening credits: Tony drives through the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan, where he is on his way to a meeting that ” not going well.”
But he eventually ended up on the scene at Holsten’s restaurant, where Tony meets wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and son AJ (Robert Iler). As the music plays and daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) struggles to parallel park outside, a man looks at Tony and goes to the bathroom. Does he, like in ‘The Godfather’, pick up a gun and shoot Tony? Or will Meadow simply walk into the restaurant, where they all proceed to a nice family dinner?
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As we all know, the screen goes black at the last second, which doesn’t allow the audience to exit easily. In “Wise Guy,” the cast says they had no idea how the show would end before it aired. Even Gandolfini remained confused: Lorraine Bracco, who met therapist Dr. Melfi plays, watched the episode with him and said “he was in shock.”
Chase says the ending is what the viewers want. (And honestly, isn’t it boring when everything is wrapped up neatly?) But then he mischievously refers to an early episode of “Sopranos,” in which Meadow is helping A.J. with his homework. Trying to interpret a Robert Frost poem, A.J. asks her, “I thought black meant death?”
Does this mean Chase telegraphed the series finale all the way back in Season 3? “People will say, ‘There! He admitted that Tony died!’” he says, laughing. “The truth is…” he begins, before the documentary cuts to black and the credits begin.
James Gandolfini had to go to ‘painful’ places to play Tony Soprano
For “Sopranos” fans, the greatest joy of “Wise Guy” is the sheer amount of behind-the-scenes footage. We get to see audition tapes for almost every cast member, including fan favorites Michael Imperioli (Christopher), Drea de Matteo (Adriana), and Nancy Marchand (Livia). There’s even a clip of Steven Van Zandt auditioning to play Tony before Chase wrote him the role of right-hand man Silvio.
James Gandolfini won three Emmys for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, a mob boss who goes into therapy.
Many of the documentary’s revelations will be familiar to longtime fans: how De Matteo got her role from the drawn-out way she said “ow,” or how Chase originally envisioned “Sopranos” as a feature film starring Robert De Niro and Anne Bancroft in the lead. Matthew Weiner was also hired as a writer after sending Chase his unproduced script for a small series now known as “Mad Men.”
But the documentary’s most moving section is devoted to Gandolfini, who died of a heart attack in 2013 at age 51, six years after “Sopranos” ended its six-season run. The film unearths archival footage of Gandolfini joking around with Bracco between takes and describes how he gave his castmates $30,000 each after negotiating a significant pay raise. “He was a very good, kind-hearted man,” Falco recalls. But, she says, the role “may have cost him something.”
Michael Imperioli, left, James Gandolfini, Tony Sirico and Steven Van Zandt in a scene from “The Sopranos.”
To portray Tony, “he had to go to places that were destructive to him, and painful to him,” Chase says. Before shooting Tony’s more violent scenes, Gandolfini would purposely deprive himself of sleep for days in advance, or walk around with rocks in his shoes to get angry. He reportedly bruised his hands when he hit the inside of Tony’s car, and reportedly threatened to leave the show almost every day.
According to his co-stars, Gandolfini often didn’t show up to work when they stayed out late the night before drinking together. In the documentary, former HBO head Chris Albrecht says he once tried to stage an intervention, encouraging the actor to go to rehab. But when he realized what was happening, Gandolfini apparently shouted, “Fire me!” and walked outside.
The cast and creative team of “The Sopranos” reunited for a 25th anniversary event at the Tribeca Festival in New York.
The cast becomes emotional remembering Gandolfini, as well as late co-star Tony Sirico, who played Paulie and died in 2022. More than a dozen “Sopranos” writers and actors reunited for a post-screening Q&A at the Beacon Theater with director Alex Gibney, where they reiterated that they are still a family to this day.
Growing up on set, “it was home,” Sigler said through tears. “A lot has happened in those ten years. No matter what happened, that set was home and the people here were home. They accepted you and loved you no matter what. It was a privilege and an honor, and it has largely shaped who I am today.”
“Wise Guy” will be released by HBO later this year. Tribeca Festival runs through June 16.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Sopranos’ role was ‘destructive’ for late James Gandolfini
