“He didn’t like that word. He didn’t like it at all.”
Last weekend brought the sad passing of Tony Sirico, who was best known for his tremendous portrayal of Paulie Walnuts in revered crime saga The Sopranos.
Tributes quickly poured in for the actor, who was 79 at the time of his death, with co-stars Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco, Stevie Van Zandt and Steve Schirripa leading the charge.
Now, the mastermind behind The Sopranos, David Chase, has paid his respects in a considered chat with Vulture. “The loss of Tony is your loss as much as mine,” Chase began. “We all loved him. He was one of a kind.”
During the interview, Chase notes that Sirico tried out for the rule of Uncle Junior, later accepting the role of Paulie; a character that would grow in stature across the run of the series. Siricio was clearly a beloved figure on the set, one who commanded a great deal of respect from those around him.
So much so, he managed to do something that, according to Chase, no other actor ever accomplished – successfully requesting a dialogue change to the script.
“He wasn’t the kind of actor who had a lot of questions about his character!” said Chase.
“I will say, Tony was part of one of the greatest casts of all time. It was certainly the greatest cast I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve worked with some incredible casts. But he was the only one who ever asked me to have a line changed. And I did it.”
Asked about the line in question, Chase explained:
“Another character was talking about Paulie, and they said he was a bully. Tony didn’t like that. He asked me to take the word ‘bully’ out of there. And I did. I don’t recall [what the line was changed to]. The important thing is, he didn’t like that word. He didn’t like it at all.”
It was put to Chase that perhaps Siricio bristled at the line due to his past – the actor was arrested 28 times in his life and once served 20 months in Sing Sing prison for extortion, coercion and felony weapons possession.
“I wonder if that had something to do with why he was so sensitive about it,” Chase replied. “Maybe he had been a bully as a young man. I’ve seen a picture of him as a young man standing out in the street next to a parking meter with a tank top on. Flexing his muscles, you know. He looked the part.”
You can read the full interview, which really is quite excellent, here.
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