Michael Gandolfini only wants to play young Tony Soprano

The Many Saints Of Newark star is open to playing Tony again, but only in the character's teens and 20s

By Tatiana Tenreyro | September 28, 2021 | 8:27pm

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Michael Gandolfini only wants to play young Tony Soprano

Michael Gandolfini in The Many Saints Of Newark Screenshot: HBO

With The Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints Of Newark almost here, fans have been wondering if there’s a possibility for more new Sopranos projects. Both the film’s director Alan Taylor and series creator David Chase have spoken about being open to expanding Tony Soprano’s story, and Michael Gandolfini has talked about wanting to play his late father’s iconic character again, too. But in a new interview with Uproxx, Gandolfini explains that he’s only interested in playing Tony in his teens and early 20s.

“I am not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony,” he says. “I think if there’s an interesting part after this movie, before the show, that we can explore something about Tony that hasn’t been explored, in his youth, in his 20s. After that, we’re getting a little too old.”

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It’s understandable, given how Tony in his 30s is too close to how old Tony is on The Sopranos. While it helps that Gandolfini is James’ son, that doesn’t mean that he’ll grow up to look like a spitting image of his father. As Gandolfini explains, “My dad really explored and David explored everything about that. So is there a time limit around other movies? No, not so much. But the older I get, there is a cutoff where it just naturally goes into the show.”

It sounds like Chase wants to stay in young Tony’s world a bit longer, without speeding to his adulthood. In a recent interview with Deadline, he said he’s considering writing a sequel “with Tony in his 20s” that would show what happens after the events of The Many Saints Of Newark. “That would be interesting to do, and there’s a lot of stories that exist already because of the mythology, and working with [Sopranos writer and executive producer] Terry [Winter] would be great,” he said. “He and I in that world again, I think we’d have a good time. I wouldn’t do it on my own, and I would not do it with anybody else. If Warners wanted it, they own it, they can do whatever they want.”