James Gandolfini impressed a future ‘Sopranos’ co-star so much that it gave him the role of a lifetime.
In 1993, James Gandolfini was a completely unknown actor. He had an uncredited role in the Bruce Willis film The Last Boy Scout and a small role as a petty criminal in the Melanie Griffith-led drama A Stranger AmongUs in 1992. So, when he got the part of Virgil in the Quentin Tarantino-written and Tony Scott-directed classic noir thriller True Romance, it would serve as a pivotal moment in the young actor’s career. With only a handful of small credits to his name, suddenly, he was part of an enormously talented and star-studded cast that included Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, and Val Kilmer. Even though Gandolfini was way down on the marquee and appeared in only one scene, his turn as a ruthless and hulking mafioso assigned with getting a valuable package back from the two protagonists is still one of the most memorable sequences in a movie filled with terrific moments. It was so good that it led to his breakout performance as a mafia don in The Sopranos.
What Is ‘True Romance’ About?
Clarence Worley (Slater) is a loner who loves movies. His idea of the perfect date is to go to the theater and watch a triple bill of classic kung fu movies. Tarantino wrote aspects of Clarence in his own image, and it is widely believed that this part of the character is autobiographical. When he crosses paths with a fiery and opinionated young sex worker named Alabama (Arquette), the two immediately click and fall in love. To have her all to himself, however, he has to separate her from her sleazy pimp and resident drug dealer Drexl Spivey (brilliantly played by Gary Oldman). Drexl isn’t prepared to let one of his “top earners” walk away, and he and Clarence fight for her. Clarence gets the better of Drexl and also stumbles into a suitcase full of uncut cocaine worth millions of dollars.
Clarence and Alabama are immediately married, and they take the suitcase with them on the run headed toward California. The two believe they have made it free and clear but don’t know that Blue Lou Boyle, the mob boss who actually owns the case, has had Clarence’s dad (Hopper) killed and sent his top capos to track Clarence and Alabama Worley down and retrieve the valuable items. One of those mobsters is a behemoth of a man named Virgil, played by James Gandolfini.
James Gandolfini’s One Scene in ‘True Romance’ Showed He Could Be Tony Soprano
Thinking that they are “out of the woods,” so to speak, Clarence and Alabama get a little careless. When Clarence leaves to get the couple some fast food, Alabama returns to their motel room to find a strange man sitting in a chair, cradling a shotgun in his lap. It is Virgil, and he is there on behalf of his boss, Blue Lou Boyle. Gandolfini is only in this scene, but looking back at it now, it is blatantly obvious that he would be perfect as Tony Soprano in the role that would define the actor’s career. In fact, he is so devilishly evil that he would have to scale it back a bit to play the lead in The Sopranos.
Virgil sits alone in the room, completely comfortable, owning the space. Alabama knows she’s in trouble, but Virgil engages her in small talk, building tension within the small, confined room. When he stands up, his physicality becomes apparent. But there is more to Gandolfini’s intimidation than his enormous and imposing stature. He has a calculating look in his constantly shifting and darting eyes. The great actor makes the audience feel like he is two steps ahead of Alabama. Like he knows something neither she nor the viewer does. He has a purposeful manner reserved for only a handful of performers who are completely aware of the presence they bring to a scene. It is an organic polecat swagger that you can’t teach, and he pops off the screen. By the time Virgil and Alabama have knocked each other around for several minutes, it is obvious that audiences would be seeing Gandolfini on their screens again.
How James Gandolfini’s ‘True Romance’ Role Got Him the Lead in ‘The Sopranos’
James Gandolfini’s turn as Virgil in True Romance led to him getting an audition and ultimately landing the kingmaking role of Tony Soprano in HBO’s seminal original mob drama, The Sopranos. According to Deadline, it was one of the actors who would end up being one of Gandolfini’s co-stars who was instrumental in putting him in the same room with showrunner David Chase to read for the role. Steven Van Zandt, also known as Little Stevie from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, was in Los Angeles to read for the role of Tony’s right-hand man, Silvio Dante. Van Zandt told casting director Sheila Jaffe that he knew who would be perfect for the role of Tony, telling Deadline,” I’m on my way into the (casting) room, and Jimmy Gandolfini is sitting there, and I remember saying to the casting director Sheila Jaffe, “That guy outside. I just saw him in a movie called True Romance, and I think he would be a terrific Tony Soprano.” And they were like, “Well, as far as we know, you got the part, but we will mention that to David.”
Jaffe arranged for Gandolfini to read for the part, and interestingly, he had to excuse himself from the initial read. But once he was mentally ready to embrace the role of Tony Soprano, Chase cast him in the part, and the rest is pure television goodness. So, even before they were starring as the mob boss and top capo on our screens, Van Zandt was already looking out for Gandolfini and establishing himself as his confidant and top earner. It’s another of the thousands of Hollywood stories that worked out for the actors and the audience.