James Gandolfini: Tribute to a Friend Page #2

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of who Jim was, was Tony.

Tony Soprano had

all the best qualities

of Jimmy.

And it's why

we loved him so much.

- By the time I was there,

- I think there was a frustration

about what kind of person

Jim was and what kind of person Tony was.

That's a lot of pressure.

Everything you do on-screen

sticks to you,

and even though he was beloved,

he was cruel and brutal and...

I'm talking about Tony...

and Jim was not like that.

I think it was

hard for Jim sometimes

to go to dark places.

- I loved you.

- What happens I decide, not you.

Now... f***!

This f***ing turning thing

doesn't work.

It's okay.

It's okay, cut it.

This was really,

really deeply emotional

and sometimes deeply disturbing

and you really had to get

in touch with the part of yourself

that if you did not feel the words you

were saying, it just wasn't gonna work.

What happens I decide, not you.

Now, you don't love me anymore,

well, that breaks my heart,

but it's too f***ing bad

'cause you're not gonna love me.

But you will respect me.

Tony Soprano had

a very, very, very dark side.

And somehow or other,

good boy Jimmy Gandolfini

was able to fill those shoes.

I had so much respect

for the way he worked.

Cut.

Are you sure my hand

was down here?

It wasn't up here?

The freedom that he had

as an actor

was a constant source

of inspiration for me

and something I still aim for.

Here, okay.

Sorry, let's do it

one more time.

And wherever my hand falls,

that's life.

Jimmy and Edie

made everybody better.

Both of them

were extraordinary.

And totally two different

styles of working.

Jimmy would argue

about everything.

"This doesn't work.

Why is he saying that? I don't wanna... "

Edie came in,

had it all memorized.

Never any discussion.

Just did it.

And yet look at how

well-matched they seem.

Sometimes you get to work

two hours early

or, you know, you have to

sit around for two hours

and what... I'm not gonna sit

in my camper by myself.

I'm gonna go watch

Jim and Edie film a scene

and I felt like I was

in the greatest acting class

of all time.

They came to work

and they did their job,

and they had this thing

called chemistry.

The last year,

I have been dreaming

and fantasizing

and in love with Furio.

What?

Every morning when he'd come

to pick you up,

I would look forward to it

all night long in bed,

next to you.

It's a very strange alchemy

that goes on

when you work with somebody

that closely for that long.

There was one scene

that took place

on chairs by a pool,

I guess in our backyard,

and it wasn't about anything.

The scene was a nothing scene.

And David didn't want us

to look at each other.

So we were just looking straight ahead

and talking about nothing.

I remember ending

that day of shooting

and thinking, "It will never be

this good again. "

You know, with an actor,

with this writing,

with the storyline,

with a marriage, you know,

with a relationship.

It's funny, I hadn't thought

about it till this second.

Oh, papi.

Papi.

Oh, papi.

He wanted to make sure that

the love got spread around.

I guess that's what

I would say.

Jimmy was kind of

a leader in a way.

I think we all took

our cues from him.

This is a family,

this is a team.

This is not about

who's the star and whatever.

There was no egos going around.

We were so lucky to go to work,

and he made it feel that way

from the top.

Jim set the tone

for the entire spirit

of the cast and crew.

From the first moment,

he gave me the utmost respect.

Not being an actor

at the time, you know,

I'm concerned

what are these actors

gonna think of me at all

coming onto the show.

I'm a f***ing rock 'n roll

guitar player.

You know what I mean? What am I doing

here in the first place, right?

When Jimmy gave me

that complete respect,

everybody on the set did.

Your f***ing wig is huge today.

F***ing thick!

That's the good one.

Mr. Gandolfini had a very warped

sense of humor.

One day I came to the set,

to come to work and I was passing

his trailer...

and he always called me Bracco.

"Hey, Bracco,

I left you a present

in your trailer. "

And I was like,

"Oh. Thank you.

How nice.

How lovely of you.

Wow.

Thanks, Jimmy. "

And I got to my trailer

and there was this big box,

and I said,

"Well, it's not jewelry

and it's not flowers.

What the hell

could it be?"

Excuse me a second.

He...

he gave me this lovely cock.

I have had the pleasure

of Mr. Cock-a-doodle-do

for many, many years.

And it is probably the most horrible,

ugliest thing

I've ever received

in my whole life.

And the Emmy goes to...

James Gandolfini

from "The Sopranos. "

To the crew of "The Sopranos"

and the cast and the writers,

but the crew who work so hard

and put up with so much.

Um, to my son,

Michael, I promised

I would do this...

We were always laughing.

We took a trip to San Francisco

and we stopped at a red light.

And this is so my dad...

he gets out of the car

and starts dancing

right on the street.

I was laughing so hard.

And he ran back in the car

and we went during the green light.

Jim, can I get a shot, please?

- Let me blow my nose first.

All right.

Jim was really great at laughing

at the absurdity of life,

especially when the show

really became so popular

and he became so popular.

And he had a way of just kind of diffusing

the importance of that

and just looking

at the absurdity of it.

- Hey, how are you? - Can we do a short interview

with you with Cynthia for HBO?

I know.

You know what?

I feel like Jesus just sat down

on the mountain with me.

- Thank you.

- Oh, really?

- 'Cause I know...

- I'll disappoint you quickly, don't worry.

There was something about Jimmy

that was extremely humble.

I think the fame or publicity

was not that important.

We'd be in the bathroom

and he'd be, like, at the urinal

and people were coming up

to him at the urinal,

wanting to shake

his hand, honestly.

One time, Jim was

really freaked out.

We were in West Virginia

and some guy took off his shirt

and he had a tattoo

of Jim's face on his back.

He had a tattoo of Jim

and a tattoo of "Scarface,"

Al Pacino.

"And that really... " he went,

"that really freaks me out, man.

The guy's got my face

on his back. "

I think he may have

secretly enjoyed

getting good reservations

at restaurants or something

or being able to help people.

'Cause I know

he did that a lot.

You know, if somebody was sick,

he was able to get them

the best doctors.

He'd just do things,

and that's the way it was.

If he thought

that he could be helpful,

then he just did it.

That meant he was accepting

his success.

You know.

And that's really the best part

of accepting one's success,

because now you get

a chance to use it.

And it does have its uses.

- Welcome to Afghanistan.

- It's beautiful, huh?

Oh, yeah.

Sorry we didn't

have much time there.

- Welcome aboard.

- Thank you, sir.

A little busy getting

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