James Gandolfini: Tribute to a Friend Page #4

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He knocked on his door.

Can you imagine?

I'm sorry, but can you imagine

having Jim Gandolfini

knock on your door,

"Hey, I'm playing you

in a movie.

Can we spend

some time together?"

I mean, that would be

very surreal.

There's real suffering

happening here, Craig.

You should've seen

my kids last night.

You're right, I should have

seen your kids.

And the whole world

should have seen your kids.

And frankly without that

and without this,

I don't even know

if this thing is worth putting on the air.

He's one of the most

memorable people

I've met and worked with.

His real gift, to me,

selfishly, was his heart

in terms of how much it felt

and how sensitive

he really was.

Nice, thank you.

Do you like fake b*obs?

No, no, I like real b*obs.

Mmm.

Yeah, I got real b*obs.

That's working out

for us, then.

What I loved about

working with him

on those scenes was that

he was very dedicated

to the authenticity of it.

It's like tuning an instrument

and that's how, I think, we both approached

these scenes together.

If it sounded just right,

if he wanted to try

something different.

It was these slight adjustments

that really were profound.

I can give you a massage

sometime if you want.

I think I might like that.

But I would

definitely hit on you.

That might be okay.

We had a shared understanding

of what these moments were,

these sort of little

real moments.

And it was a delightful

experience.

We worked really hard

on the last scene in the film.

When we got it,

we both knew we got it.

And we walked off of the set

and we both fell

into each others' arms

and hugged

and we both were weepy.

And, in fact,

it's that very take.

People like James Gandolfini

don't come along

frequently in life,

and the fact that

our lives intersected

in this project,

which is very...

you know, it was

a real labor of love, the project.

And to have done that with him

was just a complete gift.

And I'm really happy about it.

Both fathers and sons

should have this conversation.

You're almost 21!

The haircut is too much

to ask, I'm sure,

but you show up at that restaurant

without a tie and a jacket,

you and me are going

to tango, my friend.

Working with him

on "Not Fade Away" was great.

A lot of the stuff that had

washed up on the beach of "The Sopranos,"

all that fame

and all that attention,

that was all gone,

and we... it was just like

we were starting over again.

Just two guys starting

another project.

What I really liked about it

is that between takes,

he and I were talking.

He and I were friends

between takes.

That's what really

made it so special.

What he did for actors

like me...

he blew open the door

for smart writing.

This whole likeability factor

and where's the speech

where I redeem myself?

Threw all that out the window.

He and David Chase did that.

They made it okay to do that

because people watched

and people couldn't get enough of it.

So I think he'll be

remembered as a pioneer...

who was better

than he thought he was.

I'm just in total

denial about it.

And probably always will be.

You know, I'm just like

our schedules are just

not connecting.

You know,

and that would happen.

We'd go months,

many months sometimes

just missing each other,

you know.

That's how I'm treating it

in my mind.

You know, we're just

missing each other.

Eventually we'll catch up.

I was proud to be his friend.

I'm proud to be his friend.

And I'm gonna

carry him with me...

throughout my career,

throughout my life.

- He taught me everything

- I need to know

to be a great man.

I just wanna make sure

I make him proud.

Whenever I went to an HBO event

or even anywhere,

you know, there's always

that 1% chance

his giant hand

would come and like...

mush my face

and, you know, grab me

and kiss me and hug me.

For me, the thing

that sticks out the most

is that that's never

gonna happen again.

Even in his death

he brought us all together.

He made us want to be there

and hug each other

and give love to each other

and give affection

to one another and care.

That's pretty remarkable too.

I don't know what else

to tell you.

He was a good boy.

That was probably one of the

most surreal days of my entire life

because most of the people

I hadn't seen since the show had wrapped,

our whole crew, our whole cast,

it was like a scene we shot.

We've done this

so many times before.

That was like a funeral

for, like, a king.

You know you did

something good in life

when people send you off

like that.

That's not just like

a famous person's service.

That's like,

"You did a lot of good

and this is how we want

to remember.

You know, this is how we want

to say good-bye to you. "

They were putting the coffin

into the hearse

and all the cars were lined up

outside the church

and they were gonna go

to the cemetery and bury him.

I hear...

And I look up,

and this giant eagle

comes swooping down

over the hearse

and sits up

on top of the church

and looks down on everybody.

And it was Jim.

And it stayed there,

looked at everybody for about a minute.

And as the cars drove away...

it flapped away

and went up to the sky.

"You can travel down the road,

check on every vine.

You can travel down the road,

you can travel down the line.

But there were few like Jimmy.

He was homemade wine.

Honest, good, pure,

nothing added.

Wants you to have a good time

sharing with friends

like family.

He was homemade wine.

You need a dollar?

You got Jim.

Loyalty and truthfulness...

that was him.

Believing in something

good out there.

Never got in the way,

he was always fair.

A good brother, a good son,

good father.

He always tried his best.

And all the rest.

He was homemade wine.

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