Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Footage showing James Gandolfini reprising Sopranos role debuts online after 14 years

Bizarre video clip sees Tony and Carmela Soprano under witness protection in New York

Ellie Muir
Wednesday 17 April 2024 09:17 BST
Comments
Tony Soprano cries in classic Sopranos scene

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Footage that shows James Gandolfini reprising his role in HBO’s hit sitcom The Sopranos has debuted online after 14 years.

The Sopranos fans were thrown a curveball in 2021 when Edie Falco revealed that she once reunited with Gandolfini to reprise Tony and Carmela Soprano for a one-off video clip set two years after the events of the cliffhanger series finale, which ended with Tony’s fate left ambiguous.

That footage has now been debuted online. On the latest episode of Pablo Torre’s Finds Out podcast, he played the once-buried footage of Gandolfini and Falco’s bizarre reunion.

The short film was shot to help the New York Knicks basketball organisation convince LeBron James to join their team in 2010. At the time, all of the top NBA teams were desperate to sign James, and the Knicks decided to enlist the help of The Sopranos stars and make a short film to help promote New York to James.

Chris Rock, Mike Bloomberg, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin and Spike Lee also all appear in the video.

In The Sopranos scene, Carmela and Tony have relocated to New York City, and are sitting in the living room of the apartment where they are in hiding.

“Tony, I’m so glad we moved to New York. Life is so much better now,” Carmela tells her husband two years after the 2007 finale.

“Yeah life is good here now,” Tony replies. “Even if we are in the witness protection program.”

James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano in the bizarre one-off reunion clip
James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano in the bizarre one-off reunion clip (YouTube via Pablo Torres Finds Out)

“Now we just have to find a place for your friend LeBron to live. What’s he like?” Carmela asks.

“He’s a modern guy, but he respects tradition,” Tony says before the pair discuss what kind of apartment LeBron should move into in New York City.

“We’ve gotta find something magnificent, something that’s one-of-a-kind, like he is,” said Tony.

Carmela then says she’s found the perfect place for James, and pulls up a picture of the Knicks basketball arena. “Here’s a place, but they say it gets really loud,” she says.

Apple TV+ logo

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free
Apple TV+ logo

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days

New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled

Try for free

“Oh yeah, that’s it, that’s gonna be perfect for him,” says Tony, before the pair grin at the camera.

Edie Falco and James Gandolfini in the one-off ‘Sopranos’ reunion
Edie Falco and James Gandolfini in the one-off ‘Sopranos’ reunion (YouTube via Pablo Torres Finds Out)

When Falco initially revealed that the reunion clip had been shot, she explained that she was taken aback that Gandolfini agreed to reprise Tony with the aim of getting James to join the Knicks, since the actor often turned down requests to reprise the role.

“We got those requests all the time back then and [James] Gandolfini, he did nothing,” Falco said then. “And somehow, he agreed to this thing, which I was shocked by. I thought it was a prank when someone said he’s going to do it…[and then] there he was, dressed as Tony. He must have been a bigger basketball fan than I realised.”

Falco also shared her disbelief that the Sopranos video didn’t convince the basketball player to join the Knicks, and he ended up joining Miami Heat and heading to South Beach.

“I couldn’t believe that it didn’t work,” Falco said. “Not so much because of The Sopranos. I just thought, it’s New York. How does anyone say no to New York, for God’s sake? But he did!”

The Sopranos ended its run in 2007 after six seasons and 86 episodes, and won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards in total.

You can watch the full The Sopranos clip on Pablo Torre’s Finds Out podcast here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in