Incarcerated actor mourns Gandolfini
A forgotten Sopranos cast member was also weeping for James Gandolfini during the funeral Thursday, but his lonely tears were hidden behind prison walls.
Once-promising actor Lillo Brancato Jr. missed the service for Gandolfini — who died of a heart attack last week while vacationing in Italy — because he’s doing a 10-year sentence for a failed 2005 heist that left a police officer dead.
A friend forwarded Brancato’s reaction to the New York Daily News.
“I couldn’t believe my ears,” Brancato said of hearing the news his costar Gandolfini, 51, had died. “I thought it was a mistake.
“I’ve missed a lot of things while I’ve been in here, and I’ve accepted that. I admired him so much as an actor and so much as a person.
“I’ve been privileged to work with some of the most renowned people in Hollywood. He was right there with them.”
Brancato shot to fame in 1993 in mob movie favourite A Bronx Tale, costarring Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri. It was Oscar-winner De Niro who discovered the young actor.
The native New Yorker first met Gandolfini while filming 1995’s Crimson Tide.
But in season 2 of The Sopranos, they reunited. Brancato played foolish young hood Matt Bevilaqua, who was killed by Gandolfini’s character, Tony Soprano, after he tried to kill another made man.
Brancato said the real Gandolfini was different from the sinister mobster he played.
“When my character was killed off by Tony Soprano, I was actually scared that day because he was so in character,” Brancato told The News.
“I’ve never seen him like that. It was terrifying.”
Then, after the director yelled “cut!” the villainous gangster vanished.
“As soon as the scene was over he gave me a big hug and said, ‘You did great,’ ” Brancato said.