Interview: James Gandolfini

Q: Are you a man resenting his wife in this movie?

JG: Uh…Yeah, sure. How’s that!

Q: How was it taking directing orders from Ridley Scott’s offspring Jake?

JG: Well, he was kind with all the actors. We got along really well. And his set was really different from his father and his uncle, although I never worked for his father.

Q: How about working with Kristen. What were your impressions?

JG: How smart she was. I don’t mean that in a bad way. You know, for a young girl. No really, for a young woman. And how together Kristen is, and hopefully that she did this for all the right reasons. But I had a great time down there. I don’t necessarily think that acting is fun, but I had a really good experience on this and the sense of family you have when you’re working together. So that’s me.

Q: How about filming in New Orleans?

JG: It’s an incredible city for its lack of rules. I think that’s why you can walk down the street dressed any way you want. But I remember the strip clubs that Jake picked, and I’m no, let’s say, wilting flower. I was walking up the steps of this strip club, and there were hairs hanging off the bottoms of the stairs—like people’s hairs had fallen off, and they’d stepped on it. You could see that these steps hadn’t been cleaned in hundreds of years. Just the whole feel of that really helped. He didn’t pick places and then dirty them up. So the choice of places had a lot to do with it.

Q: Did you miss anything while you were away?

JG: New York food. I had heartburn for six weeks! I mean, they have great food there, but damn. You know?

Q: Any memorable experiences as a surrogate family?

JG: I sliced the garlic for dinner!

Welcome To The Rileys pictures

Q: How would you compare and contrast your father figures in this movie and on The Sopranos, and did Tony Soprano influence this character at all?

JG: Nah, he’s done. I mean, that went away pretty quickly for me.

Q: What’s a dream role you’d want to play?

JG: Um…Curly in The Three Stooges!