After demonstrating a considerable talent for summoning memorable performances from minor movie roles (it’s impossible to forget his tragic Spider in GoodFellas or the phone stalker who haunts the shadowy fringes of Spike Lee’s Girl 6), it was just a matter of time before Michael Imperioli would get the recognition he deserved. And his break duly came when he landed the role of Christopher Moltisanti, the hot-headed nephew of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano in the cult Mafia series The Sopranos.
A great character brought to life by a supremely perceptive actor, is it any wonder Christopher has been at the centre of The Soprano’s finest episodes? Take your pick: there’s the classic New Jersey Pine Barrens, a virtual two-hander featuring Christopher and his increasingly hostile colleague Paulie lost in snow-bound woods; Christopher’s touching and hilarious foray into acting and screenwriting; or his near-death experience after being shot (an episode Imperioli scripted). And then there’s the opening emotional salvo of the new series, when Christopher finally avenges his father’s death – an incredibly intense and satisfying scene, graced by perhaps Imperioli’s finest performance, that is taut with the believable sense of history shared by his character and the man he has marked for death.
From the 1930s classics Little Caesar and Scarface, through the Godfather trilogy, GoodFellas and beyond, there has been a tendency to romanticize the gangster as a kind of outsider anti-hero. In stark contrast, Sopranos creator David Chase chose to demythologize the Mafia, instead detailing the seedy, mundane, dirt-under-your-fingernails flip side to life in the Mob; rather than crisply tailored, manicured wise guys committing designer crimes to a carefully curated soundtrack of period pop tunes, you’re more likely to see fat thugs in shell suits descending on a debtor like locusts to wipe out his sporting goods store, or arguing with their delinquent kids over breakfast.
It is a world where shocking, depressingly messy outbursts of violence are the norm – where an erratic, tightly-wound guy like Christopher, who is rarely happy with his position in the crime family food chain, would shoot a counter boy in a bakers because he’s angry about the slow service.
But how does an actor who needs to believe and trust in his character approach the portrayal of such brutal acts? Is it difficult for Imperioli to distance himself from Christopher’s more extreme moments and still remain true to him? ‘Not at all,’ the actor answers from the set of his latest film, the comedy My Best Friend’s Mama. ‘Violence is just organic to him. That’s his life, and he has very specific reasons for doing what he does. Christopher lives by a different moral code that I would chose to live by. I just get into his head during the duration of filming.'
‘It’s been a huge luxury to develop Christopher over a number of series,’ he continues. ‘As the relationships with the other characters become deeper, so I’ve discovered new layers to the character – like peeling an onion. And, for that reason, for the amount of time I’ve devoted to him, he is the one character that I’ve played that I feel I know best.’
So, bearing in mind Imperioli’s deep understanding of him, is there a danger that while making Moltisanti accessible to viewers, the actor could also be making him sympathetic? After all, the star succeeded in investing Christopher with a truly touching poignancy in the season two storyline which detailed his ambitions of quitting the Mob for Hollywood. ‘As an actor, you can’t ever worry about you character’s actions,’ he insists. ‘You just have to play the reality of the scene. I mean, I have never worried that the audience might be alienated if I play a particularly violent scene. I’m more concerned with finding the most honest line of action for him.'
‘For instance, if it’s in the script that Christopher is going to rob some guy, I’m not going to worry that he might appear sympathetic. As an actor, my instinct takes over, and after playing Christopher for four years, I know exactly how he’s going to rob the guy, because I’ve been in his shoes a long time. But, no, I certainly don’t think he’s sympathetic. I mean, he does some pretty rough things from time to time.’
Maybe, but a character as great, and let’s face it, as funny, as Christopher is going to have his fans. Indeed, many of the show’s admirers, while perfectly understanding of Christopher dismembering bodies for disposal, have registered profound disappointment over his seriously out-of-control drug habit. Imperioli laughs. ‘You know, a lot of Sopranos fans have come up to me and said, ‘Christopher’s gotta get off those drugs,’ but they never say, ‘Stop shooting guys in the head’! I don’t know what that’s all about. I guess the drug thing disturbs people so much because it’s dealing with self-destruction rather than the destruction of other people.’
When The Sopranos blasted its way onto our screens in 1999, it boldly pushed back the barriers of what was considered acceptable to do and say on television – and full credit must go to cable channel HBO for having the courage to cultivate and stand by the show. Imperioli has nothing but praise for the trail-blazing channel. ‘The artistic success of the series is a result of HBO allowing creative people to do exactly what they want to do for the good of the show. They had the courage and foresight to say, ‘David Chase, go ahead and run with it. Be the auteur.’ And consequently you end up with drama that is not formulaic – it is fine storytelling, which is the key to great cinema and great television.’
It is the channel’s belief in its roster of creative talent that has seen Imperioli (who is currently adapting Mario Puzo’s novel Omerta for Miramax) to write four Sopranos episodes, including two this season. Imperioli is keen to point out that other networks are being forced to sit up and take notice of this upstart subscription channel, with its enviable portfolio of hit, cutting-edge dramas. ‘A cable series like The Sopranos is really competing with shows on network TV, and that has never happened before. And the networks are realizing that there’s a big audience out there for more intelligent shows. Shows that do not talk down to an audience.'
‘But the thing is, network television is a lot more confined by the demands of advertisers. The advertisers have succeeded in keeping TV in the realms of something safe and predictable and disgestible. But you have to understand that a typical network show has maybe 20 advertisers, and each one has their own demographic, their own set of customers that the show has to satisfy – and those circumstances are not conducive to good, creative television. For instance, you might have one advertiser that sells soap in the Bible Belt, so you can’t have anything in the script that’s going to offend the people in that region. Another might advertise popcorn that sells well in the North East. So there go all the North East Jokes.’
Thanks to Graham Oliver for getting in touch with this and taking the time to type it up.
