For Millennials. By Millennials.
By the end of The Sopranos, it looked likely that Tony Soprano would die. However, it turns out that Alec Baldwin was more than eager to pull the trigger on the New Jersey mob boss. In a recent interview, Baldwin admitted that he wanted to be the guy who would kill Tony at the end of The Sopranos. Moreover, he also revealed why it never happened.
Alec Baldwin wanted to be the guy to shoot Tony Soprano
During his interview on the Talking Sopranos podcast, Alec Baldwin told Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa that he was lobbying to be cast on the show. However, instead of being a longstanding cast member, he just wanted to pp a bullet into Tony Sopranos’ head. He said:
I called up whoever it was, I forget, and I said tell them, when it’s time to kill Jimmy (James Gandolfini), tell them — this was early, before you get to the end — there’s only one man in this business who should come in, whack Jimmy, and ride off with Edie [Falco], and I am that man.
And it looks like Baldwin really liked Edie Falco on the show. However, Baldwin got the cold shoulder from the showrunners and David Chase, as the actor continued:
I am the guy who needs to blow Jimmy away and take Edie [who portrayed Tony’s wife Carmela], who I’m madly in love with, away. And they were like, ‘Sure, great, we’ll add your name to the list of all the Irish actors who think that they should be on The Sopranos‘.
Sadly for Baldwin, he could never make it into The Sopranos. Moreover, fans never even got to see if Tony did get shot or not. It’s all because of the infamous fade to black which infuriated fans but was eventually accepted by the public.
Related: Did The Sopranos Get the Ending it Deserved? (Spoilers Included)
Why he couldn’t become a cast member
Both Baldwin and James Gandolfini had worked together on The Juror (1996) and on Broadway in the 1992 revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. Baldwin recalled that Gandolfini would often moan waking up early in the morning. Moreover, he also revealed the reason why he was never cast in The Sopranos. It was because of the embarassing way he first met the creator, David Chase. In Los Angeles, Baldwin confused the Four Seasons hotel and Four Seasons restaurant, which caused him to be late for the meeting. He continued:
I go into the bathroom of this super chic restaurant, take my jacket off, take my shirt off. I’m mopping the sweat up off my body, and I’m holding my shirt up to the mechanical dryer. And the door opens — and it’s David Chase. This is my introduction to David Chase. And he goes, ‘Alec Baldwin? What the f— are you doing drying your shirt in the bathroom at the Four Seasons restaurant?’ And I think based on that alone, I was never cast on your show. Ever.
Despite this introduction, it is difficult to imagine Chase actually going for Baldwin to kill the mob boss. This was because his face would attract too much attention, glamorizing the finale which is something Chase didn’t want. In fact, he wanted a finale that would subvert everyone’s expectations. And bringing Baldwin into the fold was probably not the way to do that. You can watch the full podcast below:
Related: David Chase Reveals His Favorite Moment From The Sopranos Finale