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Will it be technology?
HBO utilized satellite transmission before either ESPN or the Turner networks did.
What about the very notion of being the first successful pay television data pipe?
HBO came onboard shortly thereafter, however, and produced a pilot.
After it was shot and edited, the pilot was test-marketed in several cities, to a tepid response.
Networks confronting such a meager reaction would likely have passed on the pilot then and there.
Simply put, he looked the part.
Casting Gandolfini turned out to be a stroke of brilliance.
Gandolfinis life would never be the same and, arguably, neither would television.
TheNew York Timeswould callThe Sopranosthe greatest work of American popular culture of the last quarter century.
As a result, even more weight was placed on Tonys, and Gandolfinis, shoulders.
To say that Gandolfini rose to the occasion would be putting it mildly.
In a troubling age of anti-heroes, Tony Soprano was royalty.
His eyes told a million tales, and his performance elevated him to the upper echelon of American actors.
Whether thats true or not, itwasa golden age of Gandolfini.
Gandolfinis worldview soon exceeded the boundaries of show business.
Somehow it seemed beyond acting, beyond even intuitive skills; JimmybecameTony, an actor of unimpeachable credibility.
People didnt just admire Gandolfini; they were drawn to him, and the character he played, passionately.
he would wonder out loud, What the fuckisthis?
and then declare flatly, Im not doing it.
But even that time, despite his earlier protests, Gandolfini relented and played the scene as written.
As it turned out, the gas-station sequence was shot but then edited out of the finished episode.
To his credit, Gandolfini never complained to Chase that the difficult scene ended up on the cutting-room floor.
Gandolfini and his team would prove much more formidable when it came to business.
They understood how indispensable he was to the series.
They knew no one could replace him.
So Gandolfini, at the urging of his representatives, staged a notorious holdout during particularly prickly contract negotiations.
A long-running television series can be hard on everybody involved.
Even with new contract terms in place, Gandolfini and the show werent out of the woods.
In essence, the cost of him playing Tony went beyond just being an actor.
He lamented several times, You dont understand what this is doing to me.
The more audiences watched and praised Gandolfini as Tony, the more his personal journey became problematic.
Fame rarely, if ever, makes past struggles disappear.
Many more, and considerably worse, stories were to come.
Nevertheless, Gandolfini misdemeanors mounted.
There were several more disruptive disappearances that resulted in halted production, costing HBO several million dollars.
As one executive noted, the object was always to be helpful, not punitive.
Word circulated among the tightly knit group that Jimmy was MIA again.
Clearly, a Golden Globes plan B needed to be hurled into action.
Besides, a worldwide audience was expecting Gandolfini.
Gandolfini was more than glad to hand it over.
Nor did Jimmy know that a private plane was standing by to take him directly to rehab.
There had even been two days of intervention rehearsals testing myriad scenarios and trying to anticipate Gandolfinis possible maneuvers.
As it turned out, none of that preparation proved helpful.
The entire intervention lasted ten seconds.
Fuck all of you.
Glowering at Albrecht, Gandolfini dared him with Fire me, then stormed out.
But Jimmy was having none of that.
Gandolfini was loved and cherished.
I thought, What the hell is this bizarre thing?
I quickly corrected my mechanism, and everything was fine.
But its compli- cated.
I got myself in some very, very dangerous, complicated, and unpleasant situations as a result.
I could lose myself when they were bleeding into each other.
Now Ive learned to explore with boundaries, without fear of disappearing, and still feel safe.
SHEILA NEVINS, Executive:We went to Walter Reed together forAlive Day Memories.
Jim was the big, big, big celebrity.
We went through these rooms with terribly injured soldiers.
It was all very difficult, but Jim was great with everyone.
He signed peoples casts.
In this one room, there was a woman sitting by a bed of a heavily bandaged young man.
The woman said, Oh, my son loves you.
She closed her Bible, and she said, Hes in a coma, but like talk to him.
Maybe you’re free to help him get better.
Jim starts talking to him, like Jim.
She said, No, not that voice, your real voice.
He knew what she meant and started talking to him like Tony.
Then she asks him to sign her Bible.
He signs it Jim Gandolfini.
She says, No, not him.
Now he signs it Tony Soprano.
Hes willing to do anything for this kid and his mom.
We walk out of the room, and he rushes ahead of me through a door marked laundry room.
We trusted each other and had each others backs.
We also had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs.
And for that, Im really grateful.
He said, Were going out for a hamburger.
Do you want to join us?
I was too intimidated and felt awkward.
I said, I cant, but thanks.
James grabbed my head and gave me a big kiss right on the mouth.
I was in heaven.
In June 2013, Gandolfini brought Michael, his 13-year-old son, to Italy (where else?)
to celebrate the young mans graduation from junior high school.
That night, father and son ended the day with dinner at the hotels open-air Boscolo Exedra Roma.
But a day of elation turned into a night of tragedy.
Gandolfini collapsed in the bathroom of the suite and was discovered there by his son.
At 10:40 p.m. Italian time, James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. was pronounced dead.
MARA MIKIALIAN, Executive:New York was already closed.
Every single phone lit up in our L.A. office.
Our colleague Angela Tarantino was one of the first to learn of Jims passing.
She started working with Jim onThe Sopranosand never stopped.
So by default, I became very involved.
The entire situation was unprecedented.
He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth, and his humility.
Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time.
He will be deeply missed by all of us.
That night, HBO aired theSopranosepisode titled Wheres Johnny?
A private jet returned James Gandolfini Stateside Sunday evening.
Two thousand people gathered to mourn.
The PR department was in mourning, too.
It just sat there and looked down on us.
Then they bring the casket out, carry it into the hearse, and exit the door.
After a few minutes, it then bolted into the sky.
Adapted fromTINDERBOX: HBOs Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers,by James Andrew Miller.
To be published by Henry Holt and Company November 16, 2021.
Copyright 2021 by James Andrew Miller.
