James Gandolfini’s The Sopranos was an influential series that marked the beginning of the Second Golden Age of Television. The series tells the story of the Sopranos family, headed by Tony Soprano, an Italian American mobster family in New Jersey. The crime drama created by David Chase had some brutal violent scenes including murder and drug use.
One of the lead actors, Michael Imperioli who played Christopher Moltisanti, recently revealed that the most brutal scene he filmed for the series did not involve any murder or drugs.
Michael Imperioli’s Most Brutal Scene To Shoot In The Sopranos
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Michael Imperioli was posed with the question about the most brutal scene he had to film for The Sopranos. The interviewer also referred to the shocking scene of Tony Soprano killing Christopher. However, Imperioli disclosed that his death scene was not particularly that impactful to him, since it was shot out of sequence. But there was one other scene that disturbed him.
Reflecting upon the most grueling moments on The Sopranos, the Oldboy actor pinpointed the scenes involving the domestic violence by his character Christopher towards Drea de Matteo’s Adriana La Cerva. Imperioli shared:
“The most brutal, difficult stuff for me is when Christopher had to be physically abusive with Adriana, for obvious reasons. On a technical level, you’re trying to be really careful so you don’t hurt the person. But having to get to that point of violence towards a woman, you have to go to some nasty places to get there.”
The characters of Imperioli and de Matteo had a toxic relationship marred by physical abuse. Adriana eventually met a tragic end as the Sopranos killed her for becoming a mole against the crime family.
Michael Imperioli Reveals Challenges Faced While Filming The Sopranos Scene
The Sopranos frequently took it too far with its depiction of violence. Michael Imperioli’s domestic violence scene especially required careful choreography and rehearsals to ensure the safety of the actress, Drea de Matteo. According to the Primal actor, despite careful planning and rehearsal, it was not easy to have as much control in the real scene with all the emotions running high.
But for the fans of the show, Christopher’s killing scene remains the most brutal. Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti get into a car accident after swerving off the road to avoid colliding with another vehicle driven by two teenage girls. Christopher is seen fighting for his life when Tony Soprano, finally fed up with his drug problems and seeing that the accident destroyed Caytlin’s baby seat, ends Christopher’s life.
Fans continue to speculate on the reasons why Tony could have killed his closest man, Christopher, however, it is undeniable that James Gandolfini‘s Tony was at his sociopathic peak in that scene. The Sopranos is available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: The Guardian
