Through its six-season run, classic HBO drama The Sopranos featured several unexpected cameos from real life celebrities. These included: director Jon Favreau, actor Ben Kingsley, and most hilariously: New York Jets head coach Eric “Man-genius” Mangini.
Of all the celebrity cameos on The Sopranos, however, none hit quite as hard as actress Annette Bening’s brief appearance in the season 5 episode “The Test Dream.” Bening, who is one of the most accomplished performers of her era, kindly stopped by to film a couple of scenes for the 20-minute dream sequence that Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) experiences for much of the episode’s runtime. It’s such a bold, out of left field casting decision that even nearly 20 years later it still stands out.
Bening talked about filming the episode with The Daily Beast in 2020, saying:
“I received the episode out of nowhere, and read it, and thought, ‘Wow—this is fantastic,...
Of all the celebrity cameos on The Sopranos, however, none hit quite as hard as actress Annette Bening’s brief appearance in the season 5 episode “The Test Dream.” Bening, who is one of the most accomplished performers of her era, kindly stopped by to film a couple of scenes for the 20-minute dream sequence that Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) experiences for much of the episode’s runtime. It’s such a bold, out of left field casting decision that even nearly 20 years later it still stands out.
Bening talked about filming the episode with The Daily Beast in 2020, saying:
“I received the episode out of nowhere, and read it, and thought, ‘Wow—this is fantastic,...
- 1/11/2024
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
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Quick Answer: Watch the complete series of The Sopranos with a Max subscription, starting at $9.99/month. You can also get three months of Max included with a DirecTV Stream subscription.
Get Max From $9.99/month
The Sopranos has long been considered one of the greatest TV shows ever made, although we’re a bit biased. Where would we be without Tony, Carmela, Paulie Walnuts and the story’s glorious...
Quick Answer: Watch the complete series of The Sopranos with a Max subscription, starting at $9.99/month. You can also get three months of Max included with a DirecTV Stream subscription.
Get Max From $9.99/month
The Sopranos has long been considered one of the greatest TV shows ever made, although we’re a bit biased. Where would we be without Tony, Carmela, Paulie Walnuts and the story’s glorious...
- 1/10/2024
- by Sage Anderson
- Rollingstone.com
As is said with JFK, no American will ever forget where they were, or what they were doing, when Tony Soprano was shot in the series finale of The Sopranos. Recall is easier in the case of Tony, as every single witness was doing exactly the same thing at the time of his assassination: getting ready to kick their TVs into a million pieces.
The strange thing is that little of the raw emotion stirred up by the finale was connected with the actual assassination of Tony Soprano. Hardly anyone flinched, raged, gasped, or wept for the terminated mafioso. Do you know why? Because hardly anyone – myself included – even knew that it had happened. Over a million witnesses to a murder, and not one of them could give a credible statement or offer reliable testimony. Now that, my friends, is the definition of a perfect mafia hit.
It begs the question,...
The strange thing is that little of the raw emotion stirred up by the finale was connected with the actual assassination of Tony Soprano. Hardly anyone flinched, raged, gasped, or wept for the terminated mafioso. Do you know why? Because hardly anyone – myself included – even knew that it had happened. Over a million witnesses to a murder, and not one of them could give a credible statement or offer reliable testimony. Now that, my friends, is the definition of a perfect mafia hit.
It begs the question,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Jbindeck2015
- Den of Geek
The classic show “The Sopranos” began its life on HBO on January 10, 1999, single handedly launching the Golden Age of Cable Drama. It’s difficult to recall now, but when the show premiered, HBO was not yet HBO, and original programming outside of network primetime was still in its infancy. Creator David Chase crafted a series at once dark and comedic, violent and emotionally vibrant. It introduced the world to entertainment’s ultimate antihero in Italian-American mob boss Tony Soprano, played with power, pathos and perturbation by James Gandolfini. Beset by depression and panic attacks, he showed us what “The Godfather” never did: a gangster in therapy, regularly visiting the office of New Jersey psychotherapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) to download his many troubles and come to terms with a toxic mother Livia (Nancy Marchand). Tony’s long-suffering wife Carmela (pitch-perfect work from Edie Falco) and precocious daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) completed his female-surrounding quartet.
- 1/9/2024
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
The classic show “The Sopranos” began its life on HBO 25 years ago, singlehandedly launching the Golden Age of Cable Drama. It’s difficult to recall now, but when the show premiered, HBO was not yet HBO, and original programming outside of network primetime was still in its infancy. Creator David Chase crafted a series at once dark and comedic, violent and emotionally vibrant. It introduced the world to entertainment’s ultimate antihero in Italian-American mob boss Tony Soprano, played with power, pathos and perturbation by James Gandolfini. Beset by depression and panic attacks, he showed us what “The Godfather” never did: a gangster in therapy, regularly visiting the office of New Jersey psychotherapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) to download his many troubles and come to terms with a tox mother Livia (Nancy Marchand). Tony’s long-suffering wife Carmela (pitch-perfect work from Edie Falco) and precocious daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) completed his female-surrounding quartet.
- 1/9/2024
- by Ray Richmond, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Bada bing! Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO and Max are celebrating the 25th anniversary of “The Sopranos” with an array of events for the iconic franchise.
Among them: HBO has launched a new official Sopranos TikTok account for the series (@TheSopranos) featuring “Sopranos in :25,” a series comprising super-condensed, 25-second recaps of all 86 episodes.
In addition, Wbd’s Max streamer has released never-before-seen deleted footage and expanded access to behind-the-scenes content within the new, in-app Sopranos 25th Anniversary collection for the show. The Sopranos: 25th Anniversary collection, launched Monday, includes 15 deleted scenes, three of which have never been released. The collection also includes more than five hours of behind-the-scenes featurette content. Every season of the series is currently available to stream on Max.
As part of the festivities, free episodes of “The Sopranos” will be available to sample through select cable partner’s on-demand platforms, and the first two...
Among them: HBO has launched a new official Sopranos TikTok account for the series (@TheSopranos) featuring “Sopranos in :25,” a series comprising super-condensed, 25-second recaps of all 86 episodes.
In addition, Wbd’s Max streamer has released never-before-seen deleted footage and expanded access to behind-the-scenes content within the new, in-app Sopranos 25th Anniversary collection for the show. The Sopranos: 25th Anniversary collection, launched Monday, includes 15 deleted scenes, three of which have never been released. The collection also includes more than five hours of behind-the-scenes featurette content. Every season of the series is currently available to stream on Max.
As part of the festivities, free episodes of “The Sopranos” will be available to sample through select cable partner’s on-demand platforms, and the first two...
- 1/8/2024
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
We're sad to report that actress Suzanne Shepherd has passed away at the age of 89, as confirmed by her agent and her daughter Kate Shepherd. A character actress who had roles in movies and TV stretching back to the 1980s, two of Shepherd's parts were practically the same role.
In "Goodfellas," Shepherd played the mother of Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco). She has a short but memorable scene where she scolds her daughter for letting Henry (Ray Liotta) stay out so late and for marrying a Gentile man in the first place. When Henry finally comes home at the crack of dawn, she snaps at him and he walks off. This leads to the scene's comedic capstone, in which Tommy (Joe Pesci) mocks Karen's mother by nagging Henry in the same voice.
Many "Goodfellas" alums later showed up on "The Sopranos," including Bracco and Shepherd. Bracco, wanting to play a...
In "Goodfellas," Shepherd played the mother of Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco). She has a short but memorable scene where she scolds her daughter for letting Henry (Ray Liotta) stay out so late and for marrying a Gentile man in the first place. When Henry finally comes home at the crack of dawn, she snaps at him and he walks off. This leads to the scene's comedic capstone, in which Tommy (Joe Pesci) mocks Karen's mother by nagging Henry in the same voice.
Many "Goodfellas" alums later showed up on "The Sopranos," including Bracco and Shepherd. Bracco, wanting to play a...
- 11/19/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Watching Mafia Mamma, a slapstick farce about a middle-aged American woman who abruptly inherits an Italian mob empire, you can imagine its star, Toni Collette, in an episode of The Sopranos. She’s got Carmela‘s icy-blonde look and, by the end of the movie, commands a room like Tony. But here, it’s all in the service of an unabashedly screwball story — and Collette shines with an all-out silliness you’ve never seen before.
“I literally had the time of my life!” Collette tells Rolling Stone of Mafia Mamma.
“I literally had the time of my life!” Collette tells Rolling Stone of Mafia Mamma.
- 4/14/2023
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
The Sopranos is considered one of the best TV shows ever. Critics and fans praise the HBO show for its stories, characters, and production value. However, did you know The Sopranos was almost a movie?
‘The Sopranos’ is 1 of the most popular shows of all time (L-r): James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano and Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano seek counseling in HBO’s hit television series, “The Sopranos” (Year 3). | HBO via Getty Images
The show premiered in 1999 on HBO and ran for six seasons, ending in 2007. The Sopranos followed Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mobster. He is struggling to balance his complicated family life with his work in the criminal underworld. He frequently attends therapy sessions to help him figure out how to juggle his two worlds.
Tony was played by James Gandolfini. The actor won three Emmy awards, five SAG awards, and a Golden Globe for his performance.
‘The Sopranos’ is 1 of the most popular shows of all time (L-r): James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano and Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano seek counseling in HBO’s hit television series, “The Sopranos” (Year 3). | HBO via Getty Images
The show premiered in 1999 on HBO and ran for six seasons, ending in 2007. The Sopranos followed Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mobster. He is struggling to balance his complicated family life with his work in the criminal underworld. He frequently attends therapy sessions to help him figure out how to juggle his two worlds.
Tony was played by James Gandolfini. The actor won three Emmy awards, five SAG awards, and a Golden Globe for his performance.
- 3/8/2023
- by India McCarty
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." A shot at the mob life was Henry Hill's dream, but once was enough for Ray Liotta.
Enough "Goodfellas" alums show up on "The Sopranos" that you can make a drinking game out of it. Obviously, Lorraine "Karen Hill" Bracco and Michael "Spider" Imperioli are in the main cast as Dr. Melfi and Christopher Moltisanti. Frank "Billy Batts" Vincent also appears during the final two seasons as New York boss Phil Leotardo. Still there are four glaring absences: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, and Ray Liotta.
De Niro was who Chase first had in mind for Tony Soprano, but the actor has never even watched the series. Joe Pesci was also semi-retired from acting during the show's run, while Sorvino felt the series was "defamatory" towards Italians. Liotta was the only one explicitly offered a part,...
Enough "Goodfellas" alums show up on "The Sopranos" that you can make a drinking game out of it. Obviously, Lorraine "Karen Hill" Bracco and Michael "Spider" Imperioli are in the main cast as Dr. Melfi and Christopher Moltisanti. Frank "Billy Batts" Vincent also appears during the final two seasons as New York boss Phil Leotardo. Still there are four glaring absences: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, and Ray Liotta.
De Niro was who Chase first had in mind for Tony Soprano, but the actor has never even watched the series. Joe Pesci was also semi-retired from acting during the show's run, while Sorvino felt the series was "defamatory" towards Italians. Liotta was the only one explicitly offered a part,...
- 10/16/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
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