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According to , the 19-year-old actor has signed on to play young Tony Soprano-the iconic crime boss his father, James Gandolfini, made famous-in the upcoming Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.
Its a profound honor to continue my dads legacy while stepping into the shoes of a young Tony Soprano, the younger Gandolfini told the outlet. Im thrilled that Im going to have the opportunity to work with David Chase and the incredible company of talent he has assembled for The Many Saints of Newark.
The film, written by series creator Chase, will be set in the 1960s during the Newark race riots, which figured into a flashback in one of the classic series , and will be a kind of origin story for Tony Soprano. Alan Taylor, who directed seven episodes of the groundbreaking show, is slated to helm the prequel.
News of Michael Gandolfinis casting comes on the heels of the of the shows premier, and nearly six years after James Gandolfinis death at age 51.
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The late actor, who died in 2013, was widely celebrated for the role as the New Jersey gangster, earning three Emmys and a Golden Globe for his performances. The show itself, of course, is considered one of the greatest television programs of all time, and ushered in the golden age of TV. Shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men, now classics in their own right, bear the Sopranos influence, and likely wouldnt have been possible had the iconic HBO series not paved the way.
Whatever I had intended the show to be...was very different after seeing how seriously David Chase took human behavior, Mad Men creator and former Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner .
That the younger Gandolfini is now following in his fathers footsteps is perhaps apt, considering Tony Soprano himself followed his father into the family business. Now, its his turn to