Hundreds of fans flocked to the Bellmore Movies and The Showplace for a special opportunity: to spend an evening with four “Sopranos” actors sharing their stories about the show from on and off the screen.
“A Night With The Sopranos” featured actors Robert Funaro, Jason Cerbone, Dan Grimaldi, and Matthew Servitto. Throughout the session, the quartet gave their perspective on the show’s story, the culture around it, and their feelings about various topics in the past and present.
Jacob Franzetti, 17, of North Bellmore, listened closely to the exclusive information about one of his favorite shows. Franzetti was brought to the Nov. 21 event by his family to celebrate his birthday.
“My mom told me about this earlier in the week,” he explained. “We got a lot of good insight — everyone got to ask questions, and I think it was a really good time.”
Franzetti took the opportunity to meet actor Funaro directly, shaking hands, taking a picture, and expressing his enthusiasm for the show.
“It was a pleasure watching tonight,” Franzetti said.
“Thanks for coming down, and happy birthday,” responded Funaro.
Franzetti is one of many younger fans of the show. This surge in popularity came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people found themselves with more time to watch classic shows.
“It became more and more popular,” Funaro explained. “It’s a great feeling — not so much the recognition, but they really like the show, and they like your work, and they appreciate us, and we appreciate them too.”
Fans new and old were well served; the actors had much to share. A common theme between the four’s stories was the collaborative — sometimes comedic — nature of the set. For Servitto and Grimaldi, there were no easy times involving scenes with pump-operated bodily fluids.
One of Servitto’s other stories described a time when he worked with lead actor James Gandolfini, who was at the heart of the show. At the time of filming, Servitto was early in his acting career, and Gandolfini made sure that his input would be accounted for. To this day, Servitto still wears the watch given to him by Gandolfini, in celebration of the show’s finale. Gandolfini died in 2013.
“He was just the most giving actor on the set, and he was a great leader,” Grimaldi added. “He never turned up at six in the morning half hung over, and he would never turn down a picture or an or an autograph. He was just a wonderful, wonderful person to work opposite.”
Cerbone also joined the Sopranos early in his career, which was a life-changing opportunity.
“I actually got hired twice,” he said. “There was no guarantee that Jackie Jr. was coming back for season three.”
Cerbone had to re-audition for the role when the role was slated for greater involvement in the show.
“It sucked, but then I was ultimately very happy that I was able to earn it and really earn it and be there,” he said.
“The Sopranos” sent ripples throughout television culture, first on its 1999 debut broadcast on HBO, and second when it came to streaming service HBO Max in 2020, solidifying its place as a multigenerational classic. During this time, Merrick resident Andrew Jedlicka connected with the cast members and made their business plans into reality, creating perfumes, cigars and books, such as Homemade by Funaro.
“It’s just a privilege to not only work with them, but to bring this event to Long Island,” Jedlicka said.
Jedlicka is the founder of The Andrew Frank Group, a consulting firm managing several actors who starred in the primetime drama. The event was presented in collaboration with JD Sarantakos of JD’s Productions. To learn more about similar projects and events, visit @andrewfrankgroup on Facebook and Instagram.
