The Sopranos Star Reveals The Hardest Thing To Film

Emmy-winning Sopranos actor details that the hardest scenes to shoot didn't involve drugs or bloody mob hits but a more painful segment in the show.

The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli, who portrayed Christopher Moltisanti, explained the most difficult scenes to shoot on the HBO mega-hit. The show is known for portraying the dark catharsis of New Jersey's mob world with internal and external trauma, balanced with a struggling father attempting to meet the standard of leader in his family. Apart from the violent, bloody mob killings, there were scenes involving domestic disputes, racism, and homophobia abundant throughout the iconic series. Imperioli played Christopher, the short-fused, murderous nephew to Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), for all six seasons, earning a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004.

In a conversation with The Guardian (conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike), Imperioli was recently asked about which scene from The Sopranos was the toughest for him to film. He revealed that it wasn't the violence, intense drug use, or even his uncle's betrayal that overwhelmed him most but rather the scenes involving physical abuse towards his girlfriend, Adriana (Drea de Matteo). Read his full comment below:

That wasn’t really brutal at all, I’ll be honest with you. When we shot it, it wasn’t my last day either because we shot out of sequence. 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. Sometimes it’s very immediate. Sometimes it’s something present in your life that you can tap into. Sometimes you have to go someplace from the past. And sometimes you have to go to someplace imaginary. It’s much easier shooting a mobster or shooting heroin. That stuff to me is not difficult. But that stuff with her was. Sometimes you’ll use stunt doubles, sometimes not. And even then, it’s one thing to choreograph and rehearse it, then when you act it full-tilt with all the emotion, it’s easy to not have as much control as in the rehearsal. So you really have to be quite careful.

Sopranos Actor Michael Imperioli Is Unafraid to Take A Stance

Ever since The Sopranos ended in 2007, Imperioli took to social media to condemn acts of hate towards marginalized groups. Earlier this summer, in the wake of the Supreme Court of the United States landmark ruling in favor of an anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination case, The Sopranos actor wrote a controversial Instagram post forbidding "bigots & homophobes" from watching the show. Imperioli later claimed the now-deleted post was a satire, as there was no legitimate forbiddance. However, he maintained his stance on protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Sopranos' encompassing world is enough for any viewer to recognize anger at face value, but embodying this wrath is another story. Imperiloi may have used his experience from his eight years on the show to boost his desire to achieve social justice in later years. His recent comments on different issues exemplify that Imperioli helms a heft of conscience. It's easy to see how the actor feels towards righting social issues or political wrongs, as they are likely drawn from the monumental tasks he and his castmates were called to do for the HBO show.

Despite the nearly-quarter-century that has passed, The Sopranos maintains its popularity because the frustrations and worldly climate have changed very little. Imperioli once used his voice and body to illustrate those frustrations, and now he sees statements as a continued call to action.