Review by Booklist Review
Film critic and historian Jason Bailey is a clear fan of The Sopranos, which turned James Gandolfini into a superstar overnight. But this isn't a book about the TV show, or protagonist Tony Soprano: this is a book about the man who played Tony and many other characters. Bailey looks at Gandolfini's approach to acting--the way he would prepare for a role, including, at times, a physical transformation. It must be tricky to write a biography of a celebrity you can't interview (Gandolfini passed away in 2013), but Bailey does a masterful job of it here, speaking to many of his subject's friends and colleagues. The book's biggest draw is the author's approach: to treat James Gandolfini not as a superstar, or a pop-culture icon, but as a regular guy who had never sought fame and who struggled to keep himself balanced once he was a global sensation. Bailey is a perceptive film critic and an equally perceptive biographer. Much has already been written about Gandolfini and The Sopranos, but Bailey's fresh approach yields new insights. Consider this book a must-read.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Film historian Bailey (Fun City Cinema) traces the career of Sopranos actor James Gandolfini, who died in 2013, in this incisive biography. The New Jersey native dabbled in theater during high school, but he had largely left acting behind when his girlfriend died in a car crash his junior year at Rutgers University, motivating him to return to the stage to cope with his grief. Bailey suggests that whether he was appearing in a ragtag traveling production of A Streetcar Named Desire in his mid-20s or the rom-com Enough Said near the end of his life, Gandolfini was thoroughly committed to every role. For instance, he built a backstory for his minor character in 1995's Get Shorty and hired a dialect coach to perfect the Southern accent he decided the character should have. A detailed account of Gandolfini's starring turn as mobster Tony Soprano discusses how the show's dark themes and marathon shoots took a toll on the actor's mental health and exacerbated his issues with drugs and alcohol. Even as Gandolfini struggled to distance himself from Tony, he remained fundamentally kind, Bailey suggests, noting that Gandolfini wrote $36,000 checks for each of the other 16 Sopranos series regulars after negotiating a more profitable contract for himself. A riveting look inside the mind of a towering talent, this is a must for Sopranos fans. Agent: Daniel Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A hardworking character actor and surprising star whose untimely death left a hole in the heart of filmdom. Before his portrayal of Tony Soprano on HBO'sThe Sopranos made him a household name in the late 1990s, James Gandolfini had been well respected by peers like Denzel Washington and Patricia Arquette, directors like Sidney Lumet, and critics who noticed his performances no matter how small his roles on stage and screen. The son of working-class Italians from suburban Westwood, New Jersey--his father was a bricklayer and janitor, and his mother a school cafeteria manager--Gandolfini caught the acting bug in high school but didn't pursue it until moving to New York City after college. Gandolfini (Jamie, Jim, or Bucky, depending on how one knew him) soon became a workhorse, steadily drawing attention. His breakout role was as the brutal psychopath Virgil in Tony Scott's 1993 filmTrue Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino. Tiring (and feeling a little ashamed) of being typecast as Italian hoods, Gandolfini abruptly walked out on the 1996 HBO production ofGotti, in which he was cast as Sammy Gravano; he was told he'd never work for HBO again. Bailey, a film critic and biographer, displays a respect for Gandolfini's craft and a sympathy for his sweet and salty nature off-screen. Of the actor's best roles, the author writes, "He was such a combustible combination of ill-fitting, incompatible elements. He could pivot, seemingly effortlessly, from warmth to menace, from folksiness to danger, on a dime." A fast-moving, entertaining bio of a Hollywood mensch. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
