NEWSHBO Executives Were 'Concerned' About Late 'Sopranos' Star James Gandolfini 'Staying Alive' & Held An Intervention In The Actor's Apartment, New Book Reveals
Some HBO executives were concerned about the late Sopranos actor James Gandolfini while filming the show, a new book has revealed.
Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers by James Andrew Miller detailed how the network was worried about the actor's behavior.
"We were concerned about Gandolfini staying alive," former HBO CEO Jeff Bewkes told Miller, per The New York Post. "Occasionally he would go on a bender or a coke binge. We had to stop production."
Bewkes said that there were some production delays that cost money and the delays were "hard on the other actors’ schedules." However, he "didn’t pressure" former HBO chairman Chris Albrecht about Gandolfini missing work because he "thought Jimmy was embarrassed."
According to Bewkes, the Enough Said star would bring "two or three bottles of good Italian wine" with him during award season "so we didn’t have to drink the s **t Merlot they serve at the [Golden] Globes." "Like he would be embarrassed if I knew he was drinking at the table," Bewkes explained. "I drank with him thinking it would calm him down. I guess I was stupid."
Albrecht told Miller that the network held an intervention in the actor's Manhattan apartment. "The intervention wasn’t my idea. I think [it was] his family’s idea because his sister was there. It was definitely a crisis situation," Albrecht revealed.
"I don’t remember us being worried he was going to die, but it became a real problem with shooting the show . . . It became a lack of respect for the other actors as well, so there were sort of problems that bubbled up," he said.
The intervention was "disastrous" as Gandolfini came home and screamed "Oh, f **k this. F**k all of you," when he found everyone waiting for him. Gandolfini dared Albrecht to fire him and left the building.
The Golden Globe winner starred as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos from 1999 until the show ended in 2007. He passed away in 2013 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 51.
