It’s a supporting role in the ’60s-’70s-set film the protagonist is Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), father to Christopher and father figure to Tony. Meanwhile, David Chase, the creator of “The Sopranos” and co-writer of “The Many Saints of Newark,” had been struggling to cast young Tony. He played a busboy in “Ocean’s Eight” (2018) and appeared in 10 episodes of HBO’s “The Deuce.” But much of Gandolfini’s acting education has come on sets. (He lived there with his mother, Marcy Wudarski she and James Gandolfini divorced in 2002.) He briefly studied acting at New York University. Gandolfini acted in high-school musicals growing up in Los Angeles.

When he passed, it was going to become a thing to watch it.

I kind of was like: I’ll watch it one day. “If my dad was a contractor, I wouldn’t want to see the house he built. I had never seen the show,” says Gandolfini. After his father died of a heart attack in 2013 at age 51, he never found the right time to sit down and watch it. Before embarking on “The Many Saints of Newark,” he had never seen the series. Gandolfini was just 4 months old when “The Sopranos” debuted on HBO and 8 years old when the final episode aired. “Being in this world, playing this character, it connected me to my dad as an actor - actor to actor - guessing what he went through, and understanding a little more what he went through for nine years and being really proud of him for that,” Gandolfini said in an interview the day after the New York premiere of “The Many Saints of Newark.” Stepping into his father’s shoes meant getting to know his dad in a new way, just as Gandolfini was - and still is - finding his own direction as a performer. In “The Many Saints of Newark,” which debuted in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, Gandolfini put in a kind of work that went beyond playing the part - which, considering Tony Soprano is arguably the greatest protagonist in television history, was already a tall order. Sometimes I think: Am I only good because I look my dad? Or am I good because I did all the work?” I hope I don’t just get cast as my dad lookalike. “It makes me feel really good because I love my dad,” Gandolfini says, smiling softly. Like many, Gandolfini has mixed feelings about hearing that he looks like his dad. In “The Many Saints of Newark,” the “Sopranos” prequel, Michael plays a teenage Tony Soprano, inhabiting the indelible mob boss played by his father, James Gandolfini. It’s something he’s heard many times in his 22 years, especially recently.

NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Gandolfini’s face is thinner.

James gandolfini