The Next Tony Soprano: Michael Gandolfini on Portraying His Father's Famous Role

Before he became young Tony in 'The Many Saints of Newark'—his film debut—the son of James sat down and watched The Sopranos for the first time.

Michael Gandolfini Opens Up About the Difficult Decision to Portray Tony Soprano It is, of course, his eyes that get you first, his eyes that give him away. You walk into the restaurant, scan the room, and there he is, hunched over a table tucked close to the wall, catching your eyes with his. Eyes exactly like his father's. He pops up from his seat, extends his hand, and gives a big smile—the same smile his father had but rarely flashed. "Hi, I'm Michael Gandolfini," he says. He's thinner than his father was, and full of boyish energy. But you notice other mannerisms—the way he runs his fingers through his hair, how he rubs his nose with the back of his hand. And all at once you realize why it was inevitable that David Chase would cast him, the twenty-year-old son of the man who played the adult Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini, as the teenage Tony in the feature-length Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark (2020). Read the Full Story The Next Generation of Soldiers: Inside One Recruit's Pursuit of the Forever War On our way back to Yabucoa, I ask Jann about killing another human being. The wind has picked up, and the rain is now coming at us horizontally. The air smells like bathwater. The car's wipers slice across the windshield at maximum speed. We're on the safer route, via the highway, from which we catch glimpses of the now-flooded roads we'd taken through the lowlands. Jan and Arseneo are in the backseat, ignoring us, or at least pretending to, playing on their phones. "I . . ." Jann stalls. It's the first time he's been asked this. His eyes widen to saucers and his mouth falls open a bit. He's not upset, but bothered, and maybe confused. I know it's a hard question, because it's one that I used to ask my cherry privates before we deployed to Iraq. It's a question I used to ask myself, too. Read the Full Story Jeffrey Epstein's Jailhouse Suicide Is More Feasible Than You Think In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein's death this past weekend, I've watched, on the television in my cell at Sing Sing, a parade of talking heads express everything from confusion to anger that such a high-profile person could kill himself while in custody. Such disbelief surprises me. Setting aside the question of whether Epstein did, in fact, commit suicide—I leave that to the authorities and the conspiracy theorists—let's be clear: High profile or not, if you want to kill yourself while in custody, you can find a way.  Read the Full Story The Clean (but Not Too Clean) Sneakers That'll Transition Perfectly Into Fall There is, perhaps, no sneaker better suited to summer than a fresh, white low-top. This isn't news. In fact, this is something so universally understood as to become a truism, which means that it's kind of beside the point to even mention it any more. So, why am I telling you? Because summer is nearly over, but you can take the collective knowledge of the men's style universe and graft it onto a moment that is—arguably—even harder to dress for: the transition between summer and fall.  Read the Full Story The Five True Crime Stories That Inspired Mindhunter Season Two Prepare your psychological defenses and take that elevator all the way down to the basement, because after a monstrously long hiatus Mindhunter is finally returning on Netflix this Friday (August 16). Picking up directly after the season one finale, the nine-episode second season will see FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) continue their pioneering investigation into the minds of serial killers, working with academic Dr Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) to develop the science of criminal profiling.  Read the Full Story Socks and Sandals, Once Forbidden, Are Now a Legitimately Cool Combo Socks and sandals. Oh, man. The combo used to be shorthand for "terrible style," or maybe "elderly German tourist who uses hiking poles while walking on the sidewalk." But because the world is a vast and interesting place, always prone to change and evolution—especially when it comes to how we get dressed—socks and sandals are now a bona fide "thing" for more fashion-forward folks.  Read the Full Story   Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2019 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019