Dude.
And beyond even liking Tony, which became just about impossible over time, you felt you knew him: you knew the roots of his problems, you saw how they affected him, felt Tony try to figure himself out and sometimes try to change himself, and you felt his frustration when he couldn’t break out of patterns of behavior that were crippling him, or when he went the other way and went into self-justification and excuse-making. The writing was great, but he brought all of that out in a way that made you sense this guy was a very conflicted whole person. It was just an incredibly deep performance.
He was two class years ahead, but we were at Rutgers NB on the College Ave campus at the same time. I may have been at parties with him or checked his pub card and never even knew it. I hope there’s a nice write-up in The Daily Targum about him.
I do know that at lunchtime, Holsten’s down the street was packed with reporters and photographers and that traffic was jammed for blocks with people just driving by. The place looked mobbed.
( …no, not like that… )
I once read an interview with David Chase in which he said, whenever he found himself sympathizing with Tony or one of the other gangsters, he’d write a scene in which they did something terrible.
Apparently Bruce Springsteen is playing all of Born To Run tonight as a tribute to him.
One two three four!
Anyone remember a scene where Christophuh showed up late for a meeting (I think after rehab, so not because he was high) with the excuse that “The highway was jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive”? Pretty sure Silvio was in the scene too. 
Yes. His mannerisms during the fight with Alabama, that look of regret/enjoyment/shame right after he throws the first punch? When I saw that, I said “This guy is going to be one of the greats.”
That’s a good joke. Unfortunately - not to make this thread even more of a bummer - he was actually found in his hotel room by his 13-year-old son, and it sounds like he died on the way to the hospital.
That hit me like a ton of funny out of nowhere. I LOVED that they made that joke. I imagine it’s not that funny to folks from Jersey, who have probably heard it dozens of times, but I’m not from Jersey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzhoRPkYEjg
Swearing, NSFW
EDIT: And I THINK that you’re right about Silvio 
Years before The Sopranos, I heard of a college prof who apologized to his class for being late by quoting that line from “Born to Run.” Funny.
I am aggrieved at this news. I shot a handful of episodes of The Sopranos. Jim Gandolfini was a consummate pro. Submerged in a role that was completely unnerving to witness in person. A gifted artist, no doubt. He was gentle and polite with cast and crew alike.
The physical transformation from James to Tony was something to see. He did a very in-depth evening with Inside The Actors’ Studio years ago. Apparently was more revealing than in most interviews. ( very shy fellow ). When he slips into Tony’s voice, you can hear the thickening and rumbling of his voice.
-sigh- Damn.
Yes he did and it was fucking awesome.
Steve Van Zandt got a lot of love last night. Was obviously pretty cut up by the looks of things but did a good gig anyway.
What a lousy reason for Bruce to play that album in its entirety. And yet… how amazing and rare a night. A great tribute.
It’s like going to see Billy Joel ( my personal fave over Bruce ) and realizing that unannounced he’s playing all of Turnstiles.
Some NPR remembrances and tributes:
Bidding Farewell To Tony Soprano
by Scott Simon
June 22, 2013 7:35 AM
Gandolfini Through The Eyes Of Those He Worked With
June 20, 2013 2:18 PM
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=193865792&m=193869927
True to my word, we picked up the first two seasons of The Sopranos over the weekend and will start watching them this next weekend.
Gov. Chris Christie ordered the flags at half-mast on Monday.
We watched the first two episodes of season 1 tonight. Okay, we’re hooked.
(Do the ducks ever return?)
Many thanks for this. Good stuff.
I started rewatching a couple months ago, on HBO Signature, and am about halfway through season 5.
Then I found the AV Club writeups on each episode – here. The writeups were done after the show had aired, so there are spoilers. (The final episode is at the top of the page, but scroll down a bit and you’ll be able to choose which episode/season to read about.)
If you’re looking for some excellent in-depth analysis/appreciation/inside info, that’s the place to go.