Michael Imperioli was offered a mafia hitman lesson while working on ‘The Sopranos’
Michael Imperioli was offered a mafia hitman lesson while working on ‘The Sopranos’
The 58-year-old ‘Goodfellas’ actor rose to global fame playing New Jersey gangster Christopher Moltisanti in all six series of HBO’s pioneering mafia drama and said he got the dramatic offer while having a meal with his co-star Tony Sirico, 79, who was a real-life mobster before getting into acting.
Michael told The Daily Telegraph a man came to their table at the New York hotspot and said he could show him the “correct way” to strangle a victim using piano wire.
The actor added about politely declining the offer: “I told him, maybe after dessert might be a better time.”
When asked if he ever took the lesson, he said: “It remained unfulfilled, but it’s easily imagined.”
Michael’s mafia boss uncle Tony Soprano, played the late James Gandolfini, is seen strangling a “snitch” on the show with wire, while Michael’s character Christopher guns down a series of victims during the series.
The Emmy-winning actor, who is also the guitarist in the indie band Zopa and a novelist, is now narrating the three-part Sky documentary ‘American Godfathers: The Five Families’ about the history of the mafia.
Michael, who researched the mob for his role in 1990 gangster classic ‘Goodfellas’ said there is barely any links between his family and the mob, but said he still identifies with the stories of gangsters.
He added: “I don’t have a lot of first-hand experience in my family. But ‘The Godfather’, to some degree, was a somewhat romanticised version of these stories.
“People really felt with Don Corleone – who broke the law, was a criminal and a murderer – that there was some kind of moral code and honour to this character.”
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