History Trivia / TheSopranos

* ActingForTwo: Dan Grimaldi played [[AlwaysIdenticalTwins twin brothers]] Philly and Patsy Parisi [[note]] in fact, Patsy was created because David Chase enjoyed Grimaldi's performance as Philly and regretted killing the character off [[/note]].

* RecastAsARegular: Joseph R. Gannascoli was originally cast in a season one cameo as Gino, a customer in the bakery where Christopher shoots a teenage counter boy in the foot. He was then re-cast as Vito Spatafore in season two, and continued in that role until the end of season six, part 1.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Paulie's imprisonment during the first half of Season 4 was because Tony Sirico was recovering from back surgery and unable to shoot.

* CreatorCouple: Silvio's wife Gabriella was played by Steven Van Zandt's real-life wife Maureen.

* RealLifeRelative: The prequel [[Film/TheManySaintsOfNewark Many Saints of Newark]] features James Gandolfini's son Michael as a young Tony.

** A somewhat subverted example with Furio. The character is clearly from Italy but is played by Federico Castelluco, who is not from the old country but he is an Italian-American from New Jersey.
** Neither of the actors who play the Soprano children are of Italian descent. Jamie-Lynn Sigler is half Cuban and half Sephardic Jewish, while Robert Iler is Irish-American.

** An in-universe RealLife emulation. Jackie Jr. learns that Tony and co. had their major breakthrough in the criminal world when they robbed a poker game organized by a big shot mobster, so Jackie decides to follow the example. [[spoiler:It ends badly, a made-man is injured, while the card dealer is killed, and Jackie gets whacked for it.]]

** While filming the scene in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS3E11PineBarrens Pine Barrens]]" where Tony picks Bobby up at Junior's house and reacts to seeing Bobby in his hunting outfit, Steve Schirripa surprised Gandolfini by entering the kitchen wearing a strap-on dildo. Tony's response and laughter, pointing at Bobby and then doubling over the sink, is the take of Gandolfini seeing the strap-on.

** Lillo Brancato (Matthew Bevilacqua in the 2nd series) was charged with murdering a cop in 2005, and although he was acquitted of that, was still sentenced to ten years imprisonment on a related burglary charge.

** Tony Soprano cites at several times over the course of the series his grandfather's having been a stone mason; Creator/JamesGandolfini's father was a bricklayer.

** In "[[Recap/TheSopranosS1E3DenialAngerAcceptance Denial, Anger, Acceptance]]", Meadow is performing in a recital with her chorus group. Jamie Lynn-Sigler is an accomplished singer and broadway performer.

* CreatorCouple: Silvio's wife Gabriella was played by Steven Van Zandt's real life wife Maureen.
* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: David Chase named "[[Recap/TheSopranosS1E5College College]]" as his favourite episode due to its focused plot.

** Creator/MichaelImperioli's favourite character is Junior, while Steve Schirripa's is Paulie.
* TheDanza: JT Dolan, played by Tim Daly. Doesn't seem like it at first, but when [[FridgeLogic you realise]] that Daly's full name is James Timothy Daly or JT Daly...
* DarkhorseCasting: Steven Van Zandt was a guitarist in Music/BruceSpringsteen's E-Street Band who had never acted before. Creator/DavidChase was impressed with his humorous appearance and presence after seeing him induct Music/TheRascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, and invited him to audition.

* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: After 9/11, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_23f7zmztNQ the original title sequence]] was re-edited to remove the shot of the Twin Towers from Tony's sideview mirror.

** In "[[Recap/TheSopranosS4E5PieOhMy Pie-O-My]]", Ralphie's crew look genuinely surprised - Ralph's hair almost takes off - when [[https://youtu.be/aNSpVvqqlJU Vito breaks a chair and falls like an elephant]]. In fact the whole moment looks like a borderline ThrowItIn, comically incorporated later into the script.

* FlagshipFranchise: The series is often seen as the show that launched the new Golden Age of adult television in TheOughties and TheNewTens, inspiring ''Series/TheWire'', ''Series/MadMen'', ''Series/BreakingBad'' (by rival networks), becoming an era defining milestone series, famous for its morally compromised protagonists, violence, and occasionally surreal style that came to define this period.

** Although both were crucial characters and presence of the show, it was widely rumored that Creator/EdieFalco and Creator/LorraineBracco did not get along. This apparently stemmed from the belief that Bracco was jealous of the Falco's larger screentime and attention, despite her being Creator/JamesGandolfini's onscreen wife.

* RealSongThemeTune: "Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)" by Alabama 3. A ThematicThemeTune almost expository. [[http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/thesopranoshboseries/wokeupthismorning%5Bchosenonemix%5D.htm#.T9y9ItUvCxs Lyrics]]. Initially, David Chase wanted a different opening music for every episode, but the final theme changed his mind.

** In a non-criminal case, Steven van Zandt (Silvio Dante) took heavy inspiration for his performance from his long friendship and partnership with Music/BruceSpringsteen, acting as a loyal right hand man to a powerful figure, which often involved breaking bad news and trying to keep his temper down.
* RecastAsARegular: Joseph R. Gannascoli was originally cast in a season one cameo as Gino, a customer in the the bakery where Christopher shoots a teenage counter boy in the foot. He was then re-cast as Vito Spatafore in season two, and continued in that role until the end of season six, part 1.

* ScheduleSlip: The first three seasons arrived one per year three years in a row, but things changed dramatically after this. Season Four was released about a year and half after Season Three. Season Five was released a year and a half later. The sixth and final season took almost two years following.
* ShrugOfGod: Creator David Chase infamously refused to explain the ending for years afterwards, saying, "Anyone who wants to watch it, it's all there." Then, during an interview in 2020, Chase referred to the final scene as "[[spoiler:the death scene]]." When an interviewer called his attention to that word choice, Chase responded, "Fuck you guys." He was forced to clarify that [[spoiler:Tony ''could'' have been killed]], but not necessarily. It's up to personal audience interpretation.

** Livia was originally going to die of natural causes at the end of the first season, before Tony is able to smother her with the pillow, until Nancy Marchand talked the writers out of it.

** Chase revealed in 2021 that his original choice for the song in the iconic final scene was [[Music/AlGreen “Love and Happiness.”]] He also revealed that he imagined an alternative version of the final scene, which would have [[BookEnds bookended]] the famous opening title sequence by having Tony drive from New Jersey to New York before [[spoiler:his implied offscreen death]].

* WordOfSaintPaul: The series infamously ended with a Smash to Black, leading many people to believe that it represented Tony being killed in the last scene. There's a suspicious looking guy going to the bathroom, making some people believe he was the killer. According to his actor, Matt Servitto, the guy in the bathroom most likely was going to approach Tony. He still isn't sure if he killed him or just talked to him or something.

* DawsonCasting: According to Creator/MichaelImperioli, Christopher is 25 at the start of the series, though he was 35 at the time.

** In late 2021, David Chase [[spoiler: finally confirmed that Tony dies in the diner in the finale episode.]]

* ScheduleSlip: The first three seasons arrived one per year three years in a row, but things changed dramatically after this:
** Season four was released about a year and half after season three which was the earliest example of the fans being annoyed with David Chase's slow plotting pace. Surprise, surprise when season five was released a year and a half later. David Chase not being one to settling for that decided he needed nearly ''two years'' to plot the sixth and final season. When the damn thing finally premiered it was announced that nine more episodes were added and fans almost had a heart attack when the season actually premiered only ten months later. Say what you will about the controversial ending, most people who had been following the show from day one were probably just relieved it had ended at all.

** Creator/JoePantoliano ordered and designed Ralph's wig himself. He based it on Creator/ChristopherNolan (whom he worked with on ''Film/{{Memento}}''. "I always loved Chris Nolan's hair."

* CharacterSpecificPages:
** [[Characters/TheSopranosTonySoprano Tony Soprano]]
** [[Characters/TheSopranosChristopherMoltisanti Christopher Moltisanti]]

** Tony Sirico and Frank Vincent auditioned for the role of Uncle Junior. Sirico was offered the role of Paulie instead. Vincent joined the cast as Phil in the fifth season.

* TheCharacterDiedWithHer: Livia Soprano died after actress Nancy Marchand's death. Bizarrely, though, they filmed one last scene with Livia after her Marchard's death, using a FakeShemp with her head added with CGI, and playing lines she had previously recorded.

* RealLifeRelative: The upcoming ''The Many Saints of Newark'' is set to feature James Gandolfini's son Michael as a young Tony.

* [[AuthorExistenceFailure Actor Existence Failure]]:
** Nancy Marchand passed away between Seasons Two & Three, [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim and Livia follows suit in "Proshai, Livushka"]].
** Creator/DavidChase talked for a while about making a feature film sequel, which was ended by Creator/JamesGandolfini's death. Eventually, he opted to make a prequel with James' son Creator/MichaelGandolfini portraying young Tony.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Although both were crucial characters and presence of the show, it was widely rumored that Creator/EdieFalco and Creator/LorraineBracco did not get along. This apparently stemmed from the belief that Bracco was jealous of the Falco's larger screentime and attention, despite her being Creator/JamesGandolfini's onscreen wife.

* ButIPlayOneOnTV: [[spoiler:When Christopher Moltisanti was "whacked", Creator/MichaelImperioli said that he had been receiving flowers as condolence - for his own death!]]

** Chase revealed in 2021 that his original choice for the song in the iconic final scene was [[Music/AlGreen “Love and Happiness.”]]

** The three finalists for Tony Soprano were Gandolfini, Steven Van Zandt (Silvio), and Michael Rispoli (Jackie Aprile Sr.) - Rispoli was also the first to read for the part. Obviously, the latter two still made it into the show; Van Zandt conceived and pitched the character of Silvio Dante himself, while Creator/DavidChase adjusted the role of Jackie Aprile, Sr., originally a much older character, to fit Rispoli's age.

** [[spoiler: Tony Blundetto]] was originally meant to last two seasons, but the writers wound up writing themselves into a corner [[spoiler: by having him kill Billy Leotardo]]. Believing there was no other possible conclusion to his story than death, the writers changed plans and had him bite the bullet after on season.

** The role of [[spoiler: Tony Blundetto]] was originally meant to last two seasons, but Creator/DavidChase decided to cut it to one.