History Trivia / TheSopranos

** [[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 one season.

* WordOfGay: Creator/DavidChase confirmed on the ''Talking Sopranos'' podcast that Phil Leotardo is an ArmoredClosetGay. Hence he was so angry when his cousin in law, Vito turned out to be gay.

** Dan Grimaldi, who played Patsy, agrees with the popular fan theory that [[spoiler:Patsy was involved in Tony's death as revenge for the death of his twin brother Phillip]].

** Dan Grimaldi, who played Patsy, agrees with the popular fan theory that [[spoiler:Patsy engineered the hit on Tony as revenge for the death of his twin brother Phillip]].

** The scene in which Tony beats up Zellman with a belt was originally written to have Zellman naked during the incident. Creator/PeterRiegert was uncomfortable with this element of the scene and Creator/JamesGandolifini supported him in lobbying for a change, resulting in Zellman wearing boxers as he is beaten.

** The scene in which Tony beats up Zellman with a belt was originally written to have Zellman naked during the incident. Creator/PeterRiegart was uncomfortable with this element of the scene and Creator/JamesGandolifini supported him in lobbying for a change, resulting in Zellman wearing boxers as he is beaten.

** The scene in which Tony beats up Zellman with a belt was originally written to have Zellman naked during the incident. Creator/PeterRitgart was uncomfortable with this element of the scene and Creator/JamesGandolifini supported him in lobbying for a change, resulting in Zellman wearing boxers as he is beaten.

** Dan Grimaldi, who played Patsy, agrees with the popular fan theory that [[spoiler:Patsy played a role in Tony's death in the final scene]].

** 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.

* 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.

** Drea de Matteo showed up in the pilot episode as a waitress in a restaurant that Tony visits. The crew was impressed enough by her performance to cast her as Christopher's girlfriend Adriana.

* RevivalByCommercialization: "Don't Stop Believin'" was only a minor hit for Music/{{Journey}} when it was initially released in 1981 and was largely forgotten by the general public afterwards. Following it's inclusion in the show's final scene, radio play and digital downloads of the song skyrocketed to the point it reentered the charts. Nowadays, it's widely considered the band's SignatureSong.

** Tony Sirico really did have mob connections at one time. This is [[ActorAllusion referenced in the show]] when he mentions his association with the Gambinos during the 70s.

** The three finalists for Tony Soprano were Gandolfini, Steven Van Zandt (Silvio), and Creator/MichaelRispoli (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.
** Creator/LorraineBracco was originally asked to play the role of Carmela Soprano, but she felt that the part was too similar to her character in ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}''. She decided the role of Dr. Melfi would be more challenging.

** 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.

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

** 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.
** David Proval, who played Richie Aprile, is of Jewish and Austrian descent.

** This show opened the door for a lot of shows that tried to show "gritty" depictions of crime families. Most of those shows only copied the shocking violence, and not the great dialogue, wicked sense of humor, complex themes, and excellent acting that made this show a success, which is why they're all gone. The show itself isn't subtle in its attempts to pick up where ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' left off in its demythologizing of the Mafia. A truly impressive amount of the cast of this show had parts of varying significance in that film. In case it wasn't obvious enough, their first choice to play Tony Soprano was Ray Liotta.

** Chase originally intended for Tony to succeed in [[VorpalPillow suffocating his mother with a pillow]] after she tries to have him killed in season 1. However, Nancy Marchand, who played Livia, was sick with cancer during her time on the show. She asked Chase, "David, just keep me working". He graciously obliged. This would be reverted later with the death of Nancy Marchand, as Chase wanted to extend the stolen tickets storyline, but it had to be cut short with Livia's sudden death written into the plot.

* 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 different opening music for every episode, but the final theme changed his mind.

* DirectedByCastMember: {{Creator/Steve Buscemi}}, who played Tony Blundetto, directed 4 episodes of the series, including "[[Recap/TheSopranosS3E11PineBarrens Pine Barrens]]".

** Creator/MichaelImperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) is the only major cast member whose credits also include writing or co-writing for the series, having worked on five episodes ("From Where to Eternity", "The Telltale Moozadell", "Christopher", "Everybody Hurts", and "Marco Polo").
** Toni Kalem (Angie Bompensiero) wrote the script for season 5's "All Happy Families" and served as story editor on five episodes.

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

** Chase originally intended for Tony to succeed in suffocating his mother with a pillow after she tries to have him killed in season 1. However, Nancy Marchand, who played Livia, was sick with cancer during her time on the show. She asked Chase, "David, just keep me working". He graciously obliged". This would be reverted later with the death of Nancy Marchand, as Chase wanted to extend the stolen tickets storyline, but it had to be cut short with Livia's sudden death written into the plot.

** Drea de Matteo showed up in the pilot episode as a waitress in a restaurant that Tony visits. The crew was impressed enough by her performance to cast her as Christopher's girlfriend Adrianna.

** Tony Sirico has a criminal history and he signed on to play Paulie Walnuts so long as his character did not become a "rat".

* WrittenByCastMember: Creator/MichaelImperioli is the only major cast member whose credits also include writing or co-writing for the series, having worked on five episodes. Appearing in a recurring role, Toni Kalem, as Angie Bompensiero, also wrote one script and served as story editor on five episodes.

* WordOfGay: Creator/DavidChase confirmed on the ''Talking Sopranos'' podcast that Phil Leotardo is an ArmoredClosetGay. Hence he was so angry when his son in law, Vito turned out to be gay.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://sopranos.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The Sopranos Wiki]].

** 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."

-->Joe Pantoliano, who portrayed my character's father Ralph Cifaretto, found out his character was being killed off the show in real time during the table read for our episode. Yeah, he wasn't happy! As soon as he realized he was getting whacked (maybe by reading a few pages ahead of where we were), he angrily shouted (at no one in particular, but presumably the writers) and stood up from the session. His phone went up to his ear so fast to call his agent, and he stormed off. As he did this, Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) yelled back some choice words to him: something like, "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!" The ruthlessness of showbusiness. Got to see the reality of this business well before my 14th birthday."

** Chase originally intended for Tony to succeed in suffocating his mother with a pillow after she tries to have him killed in season 1. However, Nancy Marchand, who played Livia, was sick with cancer during her time on the show. She asked Chase, "David, just keep me working." He graciously obliged.". This would be reverted later with the death of Nancy Marchand, as Chase wanted to extend the stolen tickets storyline, but it had to be cut short with Livia's sudden death written into the plot.

* ShrugOfGod: Creator David Chase infamously refused to explain the ending for years afterward, 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.

** Originally Big Pussy wasn't going to reappear in the second season. Originally he was just going to disappear, and the question of what happened to him, and if he had even been an informant, would have been left a mystery. Chase eventually broke down and brought him back, but he resented the pressure to provide answers and intentionally left some things unanswered in later seasons (such as the fates of the Russian in "Pine Barrens" and Furio.)

** 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]].

* RelationshipVoiceActor: A cross-dialect example: Tony Soprano's voice actors in both Latin American and European Spanish dubs, Creator/HumbertoVelez in the TV dub and Carlos Ysbert respectively, had both voiced [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]].

** Tony was originally named Tommy.

** Creator/RayLiotta was in consideration for the roles of Tony Soprano and Ralph Cifaretto, but turned them both down. He will appear in the prequel film ''Film/TheManySaintsOfNewark''.

** A somewhat subverted example with Furio. The character is clearly from Italy but is played by Federico Castelluco, who was born in Naples but spent most of his youth in New Jersey, making him more Italian-American.

** Although both were crucial characters and presence in 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.

** Drea De Mateo showed up in the pilot episode as a waitress in a restaurant that Tony visits. The crew was impressed enough by her performance to cast her as Christopher's girlfriend Adrianna.

* 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.

** Chase originally intended for Tony to succeed in suffocating his mother with a pillow after she tries to have him killed in season 1. However, Nancy Marchand, who played Livia, was sick with cancer during her time on the show. She asked Chase, "David, just keep me working." He graciously obliged.". This would be reverted later with the death of Nancy Marchand, as Chase wanted to extend the stolen tickets storyline, but it has to be cut short whit Livia's sudden death written into the plot.