James Gandolfini

BIRTHDATE: September 18, 1961
BIRTHPLACE: Westwood, New Jersey
MARITAL STATUS: Married, one child
WHY HE DESERVES HIS BIG BREAK:
"I'm like King Midas in reverse. Everything I touch turns to shit."
"Now, the first time you kill somebody, that's the hardest....first one is tough, no fuckin' foolin'. The second one ain't no fuckin' Mardi Gras either...then the third one is easy. Now, shit, now I do it just to watch their fuckin' expression change."

The first line is from TV's The Sopranos. The second is from 1993's True Romance. They were both spoken by the same actor--James Gandolfini, who has perfected playing the hot-tempered yet strangely likeable thug to a level that puts Joe Pesci to shame.

In all actuality, James Gandolfini doesn't really belong on this list, being that he's become a full-fledged star ever since winning the lead role on HBO's mob series The Sopranos. But we're saluting him anyway, since he's worked so damn hard to get where he is today. His most memorable role besides Tony Soprano, the hit man Virgil who gets more than he bargains for when he tries to take out Patricia Arquette in True Romance, was only his second film role. But between that and The Sopranos he got stuck in a lot of crap, like playing Geena Davis's numbskull boyfriend in the "offensive to anybody that has the slightest bit of Italian heritage" romantic comedy Angie, or playing one of Alec Baldwin's thugs in the Demi Moore thriller The Juror. Though Gandolfini was hardly a household name when David Chase cast him in The Sopranos, it seems as if the role was written just for him. While the performance could have easily dissolved into a Joe Pesci "what am I, a clown to you?" caricature, Gandolfini has managed to create a multi-dimensional, thoroughly memorable character. Tony Soprano may be a gangster who coldly orders hits on even his close friends, but he's also neurotic, self-conscious, and concerned about keeping his family together. After all, you've just gotta like someone who says stuff like "Uncle Junior and I, we had our problems with the business. But I never should have razzed him about eating pussy. This whole war could have been averted. Cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this."

FILMOGRAPHY
Films highlighted in yellow present James at his best

The Last Castle (2001)--Colonel Winter
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)--Big Dave Brewster
The Mexican (2001)--Winston "Leroy" Baldry
8MM (1999)--Eddie Poole
"The Sopranos" (TV Series--1999)--Anthony Soprano Sr.
A Civil Action (1998)--Al Love
The Mighty (1998)--Kenneth 'Kenny' Kane
Fallen (1998)--Lou
Gun (1997)--Walter
Perdita Durango (1997)--Dumas
12 Angry Men (TV Movie--1997)--Juror #6
She's So Lovely (1997)--Kiefer
Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)--Joey Allegretto
The Juror (1996)--Eddie
Get Shorty (1995)--Bear
Crimson Tide (1995)--Lieutenant Bobby Dougherty
The New World (1995)--Will
Angie (1994)--Vinnie
Terminal Velocity (1994)--Ben Pinkwater
Italian Movie (1993)--????
Money for Nothing (1993)--Billy Coyle
Mr. Wonderful (1993)--Mike
True Romance (1993)--Virgil
A Stranger Among Us (1992)--Tony Baldessari