The cast of The Sopranos reunited in New York earlier this week to speak at a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the US crime drama television series and the premiere of Alex Gibney’s documentary, Wise Guy: David Chase And The Sopranos, members of the cast and crew appeared for an exclusive panel interview.
As reported by The Guardian, many cast members expressed their gratitude at being part of such a close team.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who portrayed Meadow Soprano, said: “That set was home, these people were home, and they accepted you no matter what.” Meanwhile Robert Iler, who played A.K., now 39, said: “My friends are all going to shitty college reunions, and I get to come here.”
Also in attendance was actor Steve Buscemi, who directed several episodes and guest-starred in season five. He spoke about reading the pilot script and admitting “I didn’t get it.” He explained how he then witnessed it become a huge success and thought, “Wow, I fucked up!”
Executive producers Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire, The Wolf Of Wall Street) and Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) joined the series’ creator David Chase at the panel. Weiner recalled how he rewrote the pilot episode of Mad Men after picking up habits from working with Chase and his team. He said: “This is a mass medium, but it can be art. I didn’t know that before The Sopranos.”
Chase then acknowledged the series’ success, saying: “If it wasn’t for the word ‘fuck’, where would any of us be right now? Nowhere!”
He then echoed the sentiment of his collaborators, saying: “This, everyone up here, that’s a family. And that’s the best thing we could’ve been.”