Michael Imperioli will probably always be associated with Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos. He made it through 83 episodes of one of the best drama series of all time, before being shockingly dispatched by Tony (James Gandolfini) three episodes before the series finale. In a interview, Imperioli reflected on the most brutal moments from filming The Sopranos.
Answering reader questions in The Guardian, Imperioli was asked if Tony killing Chris was his most brutal moment from the series. Imperioli responded; “That wasn’t really brutal at all, I’ll be honest with you. When we shot it, it wasn’t my last day either because we shot out of sequence.”
“The most brutal, difficult stuff for me is when Christopher had to be physically abusive with Adriana (Drea de Matteo), for obvious reasons. On a technical level, you’re trying to be really careful so you don’t hurt the person. But having to get to that point of violence towards a woman, you have to go to some nasty places to get there.”
Imperioli concluded; “It’s much easier shooting a mobster or shooting heroin. That stuff to me is not difficult. But that stuff with her was. Sometimes you’ll use stunt doubles, sometimes not. And even then, it’s one thing to choreograph and rehearse it, then when you act it full-tilt with all the emotion, it’s easy to not have as much control as in the rehearsal. So you really have to be quite careful.”
Imperioli was recently seen in The White Lotus season 2, but as it’s an anthology series, he’s unlikely to be back for The White Lotus season 3. He did make it into The Sopranos prequel movie that came out in 2021 though, and you can find out what we thought of it in our Many Saints of Newark review. We also spoke to Ray Liotta about the movie.
Check out our guide to the best TV series of all time, and the best thriller series. If you’re thirsting for more from the criminal underworld, check out our guides to the best thriller movies and the best detective movies.