Around the time he got his big break in The Sopranos, Michael Imperioli was also trying desperately to get one of his film scripts onto the big screen. While The Sopranos was an easy win and went on to become one of the best TV series of all time, Imperioli’s Summer of Sam required some rather unusual methods to find the spotlight.
Imperioli played Christopher Moltisanti on the acclaimed show and is a big reason why The Sopranos is regarded as one of the best drama series ever made. All these years later, you’d be hard-pressed to find a TV top five that doesn’t include the mob story.
However, you may not know that one of the best Spike Lee movies also has a strong connection to the best ’90s TV show thanks to Imperioli’s writing talents. The film, Summer of Sam, also has witches to thank for its success, sort of.
Speaking to Variety about the journey his script took to get to the silver screen, Imperioli had a strange admission: “I had just begun writing Summer of Sam with Victor Colicchio — we wrote that script together. I really wanted to get it made. So I met somebody who was living here who was a witch.”
“She said she could help me get it made, but it wasn’t going to happen the way I thought it would. I was very ambitious at the time and wanted to get that made, so [I] resorted to tapping into otherworldly means to get it through the studio system,” Imperioli added.
Well, that’s certainly one way to do it. The actor doesn’t delve into details about what was said, or exactly what kind of magic the witch used to make his wish come true, but the film does exist, so it must have worked. While it’s not the most well-known Spike Lee flick, Summer of Sam does hold a cult status among his fans, and now this spooky story of witchcraft will likely make it even more popular.
Speaking of spooky, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time and the best ghost movies of all time to send a shiver down your spine. If you want more from The Sopranos find out which Sopranos character he most regrets killing.