James Gandolfini was apparently paid a ton of money to pass on joining “The Office.”
Gandolfini starred for several years as Tony Soprano in “The Sopranos,” and his HBO co-star Steve Schirripa recently revealed that he received a huge chunk of change to not replace Steve Carell on the NBC hit. (REVIEW: ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Ends With The Possible Deaths Of Multiple Characters)
“I think before James Spader and after [Steve] Carell, they offered Jim, I want to say, $4 million to play him for the season — and HBO paid him $3 million not to do it. That’s a fact,” Schirripa said during the Monday episode of “Talking Sopranos,” according to The York New Post.
James Gandolfini was paid $3 million to turn down role in ‘The Office’ https://t.co/lNHhSq5KhR pic.twitter.com/5F3OKWIXiQ
— New York Post (@nypost) July 14, 2021
I can’t even imagine Gandolfini, who died in 2013, as the boss of Dunder Mifflin. Thinking about it kind of breaks my brain. How can you go from being a mob boss to playing the boss of a paper company?
That doesn’t compute at all.
“The Sopranos” is one of the greatest shows ever made, and Gandolfini as Tony was a major reason why. I’m not sure there’s another person on the planet who could have played the role better.
Him jumping from the HBO hit to the “The Office” just wouldn’t have made any sense. HBO made the right decision to pay him to pass on it.
If you haven’t seen “The Sopranos,” I suggest you check it out on HBO. I binged the entire thing during the coronavirus pandemic, and loved it. It’s worth every second of your attention.