Imperioli landed a small role in Allen’s film Celebrity, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio; Imperioli’s role was to play a member of DiCaprio’s entourage. Shortly after scoring roles in both The Sopranos and Celebrity, the actor realized there was an overlap in the lineup – one day when Celebrity and The Sopranos would need the actor on set.
“My agent said, ‘You have to make a choice. Do you want to do the pilot, or do you want to work with Woody Allen? “” Explained Imperioli on Speak sopranos. After considering the choices, he went for The Sopranos: “I really took the pilot because the role was great.”
Actor Sam Rockwell would later land the Denied Imperioli role Celebrity, and considering Imperioli won a supporting actor in an Emmy drama series in 2004 for playing Christopher, it looks like he made the right decision.
Speak sopranos co-host and Sopranos Star Steve Schirripa said he also faced a tough decision when he got the chance to become a series regular on the hit gangster show. Since he was offered a third of the money he was making as the entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas at the time and was considering taking an offer for another pilot, Schirripa was in conflict to assume the role of Bobby “Bacala”. But show creator David Chase told him he was “lucky enough to be on one of the greatest shows in television history.”
He still needed more money to bring his family back to New York City, and luckily the series eventually ended with enough money for Schirripa, who quickly joined the talented cast. The actor was proud of his choice, saying not making it would have been a “bad decision”.
