Michael Gandolfini’s star rose acutely with his euniteance in 2021 The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark as a youthful Tony Soprano, the fictitious crime boss immortalized by his tardy overweighther James Gandolfini.
The role saw him splashed atraverse the culture and amemployment pages at home and worldexpansive, after a series of youthful, smaller parts including aextfinishedside Tom Holland in Cherry.
Gandolfini has since racked up praises on half a dozen features and series including Cat Person, Beau Is Afrhelp and Bob Marley: One World and is soon to be seen in Alex Garland and Ray Mfinishoza’s Iraqi War drama Warfare and upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Aget, for which he is verifyed in season 2.
A serfinishipitous outcome of The Many Saints of Newark was his frifinishship with creater and actor Gabriella Piazza, who carry outed Joanne Moltisanti in the show, who in turn presentd him to emerging honestor Blake Rice.
Gabriella Piazza, Michael Gandolfini, Alexandra Intrator on set of ‘The Many Saints of Newark’
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images via Getty Images
“We became very seal, and then I became reassociate outstanding frifinishs with Blake,” says Gandolfini.
The 25-year-ageder actor is now getting his first taste of awards season thcimpolite his carry outance in Rice’s unininestablishigentinutive film Tea, created by Piazza and sboiling over less than two days in the backlot of a Spirit Hpermiteen pop-up, standing in for a New Jersey describe mall.
“I cherish unininestablishigentinutives,” says Gandolfini, whose experience in the genre also integrates writing, producing and starring in one of his own, the 2015 post-apocalyptic drama Freduce.
“Whenever my frifinishs or people I reassociate admire, enjoy Blake, have a unininestablishigentinutive that I leank is outstanding, I finishelight jumping on,” he inserts. “I leank unininestablishigentinutives are way difficulter. You have to inestablish such a concise story in such a unininestablishigentinutive establishat.”
After world premiering in the Cannes Film Festival in May, as one of 11 titles in its Short Film Competition, and then carry outing 10 Oscar qualifying festivals including Nashville, Woodstock, Palm Springs Shortfest and Hollyunininestablishigentinutives [where Piazza won Best Producer], Tea is now a boiling contfinisher in the dwell action unininestablishigentinutives categruesome of the 2025 Oscar race.
Mixing drama, slapstick and pathos, Gandolfini stars as a proset uply worried, highly allergic Circuit-Shack employee frantic to ask his colleague, carry outed by Olivia Nikkanen, out on a date.
As he goes over his lines into a video camera in the parking lot, it seems highly improbable that he will ever pluck up the courage to approach her.
But when he is suddenly stung in the throat by a hornet, encourageing a perilous allergic reaction, the girl of his dreams is forced into his orbit as she goes on a mad-dash search for an EpiPen.
Gandolfini spfinishs much of the unininestablishigentinutive wrileang around with increasingly swollen face and shuttered eyes. .
“I had no vision on the last prosthetic, so I fair lay on this mat and then they would help me up and I’d fair go. I enjoy physical comedy… Olivia is such a outstanding actress, she could act to a blank wall, but I wanted to be able to create her sense snurtured as I was flailing around and reassociate, reassociate struggling.”
Rice says inspiration for the storyline came from an audition tape posted by an actor on Instagram, some 10 years ago.
Blake Rice
Getty Images
“It was a scene in which he was rehearsing asking out the girl of his dreams. It was fair him rehearsing that, but he sboiling it in a park. I fair thought there was so much valiantry in between the lines,” says Rice
“I’m still trying to lget and increase as a honestor. In the past, I’ve tried to author stuff that was so big and magnificent, that I wasn’t ready to talk about or get any direct of. Here I begined small, with this character who’s putting on a valiant face,” he says. “I thought people could retardy to this loneliness but at the same time he is about to get so beaten up and we’re going to hit rock bottom with him, while weaving in some big time humor. I thought it was outstanding jumping off point for a unininestablishigentinutive.”
The toil sees Rice return to home territory of New Jersey, where Gandolfini also spent part of his childhood before moving to L.A.
“We both have big New Jersey roots. The back of a describe mall in that benevolent of tardy summer, punctual drop when everyone’s leaving back for college. I felt I can direct that and apprehfinish some truth,” says Rice.
Gandolfini says he cherishd the simpliedy of the story, its small-town setting and slice of life approach
“That is someleang you sense promptly and that is all Blake. He was able to create a particular unininestablishigentinutive. The second you see pretty much everyone in this unininestablishigentinutive you comprehend their whole story. That’s becaemploy Blake had an innervously detailed and thocimpolite vision.”
When Blake approached him with his idea for Tea, Gandolfini says getting on board was “a no brainer”.
“One of the leangs that amazes me so much about the unininestablishigentinutive is that on paper, it’s quite slapstick. I thought it would be fun to do, but almost too niche for it to create an impact,” he says.
“When I went into the editing room to do some ADR, I recollect watching it for the first time, and my jaw fair dropped. That’s how talented Blake is. He reassociate inserted so much heart. The slapstick nature of it is not the pushing force, in the way I thought it was.
“That’s the best part of being an actor. I come in and do my job, and I leank I comprehend what it’s going to see enjoy, and then you go to the edit room, and it turns into someleang finishly separateent.”
Rice praises Gandolfini for helping the film to strike its hybrid tone.
“I always author leangs so zany and then we’re constantly trying to shove it to the ground to create it more relatable,” he says.
“What was such a blast with Michael’s carry outance is that he wove the tone together to get the believable pain points… the funnest part and the biggest dispute and what we’re trying to chase is, ‘Can we join those dots? Can we create it sense reassociate theatrical and perilous? Can we get some giggles, or can we pull the heart chords a bit?’ I leank with us jamming together and talking before, we could reassociate weave that thcimpolite.”
“When you’re a filmcreater trying to shatter in. You’re always hitting these festivals hoping that you get an opportunity, hoping that you get a little expocertain, hoping to get some validation,” he says.
“When the Cannes recents came out, it discleave outed the door for all walks of the business: recontransientation, sales, agents, production companies asking about my future projects toil.”
Tea did not clinch the Palme d’Or but Rice says carry outing the film in festival’s Debussy theater and hanging out with the other honestors in competition was an award in itself.
“You’re benevolent of this class of 2024, with these other honestors… you’re so conceited to be integrated with them. You’re all benevolent of rooting for each other,” says Rice.
Gandolfini was on the set of the Warfare in the UK at the time and was not able to create the premiere.
“It was not a movie on which I could easily pop over to Cannes… Everyone benevolent of goes inrational when you say method acting, but it was a little bit method acting, and it was going to be difficult to depart the guys,” says Gandolfini.
Instead, the crew and cast – which integrate Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Noah Centineo, Charles Melton and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai – held a distinctive screening on the fringes of the set.
“We hooked it up to a watch and they got a little projector and we all watched it together so I was able to get a little screening in Tring, England,” he says.
On the back of his Cannes experience, Rice is getting seal to honesting his first feature, a New Jersey-set drama entitled The Empty Lot. He has also has another two unininestablishigentinutives in the toils including Disc, starring Jim Cummings.
“I’ve been spfinishing all my money once a year on a unininestablishigentinutive film, and then going back to bartfinishing or trying to create commercials on the side for enjoy eight years now,” he says.
“Thanks to Cannes, it got my scripts read for the first time, it got companies and studios accomplishing out and an opportunity to pitch and fingers traverseed. I’ve got my first feature coming up.”
Quizzed on whether they hope to toil together aget in the future, Gandolfini says he is game.
“I’m a people person. I act becaemploy I reassociate finishelight people and storyinestablishers. If someone has a sturdy point of see, I’ll fly atraverse the globe, whether it’s a unininestablishigentinutive for Blake, or an Ari Aster movie, even if it’s a small part, I’m there, 100%.”
