HBO reportedly forked out a whopping $3 million to “The Sopranos” star James Gandolfini to NOT take a role.
A recent episode of the Talking Sopranos podcast, hosted by the late Gandolfini’s co-stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, saw the pair talking with their guest Ricky Gervais who co-created the UK sitcom “The Office”.
Gervais of course starred in that as David Brent, the prototype for what became Steve Carell’s Michael Scott in NBC’s U.S. version of “The Office”.
During the podcast, it was revealed that the premium cabler forked over the cash to make Gandolfini reject a role as the new boss in NBC’s “The Office” after Carell departed. Schirripa says:
“I think before James Spader and after 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. Jim was going to do it because he hadn’t worked and it was a number of years removed from when the show ended.”
Gervais then joked: “So they paid him that to keep the legacy of The Sopranos pure?”. Will Ferrell came on board as Carell’s replacement briefly until James Spader took over as the regional manager. Gandolfini did ultimately get involved in comedy, having a memorable role as a U.S. General in the film “In the Loop” in 2009.
The Emmy-winning Gandolfini died in 2013, at the age of 51. His son now takes on a younger incarnation of James’ Tony Soprano role for the upcoming prequel film “The Many Saints of Newark” which hits cinemas and the HBO Max streaming service on October 1st.
