All About James Gandolfini's Son, Michael Gandolfini

If the name Michael Gandolfini rings a bell, it’s thanks to his father, James Gandolfini, the star of The Sopranos, who died in 2013.

Michael, who was only 14 when his dad died, found himself reprising his father’s famous role years later in 2021’s prequel film The Many Saints of Newark. He earned enormous praise as a young Tony Soprano, particularly from his stepmother Deborah Lin, who told Page Six, “It was almost surreal to see Michael in the trailer. I know it took a lot of courage for him to take this role. It was very emotional.”

Ahead of the film’s release, the actor had admitted to The New York Times that he felt a certain degree of pressure about taking on the part. He explained, “There's fear. But the second layer, that a lot of people don't think about, which was actually harder, is to play Tony Soprano… not only was it the feeling of my dad—it was like, Tony Soprano is a [expletive] hard character.”

In addition to Newark, Michael’s additional credits include Ocean’s Eight and the upcoming Bob Marley biopic One Love. Here is a look at the life of actor Michael Gandolfini.

He is inspired by his dad

Michael's father James died in 2013 while the father and son were traveling in Italy with Michael’s stepmother and stepsister. Michael was only 14 at the time.

As an adult, Michael is enormously inspired by his father as an actor and a person. While preparing to play Tony Soprano in 2021, Michael would walk and listen to hours of his father’s dialogue. Watching his father play the character he was also playing was a powerful experience. He told Esquire, “He starts singing, and then he starts crying, and then he gets mad at himself because he's crying, and then he laughs at himself.”

“He literally spans like, four emotions in the matter of forty seconds! And they're all so grounded and I remember being blown away by him,” Michael added.

He grew up in New York City and Los Angeles

Michael spent much of his childhood in New York, where he was born in May 1999 to James and his ex-wife Marcy Wudarski. He told Mr. Feel Good that he grew up in both the city and in Los Angeles. He also told the outlet that he’s “grateful” for the experience of living in both cities and added, “I traveled between both for most of my life, and I think that they defined me in lots of ways. I’ve met a lot of people and seen a lot of things.”

He played his dad’s Sopranos character

In 2021 Michael resurrected his father’s character from The Sopranos when he starred as Tony Soprano in the prequel The Many Saints of Newark. Despite that incredibly close tie, the younger Gandolfini made one thing clear: “I didn't play my dad,” he said. “I played Tony.”

He also said that part of taking on the role meant getting his father’s physical gestures and mannerisms down. Michael explained, “Like I look like my dad, I don't have the gestures. I don't have the accent, the way he uses his eyes. All those things are things I wanted to develop because if I could get his physicality, I might be able to have more leeway to do what I want emotionally.”

Playing Tony Soprano also meant that Michael had to reckon with the fact that his dad would never be able to enjoy his performance. In an interview with WSJ Magazine, he acknowledged, “I had known there isn't a world where I'm going to make my dad proud — because I can't. I understand that. But I wanted to make [producer] David proud, and I wanted to make my fellow actors proud and learn as much as I can — that was a goal I could set.”

Watching The Sopranos was an emotional experience for him

Michael had never watched The Sopranos before he took on the part of Tony for Newark, and he told Esquire that the experience was an emotional one. The actor told The New York Times that he chose to watch the entire first season alone, and added, “It was hard to watch my dad alone and then having no one to lean onto.”

The experience of playing the same character offered him a unique insight into his father, Michael added. “He so was not Tony,” he said. “The only insight that I think I gained was deep pride in him. I’m exhausted after three months — you did that for nine years?”

He has been sober since 2017

In May 2020 Michael shared on Instagram that he had been sober for three years. The actor posted the news on his 21st birthday. He captioned a photo of himself in front of a birthday cake, “Being sober and in recovery these last few years is the greatest gift I could have on my 21st birthday. Thank you all for the incredible birthday wishes. My life is so beautiful because of my amazing family, friends, and community. I’m very, very lucky. Love you all.”

While speaking to Esquire, he said, “Technically, I’ve never had a legal drink. I’m part of the sober ‘never had a legal drink’ group that I love.” Michael added that he shares his sobriety journey online in part because it’s so deeply personal. As he put it, “I had this disease in me, it runs in my family, and I’m so proud that I’m sober. I had to get sober young because I knew that from history and from just my acting out, I sort of have this disease.”

Michael added, “I’m very vocal about my sobriety, because it’s saved my life and it’s allowed me to have gratitude ... it saved my life.”

His dad said everything he did was for Michael

In March 2004, James sat down for a lengthy interview with Inside the Actor’s Studio. While his career was certainly the focus of many of the questions, he was also asked what he does to relax and take a break from it all. For James, the answer was clear: “I read a lot. And my son — playing with my son [4-year-old Michael] really takes me right out of all this, because it’s all about him.”

Later in the interview, James also said that he hoped he wouldn’t be typecast as a mafia boss forever, primarily because he wanted his son to be able to enjoy his work. As he put it, “I can’t keep doing Mafia roles. That would be idiotic. I think having a son, I don’t want to go to those places as much, you know what I mean? You want to play different types of characters that your son could see. If you do character after character of dark people, I think eventually it might begin to bug you.”