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Gandolfini Goes Full Soprano on Guy Videotaping Him in Village
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 5, 2009
Modified Nov 5, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 5, 2009
Modified Nov 5, 2009
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This short video of James Gandolfini menacing a Guest of a Guest photographer who was videotaping him in the West Village is funny, but also kind of sad, for a couple reasons. First, Gandolfini's worked hard to find roles that take his career past the Tony Soprano archetype, and now here he is acting just like Tony about to thrash the Bada Bing bartender for not being sufficiently anxious about Al Qaeda.
The other sort of sad part is that the photographer has his mom with him, and she's probably the only thing saving him from ending up in the hospital just like Georgie at the Bing. Will this inspire more paparazzi to bring their moms along on stalk-and-shoots? Because that would be kind of awesome.
UPDATE: The Guest of a Guest photographer has now posted an explanation about the altercation, and it turns out that wasn't his mom you hear on the video, it was Gandolfini's ex-wife, who was telling the photographer to get away from her son, who was trick-or-treating. Oh well, we still think it would make for great television if paparazzi chased celebs with their moms.
UPDATE 2: Apparently, this was Gandolfini's "costume," which he was not wearing during the video, unfortunately, because that would have made for even greater television.
What Would Tyler Durden Do? has a whole gallery and wonders, "AHH WHATTHEFUCK! Did he rip the eyes open with his bare hands?"
Tagged
assault
gandolfini
Guest of a Guest
nyc
photographer
sopranos
west village
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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