“The Many Saints of Newark”

First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed “The Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark.”  You don’t have to be a fan of the beloved HBO series to get into the new film.  From director Alan Taylor and written by David Chase, the movie is gripping, funny, and shocking and pays homage to the show we love.

Here’s the official synopsis from Warner Bros:

Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark’s history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family’s hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities–and whose influence over his impressionable nephew will help make the teenager into the all-powerful mob boss we’ll later come to know: Tony Soprano.

I spoke to Anthony Soprano aka Michael Gandolfini on playing the younger version of the role role his dad, James Gandolfini, popularized in the original series, and both Vera Farmiga and Jon Bernthal who play his parents, Livia and Johnny Boy, respectively.

“The Many Saints of Newark” arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on October 1^st.

One thing I can tell you is that the cast of “The Many Saints of Newark” is stellar especially Leslie Odom Jr. as new gangster Harold McBrayer, Michela De Rossi as Giuseppina Bruno who is married to Ray Liotta’s Aldo “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti, and Alessandro Nivola as Richard “Dickie” Moltisanti, the son of Aldo.

I spoke with the cast about their interest in joining the cast and their characters.

Psst, I won’t be surprised really if Nivola gets an acting nomination!  Oh, and De Rossi too!  Oh, and perhaps, Odom Jr. as well!

From “Game of Thrones” to “The Sopranos” and everything in between, the name Alan Taylor is synonymous with these great shows as the director behind some of the beloved episodes.  So it’s fitting that he’s the man behind the camera in “The Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark.”

I spoke with the filmmaker about his interest in making the film, how they picked Michael Gandolfini to play the younger version of his dad’s (James Gandolfini) Tony Soprano, and the civil rights unrest of 1967 in Newark, New Jersey and how it became the impetus for change in the movie’s narrative.