'Sopranos' actor discusses HBO hit's popularity ahead of local appearance

In terms of mobsters, we've rarely seen someone as nice as Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri.

A soft-spoken and faithful family man, who mourned his late wife by preserving her final baked ziti in the family freezer, Bacala's character growth made for an interesting contrast on "The Sopranos."

Steve Schirripa, the actor who played Bacala, said recently, "That was the writers. They did it. They gave me great stuff, getting to become Tony Soprano's brother-in-law and right-hand man at the dinner table. The writing was incredible. As an actor, if you're doing a show with crappy writing you're like, 'How am I supposed to make this feel real? How do I make this work?' But with 'The Sopranos,' it's all on the page."

Schirripa will discuss the writing, acting and off-stage happenings of one of TV's most esteemed dramas when he and two other popular "Sopranos" cast members — Michael Imperioli (Christopher) and Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy) — star in "In Conversation With The Sopranos" appearing Sept. 10 at the Count Basie Center in Red Bank, New Jersey; and Oct. 8 at Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. in Munhall, Pennsylvania.

Comedian Joey Kola hosts the 90-minute stage show.

"He's a great comic that does 15 to 20-minutes, then we come out and show clips and he asks us prepared questions," Schirripa said. "It's all comedic driven. You'll hear funny, behind-the-scenes stories. We give you a peek behind the curtain. Then we do the Q&A with the audience, which is the real fun part. I learn something new every time because new questions always pop up. If you're a fan of 'The Sopranos,' I promise you a good time, finding out things you never heard before."

No question is out-of-bounds, even theories about the HBO show's controversial ending.

Through 86 episodes between 1999 to 2007 (the pre-binge days), "Sopranos" viewers savored the exploits of New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano and his loyal crime crew. They did loathsome things, and viewers loved them.

"I think because it was a modern-day Western," Schirripa said. "And people liked the characters. Tony Soprano was a terrible human being. He was a murderer, a thief, but yeah we rooted for him. I think that was because of the writing."

For one of the first times since film classics "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II," viewers saw these gangsters interact with their wives and kids.

"You don't usually see the families. And Tony was a guy like the rest of us. He could have been a plumber," Schirripa said. "He had problems with his wife, problems with his kids, problems with his mother. A lot of people related to that."

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The late James Gandolfini's iconic portrayal of anti-hero Tony Soprano is worthy of any Mount Rushmore-type lineup of all-time-best TV roles.

Naturally, spectators at "In Conversation With The Sopranos" crave insights on Gandolfini, on- and off-screen. Schirripa, his "Talking Sopranos" podcast host Imperioli, and Pastore, indulge them.

"We talk a lot about Jim and how cherished he was," Schirripa said. "How he gave cast members $33,000 each, and paid off peoples' mortgages anonymously."

Audience members also expect to hear about Tony Sirico, the actor who played Soprano's stubborn but loyal capo Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri.

Sirico died in early July after a long illness.

"People ask why we didn't have him on the podcast the past few years, but he wasn't able to talk due to dementia," Schirripa said. "Paulie Walnuts I think was the second most popular character behind Tony Soprano."

Also high on the popularity list is Soprano associate Silvio Dante played by Steven Van Zandt, a longtime guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

"He's one of the most generous people you'd ever meet," Schirripa said. "He picks up every check. $2,000, $3,000, he doesn't care."

As a TV star, Schirripa could get a lot of free restaurant meals "on the house," by any admiring owner who's a "Sopranos" fan, but like his Bobby Bacala character, he wouldn't want to make a fuss.

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"When it comes to restaurants comping, I prefer to pay my own way," Schirripa said. "Though if they really want to give me a dessert, I guess that's OK."

"Sopranos" creator-producer David Chase insisted Schirripa wear a fat suit his first few seasons on "The Sopranos," as his character endured fat jokes by his not-so-svelte boss, Soprano. The joke goes Chase felt Schirripa had grown into the role, and no longer needed the suit by his third season.

Schirripa still owns one of those fat suits, along with the authentic-to-the-point-of-amusing hunting vest Bobby Bacala wore on a camping trip with Soprano, and one of Bacala's train engineer hats.

Ah, yes. Bobby and his model trains.

(Spoiler alerts next six paragraphs)

Bobby's quest to buy a model train accessory, coupled with a fumbled cell phone, put the character in an unguarded position, leading him to get whacked by an assassin from the rival New York mob.

If his character had to die, Schirripa at least was grateful it was a heart-wrenchingly memorable death.

"We started to wear that as a badge of honor, how your character got killed," Schirripa said. "Some guys just faded away. But mine was a good one. Ralphie's was a good one. Christopher's was, too."

How about Soprano's enemy Phil Leotardo having his head run over by his own SUV after being shot in a gas station parking lot?

"Yeah, that was a pretty good one," Schirripa said.

Leotardo ordered the hit on Bacala, who entered the show in Season 2, starting as a Soprano soldier and working his way up to trusted confidant and captain.

"I was very happy about the character's growth," Schirripa said. "Nobody ever spoke about it, it just happened. Those first six episodes for me, in Season 2, they must have liked what I was doing because slowly but surely they gave me more and more to do."

For the "Talking Sopranos" podcast Schirripa — where 67 "Sopranos" cast and crew members have guested — Schirripa re-watched his first season's performance.

"It was very cringeworthy. It made my toes curl," Schirripa said. "I don't know what they saw in me. But as we went on, you can see me get more comfortable. And I worked very hard.

"Bobby's one of the nicer characters, if not the nicest. He never murders anyone until Tony makes him in Canada."

In a scene that final season, Bacala and Soprano are on a boat alone on a lake, when Bacala wonders aloud that if somebody kills you, "you probably don't even hear it when it happens."

Many viewers have surmised that line foreshadows the fade-to-black final moment of "The Sopranos" that still makes fans debate if Tony has just been killed.

"For a long time, I thought he was alive," Schirripa said. "But then I kind of flip-flopped. Maybe that was wishful thinking that he was still alive."

The discussion won't end any time soon.

"The show is more popular now with all the streaming worldwide," said Schirripa , who turns 65 on Sept. 3, and will begin his seventh season as recurring character retired police Det. Anthony Abetemarco on "Blue Bloods," CBS' long-running police drama.

"So I've played a cop and played a guy in the mob," Schirripa said.

Fans ask more questions about his mob character.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at the Beaver County Times and can be reached at stady@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: 'Sopranos' cast member Schirripa discusses show ahead of local visit