Michael Gandolfini was only 14 when his father, The Sopranos actor James Gandolfini, died of a heart attack. Michael had never watched a single episode of his dad as Tony Soprano It would be another five years until he would, as he prepared to play a teenage Tony in The Many Saints of Newark. Watching The Sopranos alone in the dark for hours helped him get closer to Tony; but his role in Warfare has helped him feel more connected to his father.
His Father Had Given Watches to Two of the Marines He Met
In the upcoming A24 film Warfare, Gandolfini plays Lieutenant McDonald, a Fire Service Officer and Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company member. The film is about the Iraq War’s Battle of Ramadi, shot in real-time. The story is about co-director Ray Mendoza and his platoons attempt to evacuate lead sniper Elliot Miller, along with Navy SEAL Joe Hildebrand, after they were severely wounded by an IED.
The film was cathartic for Mendoza, Hildebrand, and Miller, giving them a chance to heal their trauma. “I hadn’t cried in a really long time,” Mendoza told People. “Those demons finally caught me. I’d been running from them for a while.”
It also provided an unexpected association for Gandolfini. James Gandolfini had traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Wounded Warrior Project. There he met with military personnel and veterans, and sent watches to injured soldiers.
“Elliot actually got one of the watches. I didn’t know until Elliot showed me a picture of this watch, and Joe [Hildebrand] came up and he’s like, ‘Your dad sent us watches when we were injured back in 2006,’” Gandolfini recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. “It was just so crazy to feel that connection to my dad again, and also a connection with [Elliot, Joe] and Ray.”
He Had 2 Months to Prepare for the Demandingly Tough Role
Gandolfini was very nervous about what the directors expected of him when he decided to audition for Warfare.
“We talked, in a very respectful way, about what I needed to do, strength-wise and working out-wise to get ready,” the Daredevil: Born Again actor remembered. “I am not in the gym every day. I am not dieting. I am not that person. It’s just not who I am or my genetics. But they were so respectful, especially for me, who kind of struggles with that stuff.”
Co-director Alex Garland put Gandolfini at ease immediately. “He was like, ‘I am not looking for a superhero body,” he remembered. “I’m not looking for any of that crap that we see.’ He was just like, ‘I just need to know you can put 60 pounds in your back and you can run for 10 hours.’”
While he didn’t get into Marvel shape, it was still tough work — especially with only two months until filming. The Marine veteran he trained with made sure he didn’t give up.
“Maybe about two weeks in, he was like, ‘Tomorrow you are gonna run a five-mile run with 23 pounds on your back.’ And I was like, ‘No way. I’m not doing it. That’s no way I can do that.’ And he was like, ‘That’s what you’re gonna do — and you’re gonna do that every morning now.’”
