It’s still hard to believe that Blue Bloods has ended, and even despite the hope that a spinoff could be on its way, some of the cast is moving on. Whether they are taking on new roles or just taking a break, the actors can’t hold onto the CBS procedural forever since it’s not a guarantee that they’ll get to return to these characters. For example, Steve Schirripa, who recurred as Detective Anthony Abetemarco beginning in Season 6, is making his way to Hallmark, and considering his filmography includes work on shows like The Sopranos too, the actor has some serious range.
Schirripa will be starring in the upcoming Hallmark movie Sisterhood Inc., which is set to premiere on February 22. The role will mark his first since Blue Bloods and his first Hallmark project. A lot has definitely changed for him since playing Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos from 2000 to 2007, seeing as Hallmark is the complete opposite of The Sopranos. However, Schirripa welcomed the change of pace, telling Us Weekly:
I never did a Hallmark movie. I was offered one years ago. It was, believe it or not, a bucket list thing. I’d go, ‘How many guys can go from The Sopranos to Hallmark?’ But I made the jump, and I was very happy, and I had a wonderful time. And we shot it up in the Albany area, and it’s a Valentine’s Day kind of movie, and the cast is wonderful. And I really had a good time.
It’s not uncommon for an actor or a musician to try something completely new after they’ve been doing, more or less, the same thing for years. Fellow Hallmark star Nikki DeLoach has opened up about pivoting to the Christmas channel after doing shows such as Awkward, North Shore, and Days of Our Lives. So, while this shift is jarring, it’s not unusual.
I do have to say, though, you have to have an impressive range to go from The Sopranos to Hallmark, and if anyone can do it, it’s Schirripa. Now, he wants to do more Hallmark projects in the future, explaining:
I hope to do more. I liked it. You know, very nice. No arguing, no killing, no nothing. Even on Blue Bloods, which I loved, but you know, I must’ve killed four, five people. I killed more people as a cop than I did as a mobster.
Whether or not Steve Schirripa will actually become a Hallmark mainstay is unknown. However, it sounds like he’d love to stick around the channel and make more wholesome movies if he can.
It must also be nice to not have to be in such a dark environment even if he did have fun filming The Sopranos and Blue Bloods. While being on dark and action-packed shows has its perks, there’s weight to them too. So, I imagine it’s nice to switch gears and explore different genres from time to time.
As for his new film, Sisterhood Inc. stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Daniella Monet, and Leonidas Gulaptis, and it follows a corporate executive who starts a board of directors “to improve her younger sister’s chaotic life and finds romance with a psych professor who uncovers her tough demeanor.” This sounds like a fun movie and it will be interesting to see Schirripa in it, seeing as it’s totally different from the shows we know him best from.
