HBO
- Robert Patrick played a small role in "The Sopranos" season two.
- During one famous scene, his character is beaten up by James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano.
- Patrick said Gandolfini was "hungover" during the scene and scared the "living s—" out of him.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Actor Robert Patrick told the "Talking Sopranos" podcast that James Gandolfini was "hungover" and scared the "living s—" out of him during one of the acclaimed HBO's drama's beat down scenes from season two.
During the scene in question, Patrick's character David Scatino is accosted by James Gandolfini who proceeds to beat him up over a debt.
Patrick told the podcast – which is hosted by fellow "Sopranos" alums Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa – that he had never met Gandolfini before the scene, but he was told to provoke him before shooting started to enhance their performances.
So after a read-through on set, he turned to Gandolfini and said to him: "'You know the scene where you come to get your money, you better bring your f—ing A-game.'"
Patrick said Gandolfini looked at him and responded: "Oh, I'll bring my f—ing A-game."
HBO
Patrick said he next saw Gandolfini on the day they were scheduled to shoot their scene.
"[Gandolfini] came in and said, 'How's your balls?' I said, 'They're fine.' And he said, 'I'm hungover, let's do this f---ing scene,'" Patrick said of the day on set.
"And man, it was one take. We kind of went through what he was going to do. He was going to grab me and he was going to throw me around, and I'm going to start crying like a little girl. And I got to tell you, he scared the living s--- out of me man. I mean, I was so intimidated."
Patrick said he still considered his time on "The Sopranos" to be "one of the highlights of my career."
"It was a fantastic experience," he said.
James Gandolfini played the Italian-American crime boss Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" for the show's entire acclaimed six-season run on HBO. Gandolfini died in 2013 of a heart attack aged 51.
Later this year, Gandolfini's son, Michael, is set to star as a teenage Tony Soprano in a prequel "Sopranos" film titled "The Many Saints of Newark."
The was written and produced by David Chase, showrunner and creator of the original TV show, and also stars Vera Farmiga, Alessandro Nivola, and Leslie Odom Jr.