Warning: This post contains major spoilers for the very famous ending of The Sopranos.
Alec Baldwin has had a long and illustrious career. He’s worked in both drama and humor. He’s performed on Broadway and on Saturday Night Live. He’s played Jimmy Swaggart, Al Capone, Robert McNamara, and even Mr. Conductor in the Thomas the Tank Engine movie. But there’s one part he always wanted to play that he never got to play: the guy who (possibly!) whacks Tony Soprano.
On Talking Sopranos, the podcast hosted by alumni Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, the beloved actor confessed, among other things, that he wanted to join in on what would turn out to be a major piece of television history.
“I called up whoever it was, I forget, and I said tell them, when it’s time to kill Jimmy,” he recounted, referring to James Gandolfini, “tell them — this was early, before you get to the end — there’s only one man in this business who should come in, whack Jimmy, and ride off with Edie [Falco], and I am that man.”
Baldwin clearly had no clue what creator David Chase had in mind for the ending, so he even came up with a possible conclusion that in no way resembled the controversial one we ultimate got. “I am the guy who needs to blow Jimmy away and take Edie, who I’m madly in love with, away,” he said. “And they were like, ‘Sure, great, we’ll add your name to the list of all the Irish actors who think that they should be on The Sopranos.”
Obviously, none of this occurred. We don’t know what happened to Tony Soprano, technically speaking. Before anything happens, the final shot famously (infamously?) turns to darkness. Tony, in a technical sense, never died. And we can’t be certain who in the diner was going to rub him out (again, presumably!). However, we know Alec Baldwin was not present.
Baldwin, on the other hand, revealed a lot more. He also shared his theory on why he never appeared on a show with so many guest stars, including Lauren Bacall herself. He blames it on an embarrassing first encounter with Chase on a scorching day in Los Angeles, and it incorporates the Four Seasons, just like his most famous SNL character. He mixed up the hotel and the restaurant, which resulted in his sweating through his suit.
“I go into the bathroom of this super chic restaurant, take my jacket off, take my shirt off. I’m mopping the sweat up off my body, and I’m holding my shirt up to the mechanical dryer,” Baldwin said. “And the door opens — and it’s David Chase. This is my introduction to David Chase. And he goes, ‘Alec Baldwin? What the f— are you doing drying your shirt in the bathroom at the Four Seasons restaurant?’ And I think based on that alone, I was never cast on your show. Ever.”
