‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Mourns Loss of Tony Sirico: “People Loved Him”

David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, is remembering series star Tony Sirico, who died at age 79 on Friday (July 8). Chase shared a tribute to the actor in Vulture, honoring the “one-of-a-kind” star who brought Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri to life on the HBO mob drama.

“[Sirico] was a reason for the success of the show. Not the main reason or the only reason, but he was really important. People loved him,” Chase said during a conversation with critic Matt Zoller Seitz, who wrote the 2019 book The Sopranos Sessions.

While Sirico — who played Paulie for nearly a decade — emerged as a Sopranos fan favorite, Chase said he originally auditioned to play Uncle Junior, a role that went to Dominic Chianese. Chase said he called Sirico to tell him he had a different character in mind for the actor, who agreed to play Paulie and deliver one line in the pilot: “Hey, T — Dick Barone wants to see ya.”

Chase told Vulture, “I’m very happy for him that in his fifties and sixties, he got to see how talented he was, and how much people loved him. His part in the pilot was small. … But the way he said it, it was funny.”

As Paulie, Sirico often shared scenes with Michael Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti. Chase said the duo “were one of the great comedy teams,” as evidenced in the excellent Season 3 Sopranos episode “Pine Barrens”, in which their characters get stranded in the New Jersey wilderness.

“I was talking with Michael Imperioli about [Sirico] after I heard the news and I said, “That moment in ‘Pine Barrens’ when he lost his shoe was hysterical,” Chase said. “I mean, it was all hysterical. Any scene with two of those guys together was hysterical.”

Sirico wasn’t just comedic relief in The Sopranos, though. Chase said the actor could be “haunting,” pointing to a storyline in which Paulie learns his mother isn’t actually who he thinks she is.

“There was something subconscious that Tony had, the way he approached things,” Chase said. “I can’t explain what it was. I’m not sure he understood it himself. I’m not sure that he even knew that he had it.”

Chase told Vulture he “never” pictures someone “in the afterlife” when they die, but said he feels differently with Sirico.

“I see him. Just being himself,” he said. “I picture other people reacting to him, the way that you and I used to react to him. They’re laughing, but they’re also kind of put-off.” And of course, Chase said, he’s wearing a track suit.