Michael Imperioli reveals the hilarious reason why this ‘Sopranos' scene needed 12 takes

New York Post

07-05-2025

He couldn't fuhgeddabout this scene.
Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, who both starred on 'The Sopranos,' looked back at their time on the drama in an interview published Tuesday.
Imperioli, 59, reminisced on shooting Season 3 Episode 2, titled 'Proshai, Livushka,' in which the family heads back to the house after Livia Soprano's funeral.
The Emmy winner recalled having to reshoot one scene over and over because the cast couldn't hold back their laughter.
9 Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli of 'The Sopranos.'
WireImage
9 Livia Soprano's funeral scene.
HBO
'Janice [Aida Turturro] wanted everybody to say something about her,' Imperioli explained, 'and [my character] said something about, some kind of esoteric thing about no two people are the same.'
'And, when they played the song from 'Carousel,' we just all started laughing hysterically and they had to cut,' he added. 'This happened at least 12 takes in a row.'
9 Livia Soprano's funeral scene from 'The Sopranos.'
HBO
9 Season 3 episode 2 of 'The Sopranos.'
HBO
During the episode, Imperioli's character, Christopher Moltisanti, reminisces on Livia, telling his family, 'They say, there's no two people on earth exactly the same. No two faces, no two sets of fingerprints. But do they know that for sure? Because they would have to get everybody together in one huge space, and obviously that's not possible even with computers.'
The guests are left puzzled after Christopher's remarks, but Janice then plays Livia's favorite song, 'If I Loved You' from the 1956 musical movie 'Carousel.'
'So what should be one of the saddest scenes, right, cause it's Livia's funeral turned into this thing that we just couldn't shoot because people were just laughing too much,' Imperioli said. 'It's actually a very fond memory.'
9 Livia Soprano's funeral in season 3 episode 2 of 'The Sopranos.'
HBO
All jokes aside, Schirripa, 67, chimed in about the strong bond the cast and crew of 'The Sopranos' had while making the drama.
'You're with these people,' he expressed. 'They become honestly like a family. Marriages, babies, divorces, so you, you're all together.
'Though there was some heavy times, there also was a lot of fun times. 'The Sopranos' happens to be a very, very funny show.'
9 Livia's funeral scene from 'The Sopranos.'
HBO
The HBO series followed the lives of Tony (James Gandolfini), a ruthless North Jersey mob boss who lives in suburbia with his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), and two teenage kids.
Gandolfini died suddenly in Italy in June 2013 at the age of 51.
January 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the show, which also starred Drea de Matteo, Lorraine Bracco, Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler.
9 Steve Schirripa (L) and Michael Imperioli attend the 2019 Garden Of Laughs Comedy Benefit.
WireImage
9 Michael Imperioli, James Gandolfini, Tony Siroco and Steve Van Zandt.
The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images
In honor of the special occasion, the cast reflected on filming the show and how it changed their lives and careers forever.
'It's like you want to be a race car driver and the first thing they hand you is a Lamborghini,' Falco, 61, exclusively told The Post. 'That's what ['The Sopranos'] felt like to me. It remains a very specific chapter in my life with tremendous emotional reverberations, still.'
'My family kept trying to tell me [how good the show was] and I told them, 'Stop telling me that stuff because it's just going to mess with me — I don't know where to put that information,'' she revealed. 'I felt maybe I really don't know what I'm doing or maybe they're going to find out I don't know what I'm doing. If too many people start looking at this too closely, maybe I'm screwed. I still get waves of it now, when people say, 'Do you realize what a cultural phenomenon 'The Sopranos' was?' It still feels unusual, is really all I can say.'
9 Michael Imperioli,Steve Schirripa,Tony Sirico during 'The Sopranos.'
FilmMagic
Sigler, who played Tony and Carmela's daughter, Meadow Soprano, echoed Falco's sentiments.
'It gave me another family, stability and security during a tumultuous 10 years as far as my personal life went,' the actress, 43, said. 'I think that, in very many ways, had I not had just the show, but also the support that I had from all those people throughout all those years, I might be a different person. I really feel like that experience had a big part in shaping who I am.'