Tony Soprano almost joined The Office
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Dunder Mifflin very nearly swapped out Michael Scott for Tony Soprano.
The Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa revealed on a recent podcast that James Gandolfini was in talks to replace Steve Carell on The Office after Carell left the show, but according to Schirripa, HBO "paid him $3 million not to do it."
This would have been after The Sopranos ended, but before The Office brought in James Spader. Gandolfini came this close to taking the gig, but the $3 million payday was apparently related to the fact that he had a deal with HBO to develop The Night Of at the time. Now that's the life: getting paid $3 million to not do a job.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
