This shit man.
The cast and crew of “The Sopranos” take center stage in the new two-episode documentary “Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos.”
Premiering Saturday, Sept. 7 on HBO (8 p.m.) and directed by Emmy-winning director Alex Gibney (“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”), the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “The Sopranos” and the background of creator David Chase. Various cast and crew members give onscreen interviews, including Chase, Michael Imperioli, Edie Falco, Drea de Matteo and Lorraine Bracco.
Gibney, who said he is a fan of the show, told The Post that he found Chase to be a “fascinating and wonderful character” when they first met.
The director added, “I thought it could be an interesting movie… how (the show) came to be, and how it relates to how shows are made or not made today. And, how personal it was to him. It was because of David's relationship with his mother. His mother's issues were the driving force behind 'The Sopranos.' That was interesting to me.”
As shown in the documentary, Chase based the character of Tony's mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand), on his own mother, with whom he had a difficult relationship.
“He's been in therapy for a long time, so to some extent, he was ready to go there,” Gibney said, referring to Chase's willingness to talk openly.
But, it wasn't all that simple. When Gibney and Chase sat down for a lengthy interview on a set that was a re-creation of Dr. Melfi's office in “The Sopranos,” Gibney said that while he was asking Chase personal questions, the “Sopranos” producer paused and said, “'What am I doing, talking about myself? Who would care about that?' And, he almost walked away (from the project).”
“But he didn't do that. He stayed here. I think he's a very thoughtful guy, and he's done a lot of self-reflection,” Gibney said.
Still, when it happened, it was “very uncomfortable,” Gibney said.
“Imagine, we had built this set, spending a lot of money to recreate Melfi's set. And it was the seat for the motor of the whole movie, to do a three-day interview with David Chase on that set. At the end of the morning, the first day, he was threatening to walk off. So, was that nerve-wracking for me? Sure!”
However, he said that if Chase had actually walked out, it wouldn't have ended the documentary.
“There's always a way (to keep the project going). But, it would have been weird if the main character had decided not to be involved.”
“Wise Guy” also features archival footage of various interviews with James Gandolfini prior to his death from a heart attack in 2013 at age 51.
Former HBO executive Chris Albrecht also talks about staging an intervention for the onscreen Gandolfini, who was suffering from alcohol and drug problems at the time.
Gibney said, “(Gandolfini) is so important to the show, and he's an extraordinary actor. And for this role, he brought so much dimension to it. But at the same time, he's had some well-known difficulties himself. He has his own personal difficulties.”
“I don't think we emphasized it too much in the movie, but people knew that these issues had been aired before, and to some extent it was okay to talk about them,” he said. “Because they affected the show as well. There were times when Jim (Gandolfini) wouldn't show up on set.”
Gibney said the most challenging part of making the documentary was giving the late Gandolfoni a chance to “speak for himself.”
“We scoured the archives for those great moments of Jim, where he's telling the story his way.”
