'The Sopranos' wise guy spills the beans

An interview with Chianese Listen to an extended interview with Dominic Chianese. Hey, he even sings. (RealPlayer required)

By Tanya Bricking Leach
Advertiser Staff Writer

Dominic Chianese as Junior Soprano in HBO's "The Sopranos." Advertiser library photo A 'Typical New Yorker' Think you know all about the man who plays Uncle Junior on HBO's "The Sopranos" (which airs Sunday nights at 6)? Dominic Chianese may be more of a Renaissance man than he looks. He plays in a band in New York City, and he strummed a few chords for us in his Honolulu hotel suite. Hear the crooner's rendition of his song, "Typical New Yorker" here online (RealPlayer required).

The 73-year-old New Yorker was a downright softie, cooing to a publicist's baby in a 40th-floor Hyatt Regency Waikiki suite and talking about feeling the "aloha spirit" during his first trip to Hawai'i.

He was in town for an invitation-only HBO promotional party, and the down-to-earth star sat down with us to talk about life on and off the screen:

Q. What was your first job?

A. My first official job was a glorified clerk taking messages to the Wall Street partners of the Morgan Stanley Co.

Q. How did you get your start as an actor?

A. The real start came by me asking my father if I could get off the bricklaying bus one day (he worked with his father as a bricklayer for several years) ... and I'd asked my father if I could get off the bus and attend this audition for a Gilbert and Sullivan repertory company called the "The American Savoyards," and I was lucky enough to be hired as a chorus singer.

Q. Is music really your first love?

A. I would say, yeah, singing being my first love came from the influence my grandfather had on me as a Neapolitan stone mason who came to this country and brought many of his songs with him that were in his heart. ... I'd be at his house, and he'd just sit by the windows and he would sing the Neapolitan songs a cappella. Gave me my first love of singing. ... I loved the violin, which was my first instrument. ... My mother said I loved the violin so much that I would go to bed with it.

Q. At what point in your career did you think "I'm successful"?

A. Well, I was 68 when "Sopranos" hit big; I said, "Oh boy, I made it." That's when I really felt successful.

Q. So, even when you were in "Godfather II," you didn't feel successful?

A. No, there was a lot of struggling going on. I managed to complicate my life ... My father's dictum, "Can't have your cake and eat it, too," I tried to disregard. But he was right. ... And so, my marriages failed. And the ability to be a father, I couldn't handle it. It was very hard, because there was no money, and there was a lot of pain and separation.

Q. This is your fourth marriage, is that right?

A. This would be my fourth official marriage, yes.

Q. Official?

A. Well, actually, it's going to come out in my book. There were a couple of annulments back when I was a very young man. But you could say that I've been married officially four times, yeah.

Q. So, you're working on a book?

A. Yes. It should come out, maybe ... this year.

Q. What's the theme of your life story?

A. Well, I think the title says it. The title is called, "It's Never Too Late," which I think covers my life story.

Q. How has being on "The Sopranos" changed your life?

A. Well, first of all it's given me the money I needed to help my family, to live in a real apartment, and to be able to give money to my children and grandchildren. It's changed my life in family ways that I couldn't afford to do before. And it's also changed my life as a human being, realizing that it's never too late to appreciate what destiny sometimes has in store for you, so you should never give up hope. It's restored my faith in the spirit of life.

You know, it's interesting that I'm here in Hawai'i because they say there's an aloha spirit here, and I feel it very strongly relaxing here in Hawai'i. What Shakespeare said is so true: "All's well that ends well." And even though it's not the end yet, I just feel very grateful. It's made me more loving of myself and the people around me. It's given me a chance to really, to give back, and it's made me more loving, and that's a wonderful thing.

Q. You don't seem as cranky in real life as you do on the show. How would you describe your character?

A. He is a crank, isn't he? Uncle Junior is a crank, yeah, there's no question about it. I would say he's very, very narrow-minded about certain things and a very close-to-the-vest kind of guy. He's suspicious of things. He's very superstitious. And from what has happened to his character so far, he's very, very secretive. He's selfish. He has a lot of closed feelings about things, and he's a very sad, unhappy guy.

Q. How is Uncle Junior's health this season?

A. In this fifth season, he's beginning to lose it mentally. He's going to have to take medication now, and he feels like an old man. He realizes his end is coming.

Q. So is his talking about wanting to be cremated, is that foreshadowing of something that's going to happen?

A. See, that I don't know.

Q. So you don't know if Uncle Junior's going to get whacked?

A. Oh no, we have no idea, no. I wouldn't want to know. We never know. We know about a week ahead of time what the script's gonna be. But we're not sure what's happening, whacked or what.

Q. So you're 73 and you just got married last year? Did "The Sopranos" have an influence in you reinventing your life?

A. ... Getting married to Jane (Pittson) has made me very happy because we can share a beautiful apartment in New York City, which I could never afford before. And it's a chance to travel, to broaden myself that way ... A lot of it has come as an older man. It's really a beautiful thing. It's hard to explain, but I feel at peace. I just feel very happy right now, and the struggle seems to be over as far as surviving as an actor in America.

Reach Tanya Bricking Leach at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.