Sopranos Movie Director On Casting James Gandolfini's Son As Young Tony

The first trailer for The Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark, has finally arrived. The movie shines a light on a young Tony Soprano, who is played by none other than James Gandolfini's son, Michael. Director Alan Taylor has now spoken about casting Michael in the role and what it meant for the production of the movie.

"That was central to our conceiving of the movie, I think, and sort of like a touchstone in a way," Taylor told IGN. "And it's not like we jumped off immediately and did that. We had been actively looking for the youngest Tony and for the more teenage Tony. But this idea was always sort of hovering there as a possibility for Michael before we even knew if he'd be comfortable doing it or interested. And then when we did decide to go that way, we put him through the ringer. We made him come in and audition and show that he could do it. And I was really happy with the audition he gave, but there was also this wave of, 'My God, this is so the right thing to do.'"

Taylor also shared a story about what Michael said during a dinner before filming began, and it was so passionate and emotional that he became "the heart of the movie," Taylor said.

"In our dinner, before we started shooting, [Michael] stood up and said he wanted to thank everybody for this chance to say hello to his father again, and goodbye again," Taylor said. "And everybody fell off their chairs. But I think he became sort of the heart of the movie for us. And it made us feel like we were doing something right by having him there. He seemed to enjoy it and rise to the occasion."

"And there's a few moments in the movie where you sort of see him become the character we know from the show. It's really compelling."

Head to IGN to read the full interview to learn lots more about what to expect from The Many Saints of Newark, which releases in theaters and on HBO Max from October 1.