Home Up
 

Joseph R. Gannascoli - In The News...Archives 2006
 
 

 

Interview with The Sopranos' Joe Gannascoli
by Kim Ficera, April 28, 2006. Originally seen at AfterElton.Com

Vito Spatafore is a paisan with the good fortune of a Lucky Charms character. He's survived yet another week in the underworld known as HBO's The Sopranos, a place where people of his sort are routinely “fit with a new suit.”

Joe Gannascoli, on the other hand, hasn't only survived this season of the hit series, but has also thrived. The kid from Brooklyn turned actor, who at one time thought about becoming a lawyer, is riding high on the success of his character--partly because Vito's not your father's wiseguy. He's what politically incorrect goombahs call a “fanuc,” a “frocio” and a “flambé.” He's a big queer in a stable of violent Italian Stallions.

In the world of television, Joe's broken a mold; but in the world of mobsters, Vito's broken the rules. There's no pillow biting in the Cosa Nostra!

After having been caught in a gay bar wearing leather from head to toe and dancing with a man with nipple rings, Vito was outed. And Tony Soprano's crew wants his head (some guys would settle for a part of his body farther south). So Vito did what any self-respecting gay mobster would do—he ran. He packed a bag, kissed his kids, bought some ribs and high-tailed it to New Hampshire, the land of antique stores and inspiring license plates. And, so far, none of the Garden State guidos can find him.

I found him, though—me, a ‘Connie Cannoli' who grew up 25 miles from the Bronx. Or I should say, rather, that Joe found me. No, it wasn't gaydar that brought us together—Joe is straight and happily married—it was mortadella-dar, or something like it. Joe read my recent column on AfterEllen.com (AfterElton.com's sister site for lesbians) and wrote to me. So I did what any good Italian columnist would do. I poured myself a finger of sambuca and called Joe to talk about Vito, the next episode of The Sopranos, his new book, and how playing a gay character has affected his life.

As you'll see, Joe thinks of himself as “an idea guy,” and I believe him. It's apparent that he's always thinking and that his thoughts frequently find forks in the road. He's an interesting guy and a pleasure to interview. I felt like I was talking to an old friend.

Joe Gannascoli: Kim, what's happenin'?

AfterElton: You're happenin'! Love your work, love the show...what are you up to? JG: So, I'm doing Kimmel and I suggested to my agent, ‘Call him up, and instead of going on the show, why don't I go into gay clubs?' Because, you know, I lived in West Hollywood. I lived in, like, Boys Town over here. ‘It'll be funny if I went in there,' I said. And they loved the idea. So they're going give me a gay drink … do body shots off me. They've got some funny skits planned. It's all my idea. I'm an idea guy.

AE: Okay, idea guy, so, what do you think—are we seeing the beginnings of a spin-off here if Vito survives—The Sopranos: Provincetown? Bada Bang? Heather Has Two Godfathers?
JG: I was just saying, I think I'll open a male strip club called Bada Bang.

AE: A good idea.
[Laughter]

AE: So, you've come a long way from Brooklyn.
JG: Yeah, yeah.

AE: At one point you considered becoming a lawyer, and then you got interested in the food business, became a food fence, a gambler …
JG: Right. While I was a chef, someone asked me to be in a play. I liked it, I studied, but then I started being broke. So I got back into restaurants, and then I started opening restaurants. Then, I gambled and I lost everything. I lost $60,000 one Sunday back in 1990.

AE: Yikes!
JG: Yeah. So I cashed out the restaurant and said ‘I'm going to LA, I can't do this no more.' … But you know what? It all worked out for the best.

AE: Sure did. You took a character that was fairly minor and turned him into a gay sensation.
JG: Gandolfini said I was the smartest guy in show biz.

AE: You must have taken some guff from the other cast members when Vito's storyline was revealed. Did the guys let you have it? What about the women on the show? What were some of their reactions?
JG: It was good. And most of the guys were good, too. It was all good-natured. They all said I had balls, that they couldn't do what I'm doing—that they wouldn't do it. But most of them, they took their hats off … As an actor you want to play someone challenging, someone opposite of who you are. And I wanted to break away from the other actors.

AE: The word “bravery” has been thrown about lately with regard to straight actors who play gay roles. And, to be honest, I'm tired of hearing it. You guys are actors. In my eyes, you're not being brave—you're doing your job. Yet on the business end of things, playing gay is viewed as a risky step to take—especially for male actors. Are actors and agents getting any closer to realizing that they're buying into and supporting homophobia when they turn down gay roles?
JG: Well, you know what? Those actors — who knows if they're on the fence, if they're fighting the gay, fighting the fag, as they say. Maybe they're not, maybe they are. I don't even think about it. I said, ‘How am I going to break out from being the background guy and say a few more lines here and there?' It's an acting job.

AE: So, you have no regrets?
JG: No, not at all. Listen, I would have sucked c*** a long time ago if I knew this was going to happen.
[Laughter]

AE: When you were growing up in Brooklyn, did you know any gay Italian men?
JG: Oh yeah! I knew some. It didn't really faze me. You know, I worked in gay restaurants as a chef, cooking through the ranks. I got a job and a chef brought me along, and it was a total gay restaurant. We were friends and we'd meet afterward, have a drink at the bar. I thought, ‘What the fuck, man? What's the big fucking deal?' They're all great guys.

AE: I read in another interview you did that some of the extras in the gay bar scene where you were outed are actual gay men that were recruited to the set right out of gay clubs. In that interview, you said, “It was pretty funny, watching the Teamsters interact with those guys.”
JG: Yeah, [casting] patronized some leather bars in New York and got all these guys to show up. It was pretty funny. A lot of shit was going on, and I don't even know if they had liquor there. But that kiss at the end, I did on my own.

AE: I'm glad you bring that up because, as a longtime fan of the show, I've wondered how open the directors are to the actors' input—especially when directors are actors. The kiss, for example.
JG: You know what? [Steve] Buscemi, who directed that, said that you gotta do what it takes. And I knew what he meant by that. To sell it, you gotta do what gays do, what people do. So in the scene, I'm hanging out with the guy, I was dancing with him, and picking him up. I've, you know, done that with girls.

AE: What about the dialogue? I think it's ridiculously authentic. In “Live Free or Die,” when Chris topher [Michael Imperioli] said, “Human frailty. Makes me sick sometimes,” I nearly fell off my couch.
[Laughter]

AE: How much of that authenticity is the result of good writing and how much is improvisation?
JG: 99.9% is all writing.

AE: But it was your idea to make Vito gay. You read a book in which there's a gay mobster. When you talked to David Chase about it, did you think he'd go for it?
JG: I didn't talk to Chase. I went to a writer—Robin Green, who wrote the "Live Free or Die" episode [with Mitchell Burgess]. We were doing a scene in season three, and I said, ‘You know Robin, if you ever want to make my character gay, I'd be all for it.' And I showed her the book. She thought about it, but nothing ever came of it.

But then when [Anthony Capo, a member of the DeCavalcante family] killed that guy in Jersey for being gay–you know, that big mobster [“Johnny Boy” D'Amato, acting boss of the DeCavalcante family]—they called me and said, “Joe, what's the name of that book?” So I had to find it and bring it in again. Later they said they weren't going to do anything about it in season five, but in season six. So, they called back and they said, “Joe, you're gonna have a big year.” And I said, ‘okay, here we go.'

AE: That's great.
JG: When you think about it, I'm fuckin' blessed. It's the hottest show and I'm having the biggest year. I can't ask for more than that. It really opens doors for me.

AE: Speaking of being blessed, did you struggle at all with your religious convictions before committing to play a gay character?
JG: No, no. I'm not gay and I don't have to deal with that. There are so many things wrong with the church. I think ultimately God wants everyone to be happy. Whatever you are, you are, and you should be accepted in the eyes of God. And if you're really Catholic, you should accept people for who they are. That goes for any religion.

AE: Amen. So, you've certainly been given the opportunity to expand your range. Was acting in the scenes in New Hampshire more challenging in some ways than acting in the violent scenes?
JG: Those scenes were really in Boonton [New Jersey], not in New Hampshire. Anyway, whacking Jackie Jr. was nothin'. I just did it.

AE: In the last few episodes I think you really captured what Vito is going through—you exhibited his pain and wanting brilliantly in your expressions. You have a very, very sweet face, by the way.
JG: Thank you. David Chase says I've got a very expressive face. A lot comes across without saying anything. I've heard it before and it's a very nice compliment, because as an actor, you try not to overact. I'm self-taught. I studied acting a little, but I didn't really get anything out of it. I'm just trying to figure it out as I go along.

AE: Has portraying a gay man opened your eyes to issues concerning the gay community that you hadn't thought about before?
JG: I think that this is a tortured guy in his life. He's married with kids and he lives his mob life, but he's attracted to men. It's got to be hard for him. So I try to bring that out. This Sunday, I've got a big episode. It's called “Johnnycakes.”

AE: Ah, Mr. Pancake flipper?
JG: Yeah, that's right. He comes into play. I knew that actor [John Costelloe] for 25 years. That made it a little easier. I respect him as an actor; he's done some really great work. So I said all right, Johnny, we're gonna do this. He's straight, I'm straight, and we're doing this thing that hopefully will be good for both of us.

AE: The HBO web site says this about the upcoming episode: “Vito is wowed by an act of heroism.” I know you can't tell me what he witnesses, but I'm dying to know. Whatever happens, I'm hoping Vito survives a little bit longer.
JG: Yeah, I think I got a little bit of a run coming up.

AE: That makes sense, because I read on an on-line forum that the entire Spatafore family was spotted at the Rockefeller Center skating rink. Can you confirm or deny that?
JG: Yeah, that's right.

AE: It's a scene we haven't seen yet. Can you tell me more?
JG: I don't want to end up in the jackpot!

AE: Okay, I understand. Let's get back to what Vito's feeling. Does he see himself as damaged goods because he's gay? Or does he think the others are wrong for despising him?
JG: I don't think he thinks he's damaged. He thinks he is the way he is. He just wants to be accepted.

AE: Does he want to be gay and part of the mob? Or, since he knows that isn't really possible, would he like to be part of the gay community?
JG: He wants to live his lifestyle and still do what he does. He wants to still love his kids, still be accepted by his mob family, and still be who he wants to be, which is impossible, because it's never gonna happen.

AE: Are you getting any flak about your role in your real life? Are fans confusing you with Vito?
JG: No, not really. I'm 47, and I've been chasing girls for 46 years. I'm the first one to make jokes of it because I'm very secure in my sexuality. So that's how I embrace it. I don't sit home thinking, ‘I can't go out, they're going to think I'm gay.'

AE: Of course not. But some people, you know, are idiots.
JG: Yeah, they'll say, “there's Vito the homo.” I hear that in clubs. I had one guy come after me—a guy who just got out—his uncle was connected, and he took it fuckin' very personal. But you know, those are the guys that I think have the issues. They know I'm acting, but they still have a problem with it. It's just hateful. It's bad. They hate gays, they hate black people. I have no use for those fuckin' people. They're ignorant.

AE: Speaking of ignorant, I'm very interested in Paulie Walnuts' reaction to Vito. Paulie's quite a character—a real tough guy.
JG: Old school.

AE: Very. He thinks you're damaged goods for being gay. But I can't remember the last time we saw Paulie with a woman besides his mother or his aunt. He's the biggest mama's boy on the show.
JG: His aunt! Where you from?

AE: Connecticut.
JG: You said “aunt.” [pron.:ont ]

AE: I live in California now. I don't say aunt [pron.: ant] anymore.
JG: Okay. Paulie, yeah. You're right. That's a good point. One I haven't heard.

AE: For a guy who hasn't exactly behaved like a ‘ladies' man,' Paulie's protesting a little too much. Do you agree?
JG: He's old school. He's like that in real life. … I guess you can say Paulie's a little bit of a mama's boy, but they throw a goombah in with him, or a broad. He's had scenes with broads.

AE: That was a while ago. Lately his story's been about his mom and aunt and the switch. He feels betrayed by them, and now by Vito. I thought I'd die when he called you a flambé.
[Joe laughs]

AE: And it's not just the word that's funny, it's his delivery, the look on his face. Someone should publish an illustrated Paulie-to-English dictionary. Anyway, since Vito's outing, viewers have been treated to a slew of slang Italian terms aimed at him and, by extension, the gay and lesbian community. I've never heard anyone say “fanuc” like Carmela Soprano. How does it feel to be called those names now that you're something of an honorary gay man.
JG: “We were just talkin' about La Cage Aux Fat.” Remember when Chris said that in the parking lot?
[Laughter]

AE: Sure.
JG: The fat thing bothers me more, because I lost a lot of weight.

AE: Sure, I can see how you'd relate to that more. You've never been gay, but you have struggled with your weight.
JG: I was always in shape.

AE: I'd like to talk a little bit more about how you, Joe, feel. I realize you can't talk about how the season develops but, theoretically, if Vito got whacked, how would you feel?
JG: Well, it would be a statement of why he's getting whacked. It's gay bashing. It's what goes on in life—in real life. It's a hate crime…a bias crime. People have issues. It's terrible. It's a statement of our society.

AE: That's for sure. But you're doing your part and I applaud you for that.
JG: I'm glad the gay community is behind me, and one reason is because they buy books.

AE: Yeah, so let's talk about your book. It's called A Meal To Die For—A Culinary Novel of Crime. How long has that been out and how's it doing?
JG: Jan. 10th it was released and it's doing okay. The chef in the book [Benny Lococo] is loosely based on my life—he wants to be a great chef, he gambles and becomes a food fence. You know, if a shrimp falls off a truck, he knows where to get rid of it.

AE: Yeah, I hear you. My father sometimes found stuff that “fell off a truck.”
JG: I had a guy who used to help me pay off my gambling debts. He said, “my grandpa makes this wine. If we put some phony labels on it, can you get rid of it?” I said, ‘yeah I can do that.' We transferred fuckin' canola oil for olive oil. I had all these scams workin'. But then I was growing up in Brooklyn and hustling and like I told you, I lost everything one Sunday and moved to LA to become an actor.

AE: The character in the book? What happens to him?
JG: In the book, [ Benny ] goes to cook for the mob. The boss says to him, “come with us, forget what you owe us and cook at the club.” So, he experiments on dishes for these guys who, well, all they want is garlic and oil. But he wants to make pates, quail and pheasant.

My cooking background is French, you know. So the big boss asks him to cook the best dinner he's ever made—a ten course dinner. But as he's cooking, he's worried that he might get whacked, because they think he's been robbing. He also thinks he's going to be a witness to someone else getting whacked, which he's a little scared about. … It's good, and there are about twenty-five recipes in the book. Each course leads into a new chapter.

AE: Thrilling and functional!
JG: Right now my agent's talking to Hollywood about turning it into a movie.

AE: That's great. You also have a food line called To Die For.
JG: I've got sauces—pasta sauces, olive oil, barbecue sauces.

AE: Wine?
JG: I'll have six labels—red table wine and white table wine—all Wine To Die For. Everything's To Die For… I'm a fuckin' idea man. I reached out to you, right?

AE: Yes, you did.
JG: You know, before this started, [HBO] said to me, “How do you feel about doing the gay [press]?” I said. “Go full steam ahead. When it breaks, I want to do everything.”

AE: Well, we're glad you did. Regardless of what happens to Vito, it's been an interesting ride for everyone. Thanks, Joe. You're a gem.
JG: Thank you, baby. We'll talk.

Kim Ficera is the author of Sex, Lies and Stereotypes: An Unconventional Life Uncensored. Her bi-weekly column Don't Quote Me is dedicated to all the folks in and out of Hollywood who talk without thinking or who don't know when to stop talking. Email her at kim@kimficera.com.

 

Click on thumbnail images to see the 900 pixel images.

Vito Spatafore Speaks! A Q+A With 'Sopranos' Star Joe Gannascoli

http://spaces.msn.com/tvfilter/blog/cns!DB9D137CC0F754C9!4456.entry

It's the question every "Sopranos" fan has been asking since last week's episode left gay mobster Vito Spatafore scrambling off in a panic when two of his mob cohorts caught him, in full black leather S&M gear, frolicking in a gay bar: Who was the gun Vito held meant for? Did Vito commit suicide, or are there a pair of mobsters wearing fresh cement shoes at the bottom of New Jersey lake?

I chatted yesterday with Joe Gannascoli, the talented actor who's made Mr. Spatafore, even with Tony Soprano's brush with death, THE focus of "The Sopranos" this season; not surprisingly, he's not talkin' about what's ahead, if anything, for our man Vito.

But the delightful Joe G. is dishin' on plenty of other topics, including the inspiration for his man-lovin' mobster, his astonishing weight loss, "A Meal to Die For," his fun new crime novel/cookbook, his line of yummy "A Sauce to Die For" pasta sauces (check 'em out at www.joesoup.com) and even a little beef he has with radio pal Howard Stern.

Dive in and see why the entrepreneurial Joe G. is not only one of the nicest guys in show business, but definitely one of the hardest working …

TVF: Hi Joe, thanks so much for taking the time to do this today.
JG: Hey Kim, what's goin on, baby?

TVF: Well, congratulations, first of all! You just had the best episode of the whole season last week.
JG: Ah, so far, so good.

TVF: Have you been getting all kinds of great feedback this week?
JG: Yeah, its been very positive, very good. People are digging it, and it's the talk of the show.

TVF: Definitely. Now there's all this confusion about what has become of Vito. There's even some online betting going on about the fate of Vito, but I've also read an upcoming episode description that mentions the character, and not in a flashback, so …
JG: Uh huh …

TVF: Can you confirm that he's still in the game?
JG: Ha, ha, oh, no, I couldn't say. People waited 2 years for the show, they can wait a little longer.

TVF: Well, I hope that we do see him again, because he's the character to watch this season. Is it true that it was your decision, that you approached the producers about making Vito a gay mobster?
JG: Yeah, I got the idea from a book I was reading, and it intrigued me. And, I thought it'd be very challenging to play someone that's totally opposite, y'know, separate myself from the other actors.

TVF: And was there any resistance, or did they embrace the idea right away?
JG: It took awhile for it to really come in to the story. They read the book that I gave them, and nuthin' happened with it, and then, when (a mob) guy got killed in New Jersey for being gay, I think that's when they said ‘Okay, I guess this really does happen' and ‘Let's see what we can do with it.'
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_249.html)

TVF: Were you worried at all that it might cut down on your character's lifespan then, given the real world reaction to that murdered Mob guy?
JG: No. I mean, it's gonna be an interesting character. And the show's coming to an end soon anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Y'know, I've been on it for five years, and I think we all feel that it's run its course, and it's probably pretty much time to move on.

TVF: Have you taken any ribbing from the other actors, especially last week, with Vito's leather bar scene … did they give you a hard time?
JG: I haven't seen them since it aired. But yeah, Paulie Walnuts, he can really zing ya. They're all proud of me, though. They all think I've got big balls for doin' it. Jimmy Gandolfini called me one of the smartest actors he knows, because it means more work, and recognition.

TVF: Absolutely, and Vito is the talk of the show this week, and the whole season, but especially after last Sunday's episode. Who did you watch it with? Did you watch it with co-stars?
JG: Well, actually, I'm sitting here, well, I'm laying here, in my living room, on a hospital bed. I just had double hip replacement surgery.

TVF: Oh, how are you? I remember reading about that, but I didn't know it happened so recently.
JG: I feel great. I've been movin' around (I had it done last Monday), and I planned it just right, because episode four was a small one for me, but (I knew) episode five was gonna be big, and I wanted to be mobile. So, I'm movin' around already. The doctor, Dr. Ranawat from Lenox Hill, did an unbelievable job. He had me walking the next day, and he's a genius, really.

TVF: That's great! What a difference that must make for you already then, huh?
JG: Oh yeah! You see (Vito) limping through the whole season this year, and I was in pain, but now it's all gone. And that's it. I got through that year, and then the doctor had me walkin' the next day, up and down steps two days later, and now I'm home, and I'm feelin' great.

TVF: Congratulations, that's excellent.
JG: Thank you, thank you. Y'know, I lost all this weight without any exercise, and now I'm going to be back in the gym soon, gonna get back down to my fighting weight.

TVF: How much weight have you lost so far?
JG: 160 pounds.

TVF: That's amazing! That's so incredible, especially without being able to exercise. So what's the secret, what'd you do?
JG: Diet. Y'know, diet, and the lap band. I had the lap band surgery done, which cut down on my intake. But y'know, you could still eat. You can still eat ice cream and things like that, so you still have to watch what you eat. And I took diet pills for the cravings and to burn fat.

TVF: Was it tough to be on a diet on "The Sopranos" set? There's always so much great food in what we see on the air, so the set must be insane.
JG: Yeah, well, y'know, the craft services is the junk food – the cakes, the cookies, the chocolate. They're always bringing out stuff. And then there's catering for lunch, and they really cook up great stuff. And then there's the second meal, which is usually pizza, or heros, or sushi … So, yeah, there's always that food around, and you gotta watch, because there's a lotta down time. Sometimes you're better off staying in your trailer, and not being around it.

TVF: You must be really anxious to get into the gym now that you're feeling so much better …
JG: Yes! I can finally ride the bike, do the treadmill, and even get back to lifting, because I was an in-shape, ballplayer kinda guy.

TVF: Good for you! So, with all this going on, how did you find time to write a book? I just finished reading it, by the way, and it's a really fun read. I think after "The Sopranos" wraps, you should make this book your next movie project.
JG: Actually, my agent is talking to some people about turning it into a movie, and I'd love to. It combines everything America loves: it's the mob, it's food, it's dark comedy, it's got gambling, sports … it combines it all.

TVF: Did you always want to write a book, or did you have this specific story knocking around in your head?
JG: Well, I was a chef for many years, and I was a food fence, to pay off my gambling. That's how I became an actor; I was a big gambler, and in real life I went to L.A. to pursue acting. And in the book, (the lead character, Benny Lacoco) is also a food fence, and he goes to cook for the Mob. They get wind of what he's doing, and ask him to cook the final meal for someone that may or may not be getting whacked. (Benny) thinks he may be the one who's getting whacked, so the book is a lot about him reflecting on his own life. And, it's pretty unique in that there are recipes leading into each chapter, about 20-25 recipes in all.

TVF: And are those your own recipes, from your days as a chef?
JG: For the most part, yeah

TVF: And is that how your line of pasta sauces came about, too, as an offshoot of your experiences as a chef?
JG: Yeah. I still wanted to be involved in cooking, but I wanted to create stuff without really going into restaurants. I also have a line of red and white wine coming out, and BBQ sauce, olive oil, and Umbrian spices for dipping bread … so I can still be creative, without doing the day-to-day restaurant stuff, which can be boring.

TVF: Are you still running your Soup As Art restaurant in Brooklyn?
JG: No, no, I got rid of that a long time ago.

TVF: It's a lot more business than fun to operate your own place isn't it?
JG: It is, but, y'know, if I could get an operator, someone who really wants to do one with me, and can operate it, and sorta I can just hang out there, do publicity, have a good time, and oversee the menu, I'd do that. I don't know if I would want to run a restaurant day-to-day again, though.

TVF: Are you guys done filming the entire season of "Sopranos"?
JG: We're on hiatus right now. When we go back, in June, we'll finish the final eight episodes.

TVF: The ones that air next January, I think, right?
JG: Right, exactly.

TVF: And you also have a movie coming out this summer, the softball comedy with Artie Lange from "MADtv" and Howard Stern's show?
JG: Yeah, Artie Lang and I have a movie coming out, and it's called "Beer League." I wish I could've done more on it for him, he wanted me to, but I was too busy with the show. Artie's a great guy, I'd do anything for Artie.

TVF: Who do you play in the movie?
JG: I play Artie's boss, a gardener.

TVF: You were a frequent guest on Stern's terrestrial show … have you been on the new Sirius satellite show?
JG: No, I have not been on the new satellite show. I'm sorta boycotting them a little, not that they've called me and asked me to come on. I've done a lot of Sirius radio, Sirius Playboy, I do the NFL show every Monday, I did the Wiseguys show … but not, umm, not Howard yet, because I wanted to get on (his old show) before he went off the air, and I couldn't get on.

TVF: Really?
JG: Yeah, and they had every moron possible on there, but I couldn't get on for five minutes, so that pissed me off.

TVF: Especially when you had been a frequent guest. They're pretty loyal when they have a relationship with a guest, right?
JG: Yeah, I had a relationship with them, I was like, the fodder (on the show) for awhile there, when me and Artie got drunk in Vegas. But I love Robin, I love Artie, Howard's a good guy, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we hook up again. It would've been a good week for me to be on this week, but they tell me he's on vacation for the holidays, so … I'm sure he would've loved to see me in the leather outfit. He would've had a lot to stay.

TVF: Speaking of that, what was YOUR reaction when you saw the outfit you had to wear in the leather bar scene? Did you balk at all at wearing it? It was pretty over the top, right?
JG: Yeah, yeah, well, it was an S&M bar. I figured it was something Vito would like, y'know, he likes it a little rough, he's a hardcore guy … I just regret that no one saw my chaps that I was wearing.

TVF: Were you really?
JG: I had chaps on, but I had pants on underneath.

TVF: Well, your performance was great, especially in that scene … you really felt for how much trouble Vito was in with his "family."
JG: Oh, thank you. Thank you very much, I appreciate that.

- posted by Kim

 

April 19, 2006
April 19, 2006 -- JOE Gannascoli - whose Vito Spatafore character on "The Sopranos" was caught in a gay bar wearing leather gear - said there were "more butts in that scene than in an ashtray" and complained, "No one got to see the little chaps I was wearing." The wide-bodied wiseguy also said Monday on Sirius Satellite Radio that when he came up with the idea of a gay mobster three seasons ago, "I wanted to make him a cross between Mike Tyson and Liberace." Though Vito has fled to New Hampshire, Gannascoli assured fans, "You really have not seen the last of Vito. He's going to be in town for a while . . . and that guy Johnnycakes will be someone who will come into play

Coming out

BY MARTIN C. EVANS
Newsday Staff Writer

April 19, 2006

Sunday's episode of the HBO series "The Sopranos," in which the outing of a gay mobster causes him to flee for his life and friends to turn on him, has created a buzz within Long Island's gay community.

Several people said they were encouraged that the television program took on one of the most anguishing aspects of gay life -- having one's identity exposed before being emotionally comfortable with life as a gay person.

"I was more on edge during Sunday's episode than I've ever been," said David Kilmnick, director of LI Gay and Lesbian Youth, a community organization in Bay Shore. "I've gotten calls from people who said, 'Did you see 'The Sopranos?' "

In the episode, the character Vito Spatafore, played by Brooklyn native and East Rockaway resident Joe Gannascoli, flees to a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire. His fellow mobsters, who heard that he was seen with a man in a leather bar, debate whether to oust him, torture or kill him, or leave him be.

"There were people questioning their values and where they stand," said Kilmnick. "Tony Soprano was saying 'he's a top earner, who cares whether he is gay?' You also heard people say he's a good father and a good husband. It wasn't just about his sexual orientation."

Michael McDonald, a bartender at a gay nightclub in South Farmingdale, said he watched the episode with his parents and grandmother. "I think it was a hopeful show," he said. "Because anytime you bring up a social issue in conversation there is an opportunity for change.

"I'm sure my family was more uncomfortable sitting there than I was," McDonald said.

A spokesman for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a media monitoring group based in Los Angeles, reacted positively to the story line.

"This character really does create an interesting and complex story that isn't often told," said GLAAD entertainment and media director Damon Romine. "What it does, in an unconventional way, is tackle the subject of homophobia."

Both McDonald and Kilmnick said the plot line that had Vito flee to New Hampshire challenged homosexuals to be true to themselves. In the episode, Vito arrives in the state during a threatening storm but awakens to brilliant sunshine, then spots a license tag that carried the state motto, "Live free or die."

"I think that was the most powerful message," said Kilmnick. "Live free, be yourself or else you die inside."
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

 
A place to live free and die...  by Alan Sepinwall
Monday, April 17, 2006
WARNING: This column contains major plot spoilers for last night's "Sopranos" episode.

Did you hear the one about the Jersey mobster who walked into a Norman Rockwell painting of New England? Neither did I, because usually you can't get there from here.

My hat's off to David Chase and company for once again defying expectations. I read a lot of theories in the last week about Vito: that he was going to kill himself in that motel, that he was going to turn federal witness to avoid the wrath of Tony and Phil, that Phil would find out before Tony and blackmail Vito into helping him get revenge for his brother. That last one was mine, and it was about as far away from what they actually did as the friendly confines of Dartford, New Hampshire, are from the valley of the malls that Vito fled.

No strip clubs and big box stores allowed in Dartford, no sir. In Vito's picture-postcard hideout, his landlady doesn't need cash in advance, the local diner makes its own sausages and, most importantly for Vito, a gay couple fits right in.

That Vito should find safe harbor in a place marinating in its own authenticity makes sense, since his inability to be who he really is drove him out of Essex County.

This episode was called "Live Free Or Die," but in Soprano country, it's not a choice but a combination: Live free and die.

Newcomers to organized crime are promised a glamorous life where they won't be bound by the rules of society. What no one ever tells them is that they're trading one set of laws for another, and sometimes the new laws are worse than the old ones. (When Phil broke the bad news to Vito's wife, he sounded like a prosecutor: "The witness has no reason to lie.")

Since Tony came out of his coma, I've had a running argument with our other TV critic, Matt Seitz, about whether Tony has been changed by the experience. After last night, I'm with Matt: Tony wants to learn and grow from what happened, but the business he has chosen won't let him.

He didn't want to beat up Perry last week, but it was the only move he could make to survive. (Not coincidentally, Christopher is now on board with the Rusty hit.) As Tony told Eugene -- another man who realized too late just how restrictive his career choice was -- there's no retiring from this. Tony may want to show vulnerability, may want to cut Vito some slack on the gay thing, but he knows that kind of thinking will only catch him another bullet.

Once I got over the abject horror of Vito in the leather outfit last week, I noticed that as he was dancing, he displayed an emotion we rarely see on this show: pure joy. As a gangster, the thing that made him happy might get him killed, just as the fatty foods he loves are bad for his health (he left his diet and Jersey behind at the same time).

Meanwhile, Carmela continues to recalculate the price tag that came with her McMansion lifestyle. She learned last season that she can't be with a man other than Tony, and now she's discovering that she may never be able to have an income separate from his.

Between Tony's deliberate inaction with the building inspector and the greed of her own father, the spec house seems doomed. And if she thinks she can join the Family rank-and-file like Angie Bonpensiero, she's kidding herself. Carmela's been edging ever closer to the Family business since that therapy session in episode three, but no way does Tony let his wife on the payroll. That's another rule you can't break.

So what happens next? After seeing the whole of "Sopranos" fandom fail so spectacularly at predicting the newest direction for Vito's story, I don't want to guess. But as we head into the second half of this spring season, I keep returning to something Chase told me last month: "Once we realized we were doing a show in which characters would and could die, that was very liberating in a way. Because it meant that they could change also."

As I said before the season began, the opposite is true, too: on this show, when people change, they usually die. So let's not be picturing Vito as an antiques mogul just yet.

Some other random thoughts:


A time and space crunch last week made me shortchange Vince Curatola, who was brilliant at showing Johnny Sack's joy and pain. So I don't repeat that mistake, let's just say my dust allergy kicked up as I watched Joseph Gannascoli kissing Vito's kids goodbye.


Meadow's pro bono case with the Afghani family may have seemed random, but they're in the same situation as the mobsters: escaping the rules of one society for another that's not as free as it was cracked up to be.


Irony on location: Dartford doesn't exist, and its main street is really in Boonton.


Know your Family: Carlo Gervasi, to whom Tony gave all of Vito's construction jobs, has been a background fixture at captain's meetings since the start of season four. Tony B. reported to him, as does Perry. Carlo also runs the ports and the Bloomfield Avenue casino.


Speaking of Perry, last night should kill the theory that the fight was staged. Like the notion that Vito killed himself off-camera, it ignores how this show operates. Chase and company aren't interested in big twists and surprises; if something important happens, you'll know immediately or soon after.


With four of the show's best writers (Chase, Terence Winter, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess) getting script credit, you knew this one was going to bring the funny, and it delivered. Among the laughs: Christopher and Tony separately insisting they always knew Vito's secret, Tony's panic over whether Melfi believed he slept with men in jail, Paulie's disgusted reaction to the full Vito story ("How much more betrayal can I take?"), and Christopher rationalizing that his Arab clients can't be terrorists because one of them owns a springer spaniel.


Loved Tony trying to impress Melfi by quoting the "go about in pity for themselves" line -- which, run through an Ojibwe-to-Sopranos translator, comes out roughly as "Poor you."


Boy, do Meadow and Finn not like each other anymore. Since he probably only proposed to save himself from Vito, now he has no excuse not to run screaming from a world that so obviously horrifies him.


Why is a Yonkers wiseguy collecting on Phil's turf, and why wouldn't he tell Phil first?



Alan Sepinwall may be reached at asepinwall@starledger.com, or by writing him at 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, N.J. 07102-1200. Copyright 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.
 
On 'Sopranos,' a wiseguy gets the queer eye
Posted 4/13/2006 9:00 PM ET
By Gary Strauss, USA TODAY
Is it curtains for Vito, the gay Soprano?

With the theatrical success of Brokeback Mountain, gay themes may be in vogue, "but anything can happen," says Joseph Gannascoli, who plays Vito Spatafore, the not-so-closeted Mob captain on HBO's The Sopranos (Sunday, 9 ET/PT).

When seen last week, Spatafore — nicknamed "Brokeback Goombah" by fellow Sopranos star Steven Schirripa — had left his wife and kids and checked into a hotel, where he pondered suicide after being spotted by wiseguys at a gay bar.

"Vito has a lot of things going on through his mind. Should he end it all? Should he protect himself? You'll have to see how things unfold," Gannascoli says.

Though the Brooklyn native is keeping mum, he relishes his breakout role in one of this season's most intriguing subplots. Gannascoli, 47, suggested the idea to series creator David Chase. It was introduced last season, when Vito performed a sex act on a security guard.

"As an actor, you want to do something challenging. And I wanted something that would break me out of the pack," says Gannascoli, an ex-restaurateur who was bitten by the acting bug 20 years ago. "I'm grateful David gave me more to do."

While conflicted over his sexuality, Vito is clear about climbing the Mob's corporate ladder. Now that he has been outed, the future is less certain. "Vito's a top earner, so he's valuable to Tony Soprano. But we'll see if Tony's got his back or he's got problems with him being gay," Gannascoli says.

Cast members and fans have ribbed Gannascoli but also respect him. "Playing gay is very courageous. Most guys wouldn't do it," Schirripa says. Gay rights activists applaud the role. "The mere existence of the character creates an interesting, complex story," says Neil Giuliano, head of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). "We hope the show delves more into his life and the reaction of Tony's crew."

Whatever befalls Vito, The Sopranos has been life-changing for Gannascoli, who got married and bought his first home on Long Island last year. His co-written novel, A Meal to Die For, arrived in January. The self-taught chef also launched a food line and is developing Foodfellas, a TV pilot, with ex-Sopranos star Vincent Pastore.

The butt of fat jokes on The Sopranos, Gannascoli remains larger than life — but there's far less of him these days. Stomach surgery helped him shed 160 of his 400 pounds during the show's long hiatus. He hopes to drop 75 more after recuperating from recent double-hip-replacement surgery.
 
Actor's success is to die for
Ellis Henican


April 12, 2006

'If you can't get a story out of me dressed like the Village People, I don't know what else I can do for you."

It was Joe Gannascoli on the phone, Vito Spatafore from "The Sopranos." And yes, he kinda had a point. Joe's character on the HBO series, a closeted gay mobster, is all of a sudden the most talked-about character on the whole show.

On Sunday night, he was outed in a leather bar by a couple of hoods on a collection run. As they left in disgust, he was pleading with them: "Don't say nuthin'!" Last we saw Vito, he'd checked into a cheap motel, looking awfully suicidal. Then, he plopped a handgun on the table by the bed.

"It's been a big year for me, on and off the show," Joe said.

You can't say the man hasn't been busy. He moved out of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He got a new wife, Diana, from Lynbrook. They've settled into a nice fixer-upper in East Rockaway.

Joe lost 140 pounds, down from 400. He's come out with a novel, "A Meal to Die For." Think of it as a literary intertwining of Joe's long career in the restaurant business, his lifelong love for food, his personal familiarity with gambling and petty rackets, and his newfound fame as a "made man" on TV. The book's protagonist is a "food fence," paying off his gambling debts by brokering deals for hot - as in stolen - steaks and salamis.

Joe's To Die For pasta sauces are turning up in delis and gourmet shops on Long Island. To Die For spices, olive oils and wines are coming soon. And yesterday, he was lying on the couch in East Rockaway, recovering from a double hip replacement.

"You could tell I was limping last season," Joe said. All that weight took a toll.

So how on earth did Vito turn out to be gay? This is the mob, for God's sake, Cosa Nostra, the inventor of don't-ask-don't-tell. Doesn't omerta mean anything? And how has this unexpected character detail been received by Joe's old pals in Brooklyn?

"I've gotten a few comments from the morons," he said. "A lot of actors have told me, 'I wouldn't do it. I couldn't.'"

Joe got the idea from a book.

"Back in Season 3," he remembered, "I was reading 'Murder Machine'" by veteran mob writers Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain. "There was a character in there, Vito Arena, that was a gay mobster. As an actor, I was intrigued."

Joe mentioned the idea to a writer on the program. "I said, 'Look, if you ever want to make my character gay, I wouldn't have a problem with that. She said, 'Huh?' I said, 'Look, it's right here in this book.'"

Up 'til then, Vito Spatafore had pretty much blended into the Soprano family - doing a hit here, a double-cross there, sitting down with the boys for an occasional supper. But here was a way for Joe's character to stand out.

"I just trusted the writers," he said. "I knew they'd handle it honestly. Before, I had a line here, a line there. Now, it's like I'm having a real impact on one of the greatest TV shows ever."

Not bad for a knock-around actor who spent 30 years working in restaurant kitchens.

Eventually, the audience at home got a glimpse of Vito servicing a security guard. Hints kept coming. Then, it was time for the eye-popping leather-bar scene.

"That was kind of a turning point," Joe said. "It's interesting where the story is now. The audience knows and the cast doesn't."

And those weren't all professional actors joining him in the raucous scene in that bar, he wanted me to know. "The Sopranos" is one show that has always valued its authenticity.

"They were hard-core leather guys," Joe said. "Recruited right out of the clubs. It was pretty funny, watching the Teamsters interact with those guys. But they were gentlemen, all of them. I think they got a kick out of me."

And another Long Island star is born.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
 
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Gay 'Soprano' can't
be out and about

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

As Vito Spatafore sat in his cheap motel room on last Sunday's "Sopranos," contemplating the firearm he placed on the bedside table, it became clear there are still occupations where it's easier if you're not gay.
In both pop culture and real life, we've seen gay people in an encouraging and growing array of regular old jobs lately.

Cowboy. Basketball player. Governor of New Jersey.

But if Vito's instincts are correct, midlevel mobsters may want to think twice before moving from closets to leather bars.

"Sopranos" viewers have known Vito's secret for a while, ever since Meadow Soprano's boyfriend Finn showed up for his construction job early one morning and saw Vito and a security guard having a special moment in the front seat of a truck.

While Finn may or may not know that Vito shot Meadow's last boyfriend in the back of the head, he knows enough to make like he saw nothing.

So Vito continues to slip around, and Sunday he left his wife watching a Rock Hudson movie so he could spend quality time in a gay bar.

His few minutes as a leather boy instantly made him the second-funniest character on the show - no one tops Paulie Walnuts - but things took a bad turn when two of his associates showed up for their regular shakedown of Nick the bartender and met Vito on the way out.

Thinking slow, Vito told them it was a joke, which sold about as well as A.J.'s stories about doing his homework.

Joseph Gannascoli, who plays Vito, says he suggested making the character gay after reading about a gay member of the Gambino family.

But while the real-life guy stuck to his job of dismembering bodies and never had any problems, Vito seems convinced he's finished if his lifestyle becomes widely known.

At best, he'll hit a lavender ceiling. More likely, he'll be humiliated and at some point killed, probably when someone is shooting stray cats and has an extra bullet he needs to use up.

Vito's not entirely wrong here. In Soprano-land, as in too many parts of the real world, a man's worst flaw is to be "unmanly." It means he isn't strong enough to be trusted.

Sympathetic as popular media have been to gays the last few years, from "Angels in America" and Harvey Fierstein on the stage, to Truman in "Will and Grace" on TV, to "Brokeback Mountain" on the big screen, Vito's wariness - compounded by self-loathing - is probably justified.

This Sunday, we should learn whether Vito shoots himself or sucks it up like a real man and shoots someone else instead.

In either case, if you're gay and planning a career as a mobster, expect a double dose of "Don't ask, don't tell."

 
 


Gay 'Sopranos' Mobster Glad for Exposure
 

NEW YORK, Apr. 10, 2006

(AP) Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhall and ... Joseph R. Gannascoli? In what Gannascoli cheerfully calls "the year of the queer," when "Brokeback Mountain" became a phenomenon and Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar playing Truman Capote, Gannascoli's character (spoiler alert: read no further if you haven't seen the episode yet) was outed Sunday night on "The Sopranos."

Dressed in appropriate leather bar attire, Vito Spatafore _ the heretofore closeted gay mobster _ was sighted by a couple wiseguys who came by the sweaty S&M joint to collect their protection money.

"It's a joke," Vito weakly offers, then begs: "Don't say nothin'!"

By the end of the episode, he's checked into a motel with a gun, looking suicidal.

Fans of the HBO series were stunned last season when Meadow's boyfriend, Finn, saw a security guard sitting in the driver's seat of a truck _ and then Vito's head popped up.

This season, Vito has hung around the hospital while Tony Soprano was recovering from a gunshot wound, trying to ingratiate himself with Tony's wife while plotting with Paulie Walnuts to grab her cut of a big score. And he's chomped on carrots while prattling on about all the weight he's losing. (In real life, he's down to 260 from a high of 400 pounds.)

Now that the gay story line is heating up, the 47-year-old Brooklyn-born actor is immensely pleased, in part because it was his idea to make Vito homosexual.

"I saw him as, like, a cross between Mike Tyson and Liberace," Gannascoli told The Associated Press in an interview at his home. "I wanted to make him sort of in self-denial, self-loathing, a real gay hater."

Gannascoli's suggestion was inspired by the book "Murder Machine," about the Gambino family, which had an openly gay member also named Vito.

"They didn't bother him about it, because I guess he was good at what he did, which was chopping up bodies," Gannascoli said.

Gannascoli concedes that he had a self-serving motivation for making the suggestion: Breaking out of the pack.

"I thought that was a way of separating myself from the other actors, because I would have been in the background most of the time. You know, line here, line there, and nothing really substantial," said Gannascoli, whose character previously was best known for whacking Jackie Aprile Jr. "To really make an impact is all I can ask for."

He also thought it would create an interesting acting challenge. But even amid all the recent gay buzz, Gannascoli knows the reaction to Vito won't be all positive.

"I'm a Brooklyn guy. I was just in Brooklyn last night. And, you know, I had some real wise guys that look at me and they give me dirty looks. I've had guys, like, come after me in clubs," he said.

He just hopes the "cerebral people" will appreciate his performance.

Gannascoli said "The Sopranos" has changed his life "in so many ways."

"Recognition, I'd say, the most. It allowed me to get married."

It's also allowed Gannascoli to buy his house ("which coming from a rent-controlled apartment all my life was a huge step up"), get his novel published ("A Meal to Die For," loosely based on his life in the restaurant business) and develop a signature line of food (olive oil, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, salsa and wine).

"While I'm not going to be cheffing anymore, I'm going to be still involved in food. Which is one of my passions."

He considered becoming a lawyer like his older brother but dropped out of St. John's University after two years. He did well the first year but by his second year, "I had a huge Quaalude business" that sidetracked him. ("I was hustlin', you know.")

He then bounced around, working at various New York restaurants and becoming a "self-taught" kitchen magician. He even headed to New Orleans and learned Cajun cooking in the '80s.

He owned all or part of a few restaurants over the years, but disliked the "day-to-day machinations" of keeping it going.

It was during one of his numerous food-service jobs when acting felt like the dish of the day. A waiter-friend (who, like so many in New York, also was an aspiring actor) urged him to audition for a play. He got the role and started taking acting lessons.

But he soon found himself pushing an ice-cream cart on Wall Street before eventually opening another eatery. He got burnt out from working 9 a.m. to 2 at night and started gambling heavily.

On the last day of the 1990 pro football regular season he was in a hole. Like any desperate gambler, he tried to win it back fast.

"Cody Carlson is responsible for my acting," Gannascoli joked, able to laugh about it now.

The backup Houston Oilers quarterback started in place of injured Hall of Famer Warren Moon and had a great game against betting favorite Pittsburgh. The Steelers lost, and Gannascoli was out $60,000.

Gannascoli paid off his debts with equity from his restaurant, thus avoiding a real-life leg-breaking _ or worse _ and then decided to head to L.A.

On the West Coast, he met Benicio Del Toro, which led to an audition and small role in the 1993 feature "Money for Nothing" _ and a meeting with Georgianne Walken (Christopher Walken's wife) and Sheila Jaffe.

Both Jaffe and Walken are casting directors who've chosen actors for roles in scores of films and TV shows _ including "The Sopranos."

Gannascoli underwent hip-replacement surgery last week and hopes the increased mobility will help him exercise and lose more weight. But while controlling his Falstaffian appetites, he'd loved to develop a hybrid cooking/sports show. He'd have a famous athlete as a guest and they'd cook up one of star's favorite dishes while talking about his career and showing clips.

He'd like to call it "Food Bowl."
 

By DOUGLAS J. ROWE
The Associated Press
Monday, April 10, 2006; 6:57 PM
 
Wise guy with an eye for guys
Monday, April 10, 2006

By VIRGINIA ROHAN
STAFF WRITER
 

Uh-oh. Just as he was sidling up to a gay urban cowboy who's wearing little but chaps, Vito Spatafore got spotted by a couple of mob bagmen. What the blank, they wondered, was the mobster doing in a leather bar -- and wearing a dog collar?

"Sopranos" fans have known for a while now that Vito has a secret life -- and it doesn't, for a change, involve being an FBI stoolie. But how long before New Jersey's most infamous crime boss learns of his clandestine activities? Joseph R. Gannascoli, who plays Vito, can't answer that. But he's happy to talk about that stunning scene from Sunday's "Sopranos" episode, which was shot in an actual leather bar in Queens.

"Everybody's in chaps. I see more butts there than in an ashtray," says Gannascoli, who wore dungarees under chaps. "That was pretty wild to do. These guys were real leather guys they went out and recruited. They wanted the real deal. ... And they were fun guys."

Once roly-poly, Vito is cutting a decidedly fitter figure these days. Thanks to gastric-band surgery, Gannascoli shed 160 pounds during the 22-month "Sopranos" hiatus (40 pounds of it while taking part in VH-1's "Celebrity Fit Club").

This season, Vito is also bolder, grabbing for money and power, and continuing to come on to Meadow Soprano's fiance, Finn.

The idea of making Vito bisexual actually came from Gannascoli, who happens to be married and straight. After reading about an openly gay mobster in Jerry Capeci's nonfiction "Murder Machine," he suggested that the writers give Vito an eye for guys.

"I was thinking, how can I get myself more work? I'm always going to be in the background. ... As an actor, you always think it's totally interesting to be completely different from what you are, and these guys are always

around broads -- [at] the Bada Bing and all that," Gannascoli says. "I brought it to one of the writers. I said, 'If you ever want to make my character gay, I'd have no problem with it.' "

That was during the filming of the third season. Nothing happened. Then, in 2003, Anthony Capo, a former soldier for the New Jersey-based DeCavalcante family, testified in federal court about how, back in 1992, he'd killed underboss John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato after the family found out (from D'Amato's girlfriend) that he'd had a homosexual encounter. Capo told the jurors: "Nobody's gonna respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing La Cosa Nostra business."

This news story apparently piqued the interest of "Sopranos" writer Robin Green. Last season, when she asked Gannascoli for the name of that book he'd been reading, he knew something was up. And then, in Episode 9, Meadow's Finn happened upon Vito in a parked vehicle on a construction site. The mobster was orally pleasuring a male security guard.

"Now, that's not what I had in mind," says Gannascoli, who had thought his character would be the one to receive sexual favors. "I wanted him to be kind of self-loathing, in denial, a homophobe who gets it and then kicks the [blank] out of the other guy. Maybe he did jail time and that's what happened in jail."

Vito's sordid past

In Vito's back story, he's a nephew of the late Richie Aprile and yet he was the one who whacked his own cousin, Jackie Aprile Jr., on a street in Boonton.

In Sunday's episode, directed by former cast member Steve Buscemi, Johnny Sack was allowed to leave prison to attend his daughter's wedding. Vito and his wife, Maria (Elizabeth Bracco), were among the guests. After cutting out early, and ditching the wife at home, Vito headed out again, claiming he had "collections" to make.

But then he went to that leather bar -- he even kissed a guy he danced with -- and is then spotted by those goons who really were collecting money. Vito called Silvio in the middle of the night to see if he'd heard anything (he hadn't yet). Then he holed himself up in a hotel room with a gun to protect himself. (PinnacleSports.com, which has created odds on 18 regular characters of "The Sopranos" being the first to be killed off in the current season, put's Vito's odds of being rubbed out at 6-1, in large part because of his sexual proclivities. It's also clear that Carmela Soprano doesn't trust him.)

Two 'Sopranos' roles

Might Vito actually be gay?

"Maybe," Gannascoli says. "I think you're gonna see that he loves his kids, but this is the way he was programmed to be."

The 47-year-old actor, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, got a big career boost from Benicio Del Toro, whom he met on 1993's "Money for Nothing," Gannascoli's first movie (and one of James Gandolfini's earliest credits). Del Toro not only cast Gannascoli in "Submission," a 1995 film he directed, co-wrote and produced, but introduced him to casting agents Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken, who invited Gannascoli to audition for "The Sopranos."

Initially, he read for the role of Bobby "Bacala," which went to Steven Schirripa.

"I went a couple of times. I didn't get it," Gannascoli says. "I think they went with a better choice."

In the eighth episode of Season 1, however, they cast Gannascoli as a bakery customer named Gino, who famously asked (after Christopher Moltisanti shot the baker in the foot), "What about my bread?"

"I probably am the only one on the show that played two different roles," Gannascoli says. "I did that one scene, not thinking anything of it. I almost didn't want to do it, but Georgianne Walken said, 'This show's going to be big. Make sure you do this.' "

In Season 2, Gannascoli came aboard as Vito Spatafore.

"He's Tony's biggest earner," the actor says. "He is seemingly, you would think, one of the guys. He's got a lot more going on. He's got this deep dark secret. ... He's leading these two very secret lives, being a mobster and being a bisexual."

No average Joe

Born: Brooklyn

"Sopranos" role: Vito Spatafore.

Previous experience: Attended St. John's University for two years, majoring in communications, but his passion was for cooking. During the early 1980s, the self-taught chef worked in Manhattan, Boston, Los Angeles and New Orleans. He made the switch to acting after a friend suggested he audition for his play. Later, he opened restaurants in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, while continuing to dabble in acting.

Food and fiction: Became a published author recently with "A Meal to Die For" (Forge, $22.95), a recipe-filled "culinary novel of crime" about a "food fence" and aspiring gourmet Italian chef who gets his big chance when he's summoned to cook a special going-away feast for a mobster headed for prison. Gannascoli also has his own pasta-sauce line, "A Sauce to Die For," and will soon add wine, spices, salsas, barbecue sauces and olive oil to his label. (Information at: joesoup.com)

Small "Sopranos" world: Gannascoli's screen credits include a number of films that also featured "Sopranos" colleagues (sometimes in very small roles): "Money for Nothing," 1993 (James Gandolfini, Elizabeth Bracco); "Ed Wood," 1994 (Max Casella, Louis Lombardi); "The Funeral," 1996 (John Ventimiglia, Annabella Sciorra); "On the Run," 1999 (Ventimiglia, Michael Imperioli, Sharon Angela); "Mickey Blue Eyes" 1999 (Ventimiglia, Frank Pelligrino, Aida Turturro, Vincent Pastore, Tony Sirico); "Two Family House," 2000 (Michael Rispoli, Katherine Narducci, Pastore, Angela); "Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits," 2005 (Vincent Curatola, John Fiore); "Beer League," 2006 (Lombardi, Pelligrino).

-- Virginia Rohan

E-mail: rohan@northjersey.com
 

"Sopranos" Fans Wonder: Is Vito Finito?
by Joe Gandelman

If you're one of the many people throughout the world proudly addicted to HBO's The Sopranos, arguably the best series drama to ever appear on television, this past Sunday night was a milestone...the fruition of a story line that has been slowly simmering for a year:
Now the question for viewers of "The Sopranos" is: Will Vito eat the barrel of his gun? Or will he lack the guts, then get whacked by his appalled paisans? Fans could be overheard waging bets Monday outside Manhattan buildings.

"Five bucks, he doesn't have another line," said one.

"Not counting flashbacks?" wondered another.

Wearing appropriate leather-bar attire, Vito Spatafore — the heretofore closeted gay mobster — was sighted in Sunday night's episode (stop reading now if you want to watch it later) by a couple of wiseguys who came by the sweaty S&M joint to collect their protection money.

"It's a joke," Vito tries to explain to the duo. Finally he begs: "Don't say nothin'!"
It was quite a moment for Sopranos fans (as you can see from the AP story) who've have had their theories about where the Sopranos' story line is going about Vito, one of the series' least appealing characters if you judge by fan's comments on various websites. His lack of appeal is precisely due to the skilled actor playing him.
By the end of the show, the crestfallen Vito — played by Joseph R. Gannascoli — has checked into a motel, looking suicidally at his gun on the nightstand.

Fans of the HBO series were stunned last season when Meadow's boyfriend, Finn, saw a security guard sitting in the driver's seat of a truck — and then Vito's head popped up.

This season, Vito has hung around the hospital while Tony Soprano was recovering from a gunshot wound, trying to ingratiate himself with Tony's wife while plotting with Paulie Walnuts to grab her cut of a big score. And he's chomped on carrots while prattling on about all the weight he's losing. (In real life, he's down to 260 from a high of 400 pounds.)
Note the "before" and "after" photo (also showing his wife) on this post.
Now that the gay story line is heating up, Gannascoli is immensely pleased, in part because it was his idea to make Vito homosexual.

"I saw him as, like, a cross between Mike Tyson and Liberace," the 47-year-old Brooklyn-born actor told The Associated Press in an interview at his home. "I wanted to make him sort of in self-denial, self-loathing, a real gay hater.

Gannascoli's suggestion was inspired by the book "Murder Machine," about the Gambino family, which had an openly gay member also named Vito.
It was quite a moment for the Sopranos. Tony's wife had warned him about Vito the week before. And then there's that loose strand involving Meadow's boyfriend, Finn....is Finn fated to suffer something at the hands of Vito for knowing too much?

This is what makes The Sopranos so satisfying: it's one of the few programs on television that is truly not predictable. The fact that Gannascoli's suggestion was used by Chase, shows why the program is such a gem.

Characters are multi-layered. You may hate them, yet at times feel for them. You may like them, and at other times truly detest them. The acting is impeccable which is why The Sopranos may prove to be one of the most satisfying TV dramas ever to watch and rewatch on DVD: each time you view it, you discover something new lurking in the background, or see something new about a character due to a line or the performance.

Is Vito finito? If you took bets, with the boss' wife warning her husband about him, the boss' son-in-law avoiding him due to a spurned advance and seeing him in the parking lot, and the wiseguys spotting him in a gay bar you have to figure more is in store for Vito.

Gannascoli the actor is now slimmer — but perhaps Tony will consider Vito dead weight.

UPDATE: Note this commment from Melissa Rayworth of the AP:
... Vito was spotted at a gay bar by two wiseguys who were there making collections. He panicked, knowing his hope of one day running the family had vanished, then hurried home to pack a bag. He wound up in a motel room staring at his gun — it's hard to tell whether he'll use it for suicide, self-defense or silencing someone.

From: TheModerateVoice.com

Vito is there when a scam calls
Wednesday, March 08, 2006

BY VICKI HYMAN
Star-Ledger Staff

It was a case of life imitating art imitating fraud.

A month after Joseph R. Gannascoli, the corpulent mobster Vito Spatafore on "The Sopranos," published his debut mystery novel featuring a "food fence" for the Mafia -- sometimes a few cases of frozen shrimp fall off the back of a truck, after all -- federal authorities seized thousands of tins of imported cooking oil from a Clifton warehouse.

Their labels spoke of gourmet extra virgin olive oil, but tests found it to be humble soybean oil. Mislabeled? Adulterated? Authorities have yet to make any arrests.

Gannascoli laughs. Not only is bootlegging cheap oil exactly what his central character Benny Lacoco does early in "A Meal to Die For" -- in the book, Lacoco calls it "doing transfusions" -- it's a scam the Brooklyn-bred Gannascoli, 47, admits he took part in "back in the day." "They were doing that 25 years ago," he says.

Authenticity is certainly not an issue in Gannascoli's "A Meal to Die For" (Forge, $22.95), written with Allen C. Kupfer. Gannascoli draws heavily on his own background as a self-taught chef and restaurateur, not to mention his own observations of Mafia enterprise, both on television and, apparently, in real life.

With the end of "The Sopranos" nearing (the latest installment kicks off this Sunday night), Gannascoli is also cashing in on the cachet with a new line of pasta sauces, and soon, wine, spices, salsas, barbecue sauces and olive oil (!). Gannascoli says the pasta sauces are thick and rich, with no preservatives or additives.

The basic Sunday sauce is sweet with crispy garlic and onions, perfect over mussels with a little white wine and clam juice, or with olives, capers and anchovies over fish, he says. (He has a deal with Key Food and is working to get his products in other stores.)

Gannascoli, who dropped out of St. John's University, was working unhappily in the men's department at a Lord and Taylor when he befriended the store's executive chef, who got him a job at a restaurant in midtown Manhattan, where he learned from doing. The ambitious menu featured in his novel -- seared foie gras with roasted apricots and sour cherry syrup, roasted lamb shanks with orzo, veal reduction, mirepoix and mascarpone -- are dishes that he has served up himself.

He eventually opened a couple of casual restaurants -- "The clientele, they weren't going to appreciate chicken liver and foie gras mousse" -- but he lost them due to mounting debts from sports betting. He draws on this too, in his book, where gambling debts turn promising chef Lacoco into a food fence.

Gannascoli decided to try his luck in Hollywood, where the amateur actor landed a small role in the 1993 movie "Money for Nothing," starring John Cusack, Benicio Del Toro and James Gandolfini.

After a few small parts, he returned to Brooklyn but kept in touch with Del Toro, who introduced him to casting agents Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken. They gave him a small part in the 1996 film "Basquiat" and later auditioned him for the part of Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri on "The Sopranos."

He didn't get it, but he got a day part as bakery customer Gino in the series' first season. In the second season, he turned into hitman Spatafore, who whacks his own cousin, Jackie Aprile Jr., and who, viewers discovered last season, was caught sexually servicing a male security guard. (Gannascoli says the gay mobster idea was his own, although "what I did in that scene was not what I had in mind.")

In the upcoming sixth, and last season, he will have an expanded role, part of which is due to his no-longer-expanding waistline. In the lengthy "Sopranos" hiatus, Gannascoli took part in VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club" and underwent the gastric band procedure, losing 160 pounds total. The show's writers incorporated the weight loss into the scripts, and they also make Spatafore more of an irritant to New Jersey boss Tony Soprano.

"They've given me a lot more to do this year," he says. "I can only say that it's nice to finally get a chance to act ... to be a part of history. It's like being in 'Gone with the Wind,' 'The Godfather,' and 'Goodfellas.' "

© 2006 The Star Ledger
 
 

 

    
 
 
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Last season, it came out that Vito (Joe Gannascoli) was gay.

Playing a 'wisegay' gives Joe Gannascoli
a shot at becoming a mob hit  by Denis Hamill

(Originally published on March 9, 2006)

Call him the Brokeback Mobster.

"My character in 'The Sopranos' would say, 'It's the year of the queer,'" says Joe Gannascoli, who plays gay mobster Vito Spatafore in the HBO mob hit. "But then he's a real wisegay."

The Brooklyn-born actor, who for five seasons was one of the semi-regular wanna-bes in Tony Soprano's crew, had his biggest moment on the series last season when it was revealed that he was a closeted gay. It was never addressed again, opening yet another unanswered story line in the show, along with the Russian gangster who got away in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and the fate of Lorraine (Dr. Melfi) Bracco's rapist.

What can Gannascoli say about his character in the coming season?

"That's in the closet, too," says the actor, whose friends call him "Joe Soup" because he once owned a restaurant in Bay Ridge called Soup as Art. "All I know is that, at the end of last season when Vito 'went down,' things started looking up for me."

Okay, without breaking omerta, how does a knockaround heterosexual guy from the streets of Brooklyn feel about playing a gay character in the ultramacho TV show?

"I have no problem with it," he says. "I had read about a couple of real-life gays in the mob and suggested the idea to one of our writers, in the hopes of getting more work. Eventually it was incorporated. Some real macho guys on the set asked how I could do the role. But it was something I wanted to do.

"I used to work as a waiter in an all-gay restaurant named Company on Third Ave. in Manhattan," he adds. "It was a great job. I got along great with the gay customers. I'm secure in my own sexuality, recently married, and I'm an actor. An actor acts."

He says playing a gay gangster made him more sensitive. "I was rooting like crazy for 'Brokeback Mountain' in all the awards shows," he says. "And after five seasons in the background of one of the greatest shows in TV history, it was sure nice to get some recognition."

It's not like Gannascoli isn't busy, though. In January, St. Martin's Press published his first hardcover novel, "A Meal to Die For," a hilarious, mobbed-up murder mystery set in the restaurant business of his native Brooklyn, where he founded the popular restaurant known as 101 in the shadow of the Verrazano Bridge.

"All the pieces of my life - food, gambling, Brooklyn - all come together in this semi-autobiographical book," says the once-obese Gannascoli. Especially food.

"He recently lost 200 pounds with stomach surgery, down from more than 400. (He appeared on the TV show "Celebrity Fit Club," in which stars try to lose weight competitively - but he gained 12 pounds.)

"I grew up on Gravesend Neck Road and Avenue U," says the actor, who now lives with wife Diana on Long Island. "My brother became a lawyer, so I went to St. John's for a couple of years, following his footsteps into law."

But Gannascoli loved food more than school and dropped out of college after two years to work in restaurants, apprenticing under the great chefs of Manhattan.

"And I wound up working in Commander's Palace in New Orleans," he says, "considered by many as the best restaurant in America."

In 1986, Gannascoli was back waiting tables at Jack's restaurant in Manhattan, where he met an actor-waiter who suggested he audition for a play called "The Juicemen." "I got the role. I got bit by the acting bug."

Gannascoli landed small stage and film parts. But food always beckoned. In 1990, Joe Soup opened 101 and in 1992, 101 Seafood.

"But the most expensive thing on my menu was my gambling," says Gannascoli. "To pay off debts, sometimes I'd move cases of shrimp that fell off the back of a truck. Or expensive wine. Or olive oil. I was a food fence.

"Those experiences formed the autobiographical character in my novel. But the day I lost $60,000 on four football games, I made a deal for my partner to buy me out and I flew to L.A. to become an actor."

Gannascoli spent three years in L.A., hustling film roles. He came back to New York, landing small parts in films like "Two Family House," "Mickey Blue Eyes" and "Money for Nothing," where Benicio Del Toro introduced him to Georgianne Walken, who was casting "The Sopranos."

He was cast as Vito Spatafore, whose biggest moment was "whacking" Jackie Jr. in the season three finale. Until, that is, last season, when we learned that Vito was a closet homosexual, a capital crime inside the mob.

"I will say this about the new season," says Gannascoli. "I'm certainly in it. And for that Vito would say, 'This could be the year of the queer.'"

Denis Hamill's borough column appears on Tuesdays and Sundays. His "Show People" column appears every other Sunday in the Showtime section. A Meyer Berger Award-winner for best New York City reporting, Hamill was born and raised in Brooklyn and now lives in Queens, a quantum leap that did not require he change his area code from 718. Hamill has written several novels, and his latest, "Ten Spot," has just been released.
Email: dhamill@ edit.nydailynews.com

From: North Jersey.Com

 Cookbooks play off notorious ties of mobsters to their favorite foods
Wednesday, March 8, 2006

By BILL ERVOLINO, STAFF WRITER at NorthJersey.Com


In "The Godfather," seasoned killer Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano) teaches Al Pacino's earnest "college boy" Michael Corleone how to use the gun that -- bada-bing! -- provides payback in the film's pivotal gang war.

But impeccable aim isn't Clemenza's only contribution to the family business.

"Here, learn something," Clemenza says to Michael earlier in the film, as he empties a can of tomatoes into a pot the size of Staten Island. "You may have to feed 50 guys someday ..."

And therein lies a simple but memorable recipe, lovingly tossed together before our eyes. Olive oil. Garlic. Sausage. Meatballs. Tomatoes. Tomato paste. Basil. "And," Clemenza adds, with a twinkle in his eyes, "a little red wine. That's my trick."

On screens big and small, from "Little Caesar" and "The Godfather" to "Goodfellas" and "The Sopranos," murder, mayhem and marinara have always gone together.

After all, what self-respecting mobster doesn't have a loyal wife or mother waiting at home for him, whacking a few pounds of veal cutlet for dinner?

This timeless combo of omerta and al dente is one that Joseph R. Gannascoli is all too familiar with. Best known as chubby Vito Spatafore on "The Sopranos" -- the hugely popular HBO series that begins its new season Sunday -- Gannascoli is an actor, chef and, most recently, an author, whose "A Meal to Die For" (Forge, $22.95), a novel brimming with mouth-watering recipes, is the latest in a spate of mob-themed cookbooks.

Written with collaborator Allen C. Kupfer, the book revolves around an Italian chef who is called upon, à la "Big Night," to create the most stellar meal of his life: a going-away feast for a fictional mobster heading to prison.

Among the recipes included: blood oranges and anchovy salad; escarole soup with white beans and proscuitto; orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe pesto; and roasted lamb shanks with orzo and mascarpone.

Hungry yet?

In addition to being a real chef -- his restaurants have included 101 and Soup, both in Brooklyn -- Gannascoli admits to once being (like his book's protagonist Benny Lacoco) a "food fence."

A ... what?

"Food fence," Gannascoli says with a laugh. "Back in my gambling days, I'd get approached by guys who'd say, 'Hey, I came across some shrimp ...' -- or whatever it was -- and that, of course, meant that they stole it." (In the book, Benny loads his trunk with heisted steaks.)

"A Meal to Die For" follows on the heels of "The Sopranos Family Cookbook" (Warner, $29.95) and "Cooking on the Lam" (Simon and Schuster, $18), the latter by real-life wise guy Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi, whose previous efforts have included "The Mafia Cookbook." (Book tours can be murder. But unlike most authors, Iannuzzi undertook his first national tour while there was a contract out on his life.)

"Entertaining With the Sopranos" (Warner, $29.95), a companion volume to the original bestseller, hits bookstores this month with a photo of its "author," Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco), on the cover. Actually, the book was written by Allen Rucker, with recipes by Michelle Scicolone.

Another recent entry, "Shut Up and Eat!" (Penguin, $24.95), by Tony Lip and Steven Prigge, includes food-related anecdotes and recipes from such well-known screen thugs as Chazz Palminteri ("A Bronx Tale"), Robert Loggia ("Prizzi's Honor") and Dominic Chianese ("The Sopranos" and "The Godfather, Part II").

Danny Aiello ("The Last Don"), who wrote the book's forward, also contributed recipes for lentil soup, tortellini in brodo and fresh fettuccine with fennel.

Gannascoli says the connection between Mafia movies and mouth-watering scenes shot around the stove or the dinner table is probably less about organized crime than about ethnicity.

"Italians are just so passionate about food," he says. "And it plays well on the screen, I think. The French love food, too, but not with the same amount of animation."

Indeed, most Italian-themed films -- and that would include such gangster-free epics as "Moonstruck" and "Saturday Night Fever" -- also are laden with big scenes in which cooking or eating actually advances the plot. (Some critics have noted that the opening of "Fever," in which John Travolta devours two slices of pizza simultaneously, does as much to define his character as anything else in the movie.)

And then, of course, there was "Fatso," in which Dom DeLuise (as nebbishy, overweight Dom DiNapoli) does nothing but eat or talk about eating for the film's entire 93 minutes.

Some Italians find both stereotypes -- the Italian gangster and the food-obsessed Italian-American -- to be offensive. Maria Gillan, a poet and an editor of "Italian American Authors on New Jersey" (Rutgers Press, $21.95), says she has mixed feelings.

"These images remain fixed in the American consciousness, particularly in parts of the country that don't have large Italian-American populations," she says.

"People think of 'The Godfather' and 'Goodfellas' as Italian movies, whereas films like 'Rocky