More than 14 years after the screen abruptly cut to black during the finale of “The Sopranos,” fans may have finally have an answer if Tony Soprano actually died in the end.
While the HBO show’s ending has been debated for years, series creator David Chase has been leaving cryptic hints as to whether or not Tony, played by James Gandolfini, did in fact get killed in the restaurant during the show’s final episode in 2007. Now he's opening up even more about the ending.
In a new interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Chase said he originally conceived of a death scene different from what viewers saw in the finale.
“Because the scene I had in my mind was not that scene. Nor did I think of cutting to black,” Chase said. “I had a scene in which Tony comes back from a meeting in New York in his car. At the beginning of every show, he came from New York into New Jersey, and the last scene could be him coming from New Jersey back into New York for a meeting at which he was going to be killed.”
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Without fully coming out and saying Tony got whacked, Chase admitted he did originally want him killed in a restaurant.
“I was driving on Ocean Park Boulevard near the airport and I saw a little restaurant. It was kind of like a shack that served breakfast. And for some reason I thought, ‘Tony should get it in a place like that.” Why? I don’t know. That was, like, two years before,’” Chase said.
Although the debate may continue on, Chase said he was initially surprised how controversial so many fans found the show’s ambiguous ending.
“It was kind of incredible to me. But I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar,” the 76-year-old added. “What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me.”
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He continued: “They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, ‘God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he’s a criminal. But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way. And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? You’re a criminal after watching this s*** for seven years.’ That bothered me, yeah.”
If you want Chase to give a clear answer as to what happened to Tony, don’t stop believing...
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