The Sopranos and The Godfather trilogy are widely considered to be the best when it comes to portraying the mobster lifestyle, and some actors have been lucky enough to act in both. The Godfather franchise, inspired by Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather, instantly became a worldwide phenomenon upon the first film’s release in 1972. The Sopranos, which follows the anxiety-ridden mob boss Tony Soprano, found immediate success when the first season kicked off in 1999.

The Godfather trilogy is heavily referenced throughout The Sopranos. The Corleones are routinely mentioned in The Sopranos. Tony and his associates praise the Corleones several times, expressing their admiration for the family, and they also recall (or misremember) scenes from The Godfather in conversation. There are many subtle nods to The Godfather trilogy throughout the series. However, one of the biggest nods was The Sopranos’ Silvio Dante (Stevie Van Zandt) doing a pretty solid impression of Michael Corleone. With The Godfather holding a special spot in The Sopranos universe, the fact that several actors appear in both works makes the Sopranos’ and the Corleones’ connection even better.

7

Dominic Chianese (Corrado “Junior” Soprano)

Dominic Chianese Portrays Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II

Corrado “Junior” Soprano (also known as “Uncle Jun”) was Tony’s uncle and the original boss of the DiMeo crime family. Junior was established as a character others did not want to mess with from the very first episode of The Sopranos: Junior was incessant in murdering Gennaro “Little Pussy” Malanga, an act which Tony ultimately prevents. Dominic Chianese portrayed Junior as intelligent and tough with a good amount of humor, although Junior was extremely stubborn and relatively set in his ways.

Johnny Ola, who Chianese portrayed in The Godfather Part II, was a mobster and an enforcer for the film’s antagonist, Hyman Roth. Ola was based on the real-life Vincent Alo, who worked closely with notorious mobster Meyer Lansky. When Chianese was cast for The Godfather Part II, the future Soprano ​​​​​star only had one acting credit to his name. After his breakout role as Ola, Chianese went on to star in several other films alongside Al Pacino, who played Michael Corleone, including Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Looking for Richard (1996). Besides The Sopranos and The Godfather Part II, Chianese also appeared on HBO’s crime drama Boardwalk Empire.

6

Tony Lip (Carmine Lupertazzi)

Tony Lip Had an Uncredited Role in The Godfather

Tony Lip portrayed Carmine Lupertazzi, the boss of the Lupertazzi crime family, in The Sopranos. Carmine and Tony shared a stable relationship as the bosses of the Lupertazzi and DiMeo crime families. Carmine ultimately passed away from a stroke, however, which led to a power struggle between Carmine’s son, Little Carmine Lupertazzi, and Carmine’s underboss, Johnny Sack. Before his character’s death in The Sopranos, Lip portrayed the elder Lupertazzi as the ultimate old-school mobster: rational and logical (for the most part), Carmine’s number one priority was always to cultivate good business.

Before Tony Lip was cast as Carmine, he made the smallest of appearances in The Godfather. In fact, The Godfather was Lip’s first role. While uncredited, Lip was a wedding guest at Connie Corleone and Carlo Rizzi’s wedding. If you look closely at all the background characters during The Godfather‘s wedding sequence, you can see Lip briefly appear with a cigar behind Don Vito Corleone.

5

Tony Sirico (“Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri)

Tony Sirico Had an Uncredited Role in The Godfather Part II

Tony Sirico was cast to portray Peter Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri in The Sopranos. Paulie Walnuts was a trusted member of the DiMeo crime family. He started as a soldier and was later promoted to captain, although Tony did offer him an underboss position in the final episode of The Sopranos. Throughout The Sopranos, Paulie Walnuts was routinely portrayed as impulsive, violent, and eclectic, although he could also be a little obnoxious and paranoid. While Paulie Walnuts was also generally loyal to Tony, fans of The Sopranos have debated for almost 20 years whether Paulie Walnuts ultimately betrayed him.

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Before his work on The Sopranos, Tony Sirico briefly appeared in The Godfather Part II. Like Dominic Chianese, Sirico had only one acting credit before he joined The Godfather trilogy. Sirico was an uncredited extra in a scene where Carmine and Tony Rosato (otherwise known as the Rosato Brothers) face off against Frank Pentangeli in a failed assassination attempt. Although Sirico was only featured for a brief moment helping the Rosato Brothers, the small role inadvertently helped the chain reaction, which led him to The Sopranos.

4

Richard Bright (Frank Crisci)

Richard Bright Portrayed Al Neri in The Godfather

Richard Bright portrayed Frank Crisci in The Sopranos episode “The Weight” (season 4, episode 4). Crisci was a member of the Atwell Avenue Boys, hitmen whom Junior recommended to Tony for hire. Tony, who wanted to whack Johnny Sack, arranged a meeting between Crisci, Silvio Dante, Christopher Moltisanti, and the other Atwell Avenue Boys to set up the plan. During the meeting, Crisci explained how he murdered a man named Thomas Neri. Crisci is not mentioned again after this episode of The Sopranos.

The name Thomas Neri was more likely than not a nod to Bright’s role in The Godfather. Bright portrayed Al Neri in all three Godfather films, an enforcer, bodyguard, and assassin for Michael Corleone. While Neri’s background is cut almost entirely for the Godfather trilogy, he meets an untimely end in The Godfather Part III after he betrays Michael for Michael’s rival, Don Altobello.

3

John Aprea (Gene Conigliaro)

John Aprea Portrayed Young Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather Part II

Gene Conigliaro was the U.S. attorney for New Jersey and appeared in only one episode, the season finale, “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (The Sopranos ​​​​​season 1, episode 13). After Junior was arrested, Conigliaro told Junior that his charges could be reduced if he admitted that Tony was the real boss of the DiMeo family. Junior refused to implicate Tony or anyone else in the mafia; Conigliaro was a minor character and was never seen in The Sopranos again.

John Aprea had a larger role in The Godfather Part II, where he portrayed young Salvatore Tessio. Before he was eventually cast as a young Tessio, Aprea met with The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola and auditioned to play Michael. Aprea’s Tessio and Vito Corleone share a scene selling stolen dresses in The Godfather Part II; all of Aprea’s lines were in Italian.

2

Frank Albanese (Patrizio Blundetto)

Frank Albanese Had Two Uncredited Roles in The Godfather and The Godfather Part III

Patrizio Blundetto was a soldier when the DiMeo family was led by Johnny Soprano, Tony’s father. The brother of Junior and the uncle of Christopher Moltisanti, Tony and other characters called him “Uncle Pat”. Although he was not an active mobster during The Sopranos, several bodies were buried at Blundetto’s farm in upstate New York. Eventually, the bodies were moved after Blundetto’s farm was sold. Uncle Pat’s last appearance was in the series finale of The Sopranos, where he paid a visit to Junior.

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Frank Albanese was mostly cast as a mobster during his career and appeared in several popular gangster films. Albanese was an actor in The Sopranos, The Godfather trilogy, and Goodfellas. Albanese’s appearances in The Godfather were small and uncredited, however. In the first Godfather movie, Albanese played the assassin who whacked Philip Tattaglia, the boss of the Tattaglia crime family. In The Godfather Part III, Albanese portrayed the Grand Marshall who led the St. Gennaro Feast parade.

1

Vito Antuofermo (Bobby Zanone)

Vito Antuofermo Portrayed Anthony ‘The Ant’ Squigliaro in The Godfather Part III

Bobby Zanone was affiliated with the Aprile Crew, which was an inside faction of the larger DiMeo family. Although the Aprile Crew was financially successful, several members of the group clashed with Tony and the broader DiMeo family, resulting in conflicts that ultimately led to assassinations. Zanone, however, was a minor character who only appeared in two episodes of The Sopranos. Zanone owned a garbage business that was actually a drug front for the April crew. In his most memorable scene, Zanone had a customer’s trash dumped back on their property after the customer called to complain.

Vito Antuofermo, who started as a professional boxer before he turned to acting, also portrayed Anthony “The Ant” Squigliaro in The Godfather Part III. Vito, born in Italy, landed his first film roles in two highly acclaimed gangster movies: The Godfather Part III and Goodfellas, both released in 1990. In The Godfather Part III, The Ant was the enforcer and bodyguard of Joey Zasa. While The Ant was a strong force to be reckoned with, he was eventually taken out after being shot.