The cast of The Sopranos held a virtual reunion on Friday night, part of a fundraiser for Friends of Firefighters, an organization created after the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. Fans not only had a chance to see their faves in small chat boxes for a Q&A, they also got to watch the reading of a short scene written by series creator David Chase. An argument can therefore be made that the contents of “Bada Bing, Bada Zoom,” as it was dubbed, is part of official Sopranos lore.
The event raised over $100,000 and was initiated by Steve Buscemi, a former member of the FDNY. Kevin Smith (who, and I mean no disrespect, is more Central Jersey than North Jersey, but okay) was the host, and he offered a walk-on in his upcoming film Twilight of the Mallrats to anyone who coughed-up $5,000. (Sopranos writer Terence Winter, who worked on the “Bada Bing, Bada Zoom” scene with Chase grabbed the opportunity.) Buscemi also auctioned off his DGA plaque for directing the fan-favorite episode “Pine Barrens.”
So what got the characters together, story-wise? Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) raffled off some group therapy sessions, and Tony’s sister Janice (Aida Turturro) won. Carmela (Edie Falco), Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), A.J. (Robert Iler), all checked-in, as did Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore), Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt), Gabriella Dante (Maureen Van Zandt), Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo), Bobby Bacala (Steve Schirripa), Furio (Federico Castelluccio), and Buscemi’s Tony Blundetto.
The main topic for the bit was seeing how they’re dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Big Pussy’s deal is stealing Amazon packages from front porches, and Christopher is deep into QAnon theories online. Meadow is a defense attorney, A.J. in into bitcoin, and Tony Blundetto is now a reiki healer. Bobby Bacala mostly plays with his model trains.
The biggest surprise, and fan service that can cross lightsabers with a digitally de-aged Luke Skywalker on The Mandalorian, was the return of Valery, the Russian baddie from the third season episode “Pine Barrens.” Actor Vitali Baganov joked he could finally divulge how he eluded the clutches of the Jersey mob, “but David Chase won’t let me.” There then followed some Putin jokes and cracks about Hillary Clinton‘s emails.
The rest of the fundraiser was a more traditional chat, with actors reminiscing about their time on the show. Edie Falco joked that, at first, she thought The Sopranos was about singers. Drea de Matteo says she won her audition by pronouncing the word “Ow!” by stretching it into 15 syllables. (Checks out!)
David Chase’s next project is the highly anticipated Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, that hits HBO Max and theaters simultaneously in March of next year. It stars Michael Gandolfini, James Gandolfini’s son, as the young Tony Soprano. John Magaro, who starred in Chase’s Not Fade Away, is the young Silvio, Alessandro Nivoli is Christopher’s father, and Vera Farmiga plays Tony’s mother Livia.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
— Cover Story: Stephen Colbert on Trump Trauma, Love, and Loss
— Rosario Dawson Tells All About The Mandalorian’s Ahsoka Tano
— The 20 Best TV Shows and Movies of 2020
— Why The Crown Season Four’s Prince Charles Appalled Royal Experts
— This Documentary Is the Real-World Version of The Undoing, but Better
— How Hero Worship Turned to Scorn in the Star Wars Fandom
— In Light of The Crown, Is Prince Harry’s Netflix Deal a Conflict of Interest?
— From the Archive: An Empire Rebooted, the Genesis of The Force Awakens
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.