Catch this western Queens actress in ‘The Sopranos’ prequel
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TIMESLEDGER | Q 8 NS.COM | OCT. 1 - OCT. 7, 2021
five and acting for half a
year, Piazza quit her day
job when she decided to
executive produce and
star in her own short
film — which she credits
with catapulting her
career.
“It was the scariest
moment of my life,” she
recalled.
Over the next five
years, she made opportunities
for herself and
collaborated with artists
around the city. She produced
four short films,
executive produced
three, starred in three,
and went on auditions
— one of which led her
to the world of “The Sopranos.”
“I had watched this
beautiful show before,
but not to the point where
I was really prepared for
this audition, so I sat
down and watched it and
truly fell in love again
with the show David
Chase had created,” Piazza
said. “And I just felt
really good about it. I’m
Italian — I’m also Dominican
— but the Italian
side of my family is
just so close to my heart.
I just got it. So I went in
there and did my job —
what I thought would
work.”
And it did. About four
months later, she was
standing in a stairwell
at her restaurant job on
the phone with her manager.
Piazza smiled at the
memory:
“She said, ‘You’re
Joanne in “The Sopranos”!’
I just started bawling
… I remember going
to the hostess at the time
and being like, ‘Jen, can
you pinch me?’ It was
crazy.”
She described walking
into the first table
read as nerve-wracking
but welcoming.
“They say that James
Gandolfini was the
nicest guy and made
everyone feel like family
on set, and Michael
Gandolfini filled those
shoes beautifully. He
came right up to me and
introduced himself, and
that opened the door
for me to have enough
confidence to introduce
myself to the incredible
Vera Farmiga, Jon
Bernthal and the man
who plays my husband,
Alessandro Nivola. Just
sitting as an actor with
these incredibly talented
— and Ray Liotta! —
these incredibly talented
actors … I was just like,
‘How did I get in here?’
From there we just felt
like a family.”
The production faced
the difficult task of staying
true to the show everyone
knows and loves,
while also forging a tale
that could stand on its
own.
“It was sort of daunting
in a sense because
fans of ‘The Sopranos’
have their hearts set on
these characters,” Piazza
said. “But because it’s
a prequel, there’s a freeness
around the roles
that we were given.”
You can catch Piazza
in “The Many Saints
of Newark” when it
premieres on Oct. 1.
Gabriella Piazza Photo by Francis Hill
BY ESTELLE PYPER
Excitement for “The
Sopranos” prequel, “The
Many Saints of Newark,”
can be felt around the
city. The new film, based
on the beloved HBO series
starring the late
James Gandolfini, will
transport fans back to
the 1960s and ‘70s. It follows
the teenage years
of Tony Soprano (played
by Gandolfini’s son, Michael
Gandolfini) as his
uncle and mentor Dickie
Moltisanti (Alessandro
Nivola) gets wrapped up
in a violent gang war.
The cast is star-studded,
featuring big names
like Vera Farmiga, Ray
Liotta and Leslie Odom
Jr. Western Queens actress
Gabriella Piazza
couldn’t believe she
found herself in the middle
of it, playing Dickie’s
wife, Joanne Moltisanti.
Piazza spoke to
Schneps Media about
her career and her experience
working on the
highly anticipated film.
Before she landed
the role of Joanne Moltisanti,
Piazza was on a
very different life path.
By her mid-twenties, the
New York City native
was escalating through
the ranks at a technology
company as VP of sales,
but something wasn’t
right.
“It’s safe to say that I
was missing a creative
spark,” Piazza said. “I
had always really been
interested in television
and film, and I had
the wonderful opportunity
to meet a very
dear person in my life
who encouraged me to
go to school at night for
acting.”
She took the friend’s
advice and enrolled at
the New York Film Academy.
She quickly fell in
love. After attempting
to juggle both a nine-to-
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