Vincent Pastore Reflects on Teaching Acting Classes After ‘Sopranos’: ‘I’m Not That Guy on Television’

Sometimes when Vincent Pastore is teaching an acting class in New York City, a Sopranos fan will show up. “Usually it’s a guy,” says Vincent, who played mafia strongman Salvatore Bonpensiero — affectionately known as “Big Pussy” due to his early career as a cat burglar — on the influential HBO mob series. “I say, ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘Well, you know, I wanted to meet you.’ I say, ‘Well, I’m Vinny. I’m a teacher. I’m not that guy on television, you know.’”

The New York native, whose beloved character made many return appearances to The Sopranos after he was offed in season 2, takes pride in passing on what he’s learned as an actor in classes at HB Studios. TV viewers can also find him as Donnie Sisto, the Consigliere, on the Amazon Prime drama, Gravesend. “I’ve also got a theater group, Renegade, with Maureen Van Zandt,” says Vincent, who produces classic and contemporary plays for the stage.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in New Rochelle, New York in an Italian-American neighborhood. I went to New Rochelle High School, then the Navy, then college. I went into the club business and then I became an actor in 1989.

Was becoming an actor something you always wanted to do?

My dream was not to be an actor. My dream was to be a nightclub owner. I love putting shows together. It’s ironic because Michael Imperioli wrote the Sopranos episode where his character, Christopher, bought a bar for Adriana called the Crazy Horse. That was the name of my bar.

Was that a coincidence?

No, Michael used to come in there.

You had a small part in Goodfellas. Was that your first big break?

No, my big breakthrough role was Jerky Boys with Alan Arkin. It turned out to be a whole game changer for me. It was a cult movie, but I was working opposite Alan Arkin. Ironically, in the late ’70s, in between my bar life, I was running a travel agency. I used to put [his son] Anthony Arkin on the bus on Sunday afternoon to go back to college in Vermont. Years later, Anthony and I did a movie together.

How did you get the role on The Sopranos?

It came from working on the HBO movie Gotti. I played Quack Quack. It got a great response. So when they were casting The Sopranos they brought me, Tony Sirico [Paulie] and Dominic Chianese [Junior] in the same afternoon. We all read for the role of Big Pussy.

Did you realize it was going to be a hit?

No. We did the first season of Sopranos not knowing what we were doing or where it was going. HBO held back and released [all the episodes] once it was all completed. Boom! It blew up. By the time we went to work on the second season, we were part of pop culture.

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Did you have any clue that your character was going to be killed in the second season?

No, I had a seven-year contract.

And that’s why you showed up so often in flashbacks.

They promised me a paycheck.

What was working with James Gandolfini like?

Jimmy was like my best friend. I’ll never forget, we had a table read for season two, episode one. After the read, I went over to Jimmy and said, ‘How am I going to learn all this?’ He said, ‘You’re going to come to the set early. We’re going to get in my trailer, and we’re going to run out of wine, and you’re going to do a good job.’ God bless him — I almost got nominated for an Emmy. Jimmy’s soul stays with me. There would have never been The Sopranos without James Gandolfini.

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You’ve played a lot of mob guys. Has it been hard not to get typecast?

I’ve been typecast ever since I woke up, but what are you going to do? That’s what they give me, Law & Order or wise guys. But I don’t want to play a rat anymore.

It must be hard to make casting people see you in a different light.

It’s stupid. But I have a theater company with Maureen Van Zandt, [her husband] Little Steven [Soprano’s Silvio] is directing us. We put up the play Lovers and Other Strangers. It’s a comedy. There is more to life for me than just playing the same kind of guy!

One last Sopranos question. What did you think of the finale?

I think they left it as a cliffhanger so there was an option. They didn’t know Jimmy was going to die. [Sopranos creator David Chase] said to me, “So, are you ready to come back to work?” I think he left everything up in the air because they were thinking of coming back and making a movie.

Sometime after The Sopranos, you were cast on Dancing With the Stars but you backed out. What happened?

They had me dancing with this dancer from Russia. She was like 25 years old, and I couldn’t keep up with her. I called my agent and asked if they could match me up with somebody closer to my age. It was like they wanted to get rid of me episode one.