25 Years Later, Here's Where the Stars of ‘The Sopranos’ Ended Up

By Stuart Wolf - Aug 25, 2025

This article appeared in vibeforest.com and has been published here with permission.

When HBO's The Sopranos premiered in 1999, Tony Soprano, his Italian-American mobster cohorts, and his dysfunctional family changed television forever. But what happened to the stars of the show? Thankfully, the cast of mainly Italian-American actors didn't all end up buried in shallow graves across the New Jersey Pine Barrens like half the characters… 25 years later, here's where the stars of The Sopranos ended up.

The World in 1999

The world was a very different place in 1999. The World Trade Center's Twin Towers still dominated the New York skyline, as seen in Tony's rearview mirror during early season's opening titles. People rented DVDs from Blockbuster Video. The president being impeached was actually shocking. Then along came a show that changed TV forever…

The World in 1999

Films and shows about the Italian-American Mafia were ten-a-penny, but The Sopranos showed a violent yet vulnerable Tony Soprano struggling to balance being a New Jersey mob boss with his life as a husband and father. 

Meet The Sopranos

Created by showrunner David Chase, HBO's The Sopranos ran for 86 episodes across six glorious seasons from 1999 to 2007. It centered around Tony Soprano seeing a psychiatrist to overcome his depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and rage by opening up about the challenges he faces balancing his violent criminal life while being a father to a dysfunctional family. 

Meet The Sopranos

The Sopranos was one of the greatest TV shows ever made, winning 21 Emmy Awards and ushering in the Second Golden Age of Television with shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

James Gandolfini - Then

James Gandolfini played the show's protagonist, ruthless mob boss and family man Tony Soprano. Over six seasons, Tony made his way from DiMeo crime family capo to its undisputed kingpin. Gandolfini was well-known to theater and film fans, having appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, True Romance, Crimson Tide, and Get Shorty.

James Gandolfini - Then

Gandolfini was married to producer Marcy Wudarski from 1999 to 2002, and they had a son, Michael — who later played his dad's most iconic role in the prequel film The Many Saints of Newark

James Gandolfini - Now

After that famously ambiguous diner scene finale ended the show in 2006, Gandolfini married model and actress Deborah Lin, with whom he welcomed a daughter, Liliana. He went on to star in In the Loop, The Taking of Pelham 123, Spike Jonez' wildly underappreciated Where the Wild Things Are, and Zero Dark Thirty.

James Gandolfini - Now

Sadly, James Gandolfini was taken too soon, passing away from a heart attack during a sweltering Rome heatwave on June 19th, 2013. 14-year-old Michael discovered his father unconscious.