Sopranos star reveals James Gandolfini's savage two-word response to that infamous ending

Daily Mail​

07-05-2025

It's been nearly 18 years since HBO 's The Sopranos ended with one of the most controversial series finales of all time, with star Lorraine Bracco revealing how her co-star James Gandolfini really thought of the ending.
The series was a massive hit for HBO, following Gandolfini's Tony Soprano and his New Jersey mafia family, running six seasons spanning 86 episodes.
Bracco, 70, played Tony Soprano's psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi, throughout the show's run, where it amassed 21 Emmys and is credited for starting the Second Golden Age of Television.
For as popular and beloved as the series was, the finale, written and directed by series creator David Chase, is still among the most controversial of all time.
The final scene takes place at Holsten's diner in New Jersey, where Tony is in a booth with his family, his eyes darting to the door every time the bell rings when someone enters.
Bracco was promoting her new Netflix film Nonnas, when Fallon asked her to clear up a rumor that she didn't love The Sopranos ending, revealing her co-star Gandolfini's stunned two-word response: 'That's it?"
It's been nearly 18 years since HBO 's The Sopranos ended with one of the most controversial series finales of all time, with star Lorraine Bracco revealing how her co-star James Gandolfini really thought of the ending.
The final scene shows Tony waiting at Holsten's, ultimately joined one-by-one by his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and son A.J. (Robert Iler) as Journey's Don't Stop Believin' is playing at the table's jukebox, while he keeps eyeing the door every time it opens and the bell rings.
They're waiting for his daughter Meadow (Jamie Lynn Sigler), who is running towards the diner, the bell rings one last time as he looks up, and the show ends abruptly with a final cut to black that the show's legions of fans did not see coming.
While the ending didn't sit well with many of the show's fans, it apparently also didn't sit well with Gandolfini himself, according to Bracco.
'I'll tell you the truth, I was sitting next to Jimmy Gandolfini. And he just went like this,' as she stands up to mimic the actor, quoting him stating, 'That's it? That's it?'
She added, 'And you know how he always used to push his hair back, and he just walked out. He was like, "That's it?" He couldn't believe it. I said, "Yeah, I guess that's it.'
Bracco didn't seem to be a fan of it herself, though she admitted, 'You know, the only thing I can say is people are still talking about it. So, I guess David did do something interesting.'
Holsten's is a real diner Bloomfield, New Jersey, which auctioned off the same booth The Sopranos sat in for over $82K last year.
Creator David Chase has never confirmed whether Tony Soprano lived or died after the infamous cut to black, though he did open up in 2021 about how surprised he was about the uproar over the final shot.
'I had no idea it would cause that much — I mean, I forget what was going on in Iraq or someplace; London had been bombed! Nobody was talking about that; they were talking about The Sopranos,' he told THR.
'It was kind of incredible to me. But I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar. And was it annoying? What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me,' he added.
'They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, 'God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he's a criminal. But don't tell me you don't love him in some way, don't tell me you're not on his side in some way,' he said.
'"And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? You're a criminal after watching this s**t for seven years.' That bothered me, yeah,' he admitted.