Photography by THEA TRAFF

MICHAEL GANDOLFINI

Actor

The actor first made waves in 2021 playing a teenage iteration of his own father’s role, Tony Soprano, but has since proved to be far more than a legacy act in "Beau Is Afraid," "Daredevil: Born Again," and Alex Garland’s forthcoming "Warfare."

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? The last tribal council that I saw on Survivor.

WHAT’S ONE BOOK, WORK OF ART, OR FILM THAT GOT YOU THROUGH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE? The Place Beyond the Pines got me through a lot of nights, and gave me a lot of answers.

“"Just sheer sex appeal, probably. Can’t help it."”

NAME AN INFLUENCE OF YOURS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE. Sam Shepard, Jessica Chastain, Mark Ruffalo, Annie Leibovitz, Sally Mann, Lauren Bacall, Anthony Yebra, John David Washington, Joe P, Yorgos Lanthimos, Robert Duvall. I could go on…

WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT WERE YOU KNOWN FOR? A one-man lip-sync performance of Wicked. Over and over again.

WHAT DO YOU WANT NEXT FOR YOURSELF ABOVE ALL ELSE? To continue to grow, and to see my job as an act of service serving someone’s vision or something bigger than myself.

IF YOU COULD ATTRIBUTE YOUR SUCCESS TO A SINGLE QUALITY OF YOURS, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Just sheer sex appeal, probably. Can’t help it.

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