Michael Gandolfini (born May 10, 1999) is an American actor. Gandolfini made his major film debut in ''

Ocean's 8 ''Ocean's 8'' is a 2018 heist comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. A spin-off of Steven Soderbergh's ''Ocean's'' trilogy, it is the fourth installment in the ''Ocean's'' franchise. The film features an ensem ...

'' (2018) and appeared in ''

The Many Saints of Newark ''The Many Saints of Newark'' (marketed with the subtitle ''A Sopranos Story'') is a 2021 American crime drama film directed by Alan Taylor and written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner. A prequel to Chase's HBO crime drama series ''The Sop ...

'' (2021), in which he played the role of

Tony Soprano Anthony John Soprano, portrayed by James Gandolfini, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO crime drama television series ''The Sopranos''. He is a member of the American Mafia, Italian-American Mafia and, later in the series, ...

, a character originally portrayed by his father

James Gandolfini James John Gandolfini (; September 18, 1961June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007 ...

in the television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. He has since appeared in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

series '' Daredevil: Born Again'' and the film ''

Warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

.''

Early life

Gandolfini was born on May 10, 1999, in New York City to actor

and Marcy Wudarski. His father was of Italian descent and his mother is of Polish and Slovak heritage. He has a younger half-sister from his father's second marriage. While he was a teenager, Gandolfini enjoyed performing, but his father advised against an acting career; he wanted him to pursue sports or "be a director. They have the power," he said. His father died at age 51 of a heart attack in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on June 19, 2013.

Career

After his father's death, Michael Gandolfini decided to pursue acting. He enrolled at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

after graduating from high school. After early auditions, he was cast in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

drama series '' The Deuce'' as Joey Dwyer. In 2019, he was cast in ''

'' to play the young version of

, the role played by his father in the television series ''

''. Gandolfini had never watched the show. He described watching it while preparing for the role as an intense process. He was later cast in the

Russo brothers Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers ( ), are American filmmakers. They direct most of their work together, and their work has grossed more than $6.8 billion worl ...

' crime drama ''

Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

''. In 2024, he was cast in ''

'', a war film written and directed by Ray Mendoza and

Alex Garland Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English author, screenwriter, and director. He rose to prominence with his novel '' The Beach'' (1996). He received praise for writing the Danny Boyle films '' 28 Days Later'' (2002) and '' Sun ...

. He has since been cast in ''Daredevil: Born Again'' as Daniel Blake.

Personal life

He has been sober since 2017. As of January 2024, he has been in a relationship with actress

Mia Healey Mia Healey (born 28 August 1998) is an Australian actress and model. She played Shelby Goodkind on two seasons of Prime Video series ''The Wilds (TV series), The Wilds''. Early life She was born in Sydney to her parents Nick and Suzie Healey. ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gandolfini, Michael 1999 births Living people 21st-century American male actors American male child actors American male models American male film actors American male television actors American people of Italian descent American people of Polish descent Male actors from New York City New York University alumni