Sit Down with Michael Franzese
Sit Down with Michael Franzese
Michael Franzese
My Last Sit Down With Sopranos Actor Vincent Pastore - RIP Vinny
1 hour 6 minutes Posted Aug 4, 2026 at 10:18 pm.
— Introduction00:00:54 — A Sad Day — We Lost My Friend Vinny Pastore00:02:26 — The Great Ones We've Lost — Liotta, Caan, Sirico & More00:04:24 — My 2021 Interview With Vinny — In His Memory00:04:57 — How Vinny Became Angelo Ruggiero — I Knew the Real Angelo00:06:52 — Armand Assante, Anthony Quinn & the Baby on Set00:07:53 — The Bar Scene — Nobody Ever Played It Better00:08:41 — Wine Under the Table — The Freedom They Had on Gotti00:09:51 — Touring the World With the Sopranos Cast00:12:30 — The Secret Casablanca Records Movie00:13:23 — I Was in That Office With My Father — Casablanca & Buddah Records00:14:56 — The Disco Days — My Clubs, His Clubs, Old New York00:18:07 — Why Vinny Walked Away From the Nightlife00:18:52 — "You're Going to Be Dead at 50" — The Night He Chose Acting00:20:22 — Broadway, Chicago & Beating Tony Darrow for the Part00:22:26 — Vinny's Acting Lesson — Take the Two-Line Role00:24:09 — I Asked Him: How Do You Remember All Those Lines?00:27:41 — Tony Sirico — Best Friends From Episode Two00:28:41 — The Day David Chase Called ME About The Sopranos00:30:27 — Getting Whacked — The Truth Behind the Funhouse Episode00:31:51 — "I'm Not Getting Rid of Vinnie" — Tony Fought for Him00:32:30 — Jimmy Caan Told Him: "You Got Robbed at the Emmys"00:33:26 — When The Sopranos Was a Sunday Night Lifestyle00:34:12 — "Don't Beg" — How He Filmed His Final Scene00:34:47 — Liz Hurley Loved My Father — The Mickey Blue Eyes Days00:36:49 — We Made a Commitment On Camera — A Series Together00:41:16 — Vinny & Danny Provenzano — Getting Sick, Making Peace00:43:29 — "I Was Scared, Man" — Vinny Opens Up About Cancer00:46:01 — My Father at 103 — Still a Bull00:49:12 — I Challenged Him to a Pizza Face-Off — Slices vs. Mulberry Street00:53:32 — Two Old School Guys, Two Commitments00:58:44 — "So We Did Grow Up"01:00:13 — Our Goodbye — Mob Movie Monday & See You Soon01:02:02 — My Farewell to Vinny — I'll See You on the Other Side
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This is a sad one, people. My friend Vinny Pastore passed away over the weekend. 80 years old. You knew him as Big Pussy on The Sopranos, and as Angelo Ruggiero — a man I knew personally — in the 1996 Gotti movie. He nailed that role. I told him so to his face.
Vinny was the real deal. A good actor, a better man. Always had time for a fan, a photo, an autograph. Everybody who knew him will tell you the same thing.
Back in 2021 we sat down together — and I’m glad we did. He told me stories you won’t hear anywhere else: how Armand Assante turned into John Gotti right in front of him at the audition, holding Anthony Quinn’s baby on set, his years with Tony Sirico, and how a guy from the Bronx who thought he’d be dead by 50 ended up in the greatest show ever made.
We’ve lost too many of these guys the past few years — Ray Liotta, Jimmy Caan, Tony Sirico, Burt Young — and now Vinny. So watch this one, enjoy him the way I got to, and keep his family in your prayers.
Rest easy, Vinny. See you on the other side, my friend.
#VincentPastore #TheSopranos #BigPussy #RIP #michaelfranzese
My Last Sit Down With Sopranos Actor Vincent Pastore - RIP Vinny
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