Skip to content
MovieCove
James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini

Actor, also producer · Died June 19, 2013, aged 51 · Westwood, New Jersey, USA

3 Primetime Emmys · Golden Globe winner · 5 Screen Actors Guild Awards · 2 other major award bodies

James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor and producer. He was best known for his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American crime boss in HBO's television series The Sopranos, for which he won three Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and one Golden Globe Award. Gandolfini's portrayal of Tony Soprano is widely regarded as among the greatest performances in television history. Gandolfini's notable film roles include mob henchman Virgil in True Romance (1993), Lt. Bobby Dougherty in Crimson Tide (1995), Colonel Winter in The Last Castle (2001) and Mayor of New York in The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009). Other roles are enforcer and stuntman Bear in Get Shorty (1995) and impulsive "Wild Thing" Carol in Where the Wild Things Are (2009). For his performance as Albert in Enough Said (2013), Gandolfini posthumously received much critical praise and several awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2007, Gandolfini produced Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq, a documentary in which he interviewed injured Iraq War veterans and in 2010, Wartorn: 1861–2010 examining the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on soldiers and families throughout several wars in U.S. history from 1861 to 2010. In addition to Alive Day Memories, he also produced television film Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), which gained him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series nomination. In 2013, Gandolfini died of a heart attack in Rome at the age of 51.

Read more

Biography from TMDB.

Born
September 18, 1961
Died
June 19, 2013 (aged 51)
From
Westwood, New Jersey, USA
Works as
Actor, also producer
Titles
48 on MovieCove · 58 credits in all
TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Down 22% in 30 days

What are James Gandolfini's films like?

Across their 39 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Self.

What they feel like to watch

their average across 38 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category

A split, not a type: Light 11 · Serious 6 · Dark 21

A split, not a type: Grounded 20 · Stylized 14 · Heightened 4

Gentle 4 · Charged 19 · Intense 15

A split, not a type: Steady 18 · Shifting 16 · Whiplash 4

A split, not a type: Straight-faced 24 · Some laughs 8 · Funny 6

Slow burn 15 · Even-paced 22 · Relentless 1

Casual 12 · Engaged 17 · Full focus 9

A split, not a type: Easy watch 7 · Affecting 12 · Heavy 19

Resolved 21 · Open-ended 15 · Ambiguous 2

Roles they play

24 analyzed roles

Usually the Shadow: 7 of 24 analyzed roles.

Shadow
7 of 24
Threshold guardian
4 of 24
Shapeshifter
4 of 24
Ally
3 of 24
Mentor
3 of 24
Hero
2 of 24
Herald
1 of 24
Show the 24 roles

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
25
Melancholic
16
Bittersweet
11
Contemplative
9
Dread
6
Other
37

How their films end · 8 with a twist

  • Happy6
  • Bittersweet23
  • Tragic1
  • Ambiguous9

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch James Gandolfini's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 31 of their 48 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (11).

Subscription and free streaming for James Gandolfini's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

58 credits, 48 with a MovieCove page; 10 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • The Night Of(2016)

    Show 8 episodes · Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
  • The Drop(2014)

    as Cousin Marv

    Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
  • Enough Said(2013)

    as Albert

    Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
  • Violet & Daisy(2011)

    as Michael

    Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all films
  • Nicky Deuce(2013)

    as Bobby Eggs

    Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
  • Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
  • Not Fade Away(2012)

    as Pat Damiano

    Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
  • Zero Dark Thirty(2012)

    as C.I.A. Director

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
  • Hemingway & Gellhorn(2012)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
  • Killing Them Softly(2012)

    as Mickey

    Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
  • Cinema Verite(2011)

    as Craig Gilbert

    Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
  • Down the Shore (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

    as Bailey

  • Wartorn: 1861-2010(2010)

    Executive Producer · as Self

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
  • Welcome to the Rileys(2010)

    as Doug Riley

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
  • Mint Julep(2010)

    as Mr. G

    Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
  • Where the Wild Things Are(2009)

    as Carol (voice)

    Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
  • Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
  • In the Loop(2009)

    as Lt Gen. George Miller

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
  • Stories USA(2007)

    as The Man (segment "Club Soda")

    Midcredits score: 2nd percentile of all films
  • Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq(2007)

    Executive Producer · as Self

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
  • America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions(2006)

    Show 1 episode · as Narrator (voice)

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all shows
  • Club Soda (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)

    as The Man

  • HBO: The Making of 'The Sopranos: Road to Respect' (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)

    Actor

  • All the King's Men(2006)

    as Tiny Duffy

    Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
  • Lonely Hearts(2006)

    as Det. Charles Hilderbrandt

    Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
  • Romance & Cigarettes(2005)

    as Nick Murder

    Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
  • Stories of Lost Souls(2005)

    as Vincent

    Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
  • Surviving Christmas(2004)

    as Tom Valco

    Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
  • The Man Who Wasn't There(2001)

    as Big Dave Brewster

    Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
  • The Last Castle(2001)

    as Col. Winter

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
  • Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words & Music (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

    Actor

  • The Mexican(2001)

    as Leroy

    Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
  • Gun: Fatal Betrayal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

    Actor

  • A Whole New Day (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    as Vincent

  • 8MM(1999)

    as Eddie Poole

    Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
  • The Sopranos(1999)

    Show 86 episodes · as Tony Soprano

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
  • A Civil Action(1998)

    as Al Love

    Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
  • The Mighty(1998)

    as Kenny Kane

    Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
  • Fallen(1998)

    as Lou

    Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
  • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil(1997)

    as Diner Cook #2 (uncredited)

    Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
  • Perdita Durango(1997)

    as Dumas

    Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
  • She's So Lovely(1997)

    as Kiefer

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
  • 12 Angry Men(1997)

    as Juror 6

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
  • Gun (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Show 1 episode · as Walter

  • Night Falls on Manhattan(1996)

    as Joey Allegretto

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
  • The Juror(1996)

    as Eddie

    Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films
  • Get Shorty(1995)

    as Bear

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
  • Crimson Tide(1995)

    as Lt. Robert 'Bobby' Dougherty

    Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
  • The New World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)

    as Will Caberra

  • Terminal Velocity(1994)

    as Ben Pinkwater

    Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
  • Italian Movie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)

    as Angelo

  • Angie(1994)

    as Vinnie

    Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
  • Mr. Wonderful(1993)

    as Mike

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
  • Money for Nothing(1993)

    as Billy Coyle

    Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films
  • True Romance(1993)

    as Virgil

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
  • A Stranger Among Us(1992)

    as Tony Baldessari

    Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
  • The Last Boy Scout(1991)

    as Marcone's Goon (uncredited)

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
  • Shock! Shock! Shock! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)

    as Orderly

Career shape

Star power in the 99th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 58 titles from 1987 to 2016; peak year 2013.

Film career

MilestoneAward winNomination
19872016

Peak 2013 · at the high point of their film career. Top draw in 14 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.

Show 1 more milestone

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting54 of 58: 54 only acting, 0 with another role · typical Midcredits score59thProducing4 of 58: 4 only producing, 0 with another role

By decade

1980s1 · acting1990s24 · acting2000s18 · 17 acting · 1 crew2010s15 · 12 acting · 3 crew

Billing

usually 4th · top billed in 3% of 37 roles
92970212

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.

Awards

3 Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe and 5 Screen Actors Guild Awards from 31 major nominations, 1996–2014.

WinNomination
  1. 2014
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
    • +2 other major bodies · 3 nominations
      • Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Actor in a Comedy
      • Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Supporting Actor
      • Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Supporting Male
  2. 2012
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Miniseries or Movie
  3. 2008
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Nonfiction Special
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  4. 2007
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  5. 2005
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  6. 2004
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
  7. 2003
    • Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
    • Golden Globe, nominated · Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  8. 2002
    • Golden Globe, nominated · Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Show 4 earlier years
  1. 2001
    • Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
    • Golden Globe, nominated · Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  2. 2000
    • Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
    • Golden Globe, won · Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, won · Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
  3. 1999
    • Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
  4. 1996
    • Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Cast

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do James Gandolfini's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 58th percentile, the median of all 45; across their 38 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 56th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

56thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 38

Approval · how many liked their films

62ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 38

Reach · how many have seen their films

92ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 38

Midcredits score across 48 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up19
  • 50th to 74th11
  • 25th to 49th13
  • Below 25th5

Shape of the crowd

22 of their 48 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved7
  • Divisive2
  • Cult Classic1
  • Crowd Pleaser22
  • Broadly Agreed8
  • Mixed8

Reviewers score the acting 74/100 in their films, across 35 reviewed titles; fans 81, detractors 51. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is James Gandolfini's work okay for kids?

Across up to 26 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore20 titles29–90 · median 63 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity26 titles10–57 · median 30 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity22 titles47–92 · median 78 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs18 titles19–65 · median 39 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense18 titles12–84 · median 61 · intenseheavier than most filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does James Gandolfini work with?

People who share at least 2 of James Gandolfini's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; John Travolta shares the most, 5.

Directors

Actors

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles