The 'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini was also an advocate for wounded vets. (photo: Fred R. Conrad/NYT)
22 June 13
ames Gandolfini, the celebrated actor best known for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano on the hit TV series, "The Sopranos," died Wednesday at the age of 51. While coverage of his death has focused mainly on his acting career, little has been mentioned about the more political side of his work. In New York City, he was a beloved figure not only because of his acting on the stage and screen, but also because of his major support for community media and producing documentaries critical of war. In 2010, he produced the HBO film "Wartorn: 1861-2010" about post-traumatic stress disorder from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also conducted a series of in-depth interviews with U.S. soldiers wounded in the Iraq War for a 2007 HBO film, "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq." We speak to the films’ co-directors, Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill.
JUAN GONZALEZ: We end today's show
with a look at a lesser-known side of a well-known actor James
Gandolfini. Celebrated for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano on the hit
TV series, "The Sopranos," he died Wednesday the age of 51. He was
vacationing with his family in Italy when he died of a possible heart
attack. The coverage of his death has focused mainly on his portrayal as
Tony Soprano, a role that earned him three Emmys. He's also been
recognized for his roles in films including, Get Shorty, Killing them
Softly, and Zero Dark Thirty, about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In a
statement, Sopranos creator, David Chase, called James Gandolfini "One
of the greatest actors of this or any time."
AMY GOODMAN: But, the news coverage
has mentioned little about the more political side of James Gandolfini's
work. In New York City he was a beloved figure not only because of his
acting on the stage and screen, but also because of his major support
for community media. And while his fictional roles have received wide
acclaim, he has received less attention for his leading roles in two
documentaries about the ravages of war on U.S. soldiers. In 2010 he
produced the HBO film, "Wartorn: 1861-2010" about post-traumatic stress
disorder from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also conducted a
series of in-depth interviews with U.S. soldiers wounded in the Iraq
war for 2007 HBO film called, "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq." the
film centers on the idea that the soldiers remember two key dates in
their lives - their birthday and they're alive day, the day when they
narrowly escaped a violent death. This is the trailer for the film.
JAMES GANDOLFINI: Mike, I'm right in front of you, it's Jim Gandolfini.
SOLDIER: Hi, how you doing, Sir?
JAMES GANDOLFINI: How are you? It's good to see you again.
SOLDIER: Great. How you doing?
JAMES GANDOLFINI: Why did you join the Army?
SOLDIER: I wanted to go and protect the nation and defend it protect it and punish those who seek to destroy it.
JAMES GANDOLFINI: Everyone I've talked to know the exact date when they've been hit.
SOLDIER: It was one of those nights in the desert. I will never forget it.
SOLDIER: I had my left hand on the steering wheel. I was smoking and then the bomb went off.
SOLDIER: All I heard was screaming and everything went black.
AMY GOODMAN: That was the trailer for
the HBO film, "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq." produced by James
Gandolfini. For more we're joined here in New York by the film's
co-directors, Jon Alpert and Matt O'Neill. They also co-directed,
"Wartorn: 1861-2010." They work together at New York's Downtown
Community Television, a community media center based in Chinatown where
we also worked until we moved to our new studios. It's where James
Gandolfini was a board member. Jon Alpert is the founder and Executive
Director of DCTV. This year Jon and Matt were nominated for an Oscar for
their short film "Redemption," about bottle and can collectors in New
York City. Their other honors over the years include four Emmys for the
2006 film "Baghdad ER." We welcome you both back to Democracy Now! Jon,
talk about James Gandolfini. He was a friend of yours, and was a board
member of DCTV and he did your films.
JON ALPERT: He was a friend to many
people. I think if you could just sort of crystallize him, he sort of
believed in nobody left behind. He did not leave his high school friends
behind or his college friends behind he didn't leave the soldiers
behind. He did not leave people with learning disabilities - didn't
leave them behind, didn't leave me behind. Any time he came to town, the
phone would ring. Democracy Now! and DCTV used to be neighbors. We're,
what 20 blocks away, and we consider each other friends, but we don't
call each other up. We work, we're in our own little world. Jim's world
was really big. He made sure that he never forgot anybody. When you were
his friend, you were always his friend.
JUAN GONZALEZ: How did he get
involved with DCTV to begin with? Because, obviously, it's a - the
commercial acting world is somewhat removed from documentaries and
community media.
JON ALPERT: Through working on the
documentaries, we all showed a respect for the soldiers, horror at the
cost of the wars. He worked really hard on those documentaries. The
interesting thing about documentaries, in their essence, they show war
in all its terror. They are antiwar films. The army has embraced these
films and shows him to every single soldier that comes into the army. It
was a really constructive series of documentaries. He came to DCTV - he
especially liked our high school kids. He bought them all cameras this
Christmas so they could tell their stories. We didn't have money for
cameras. Jim bought the cameras.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to one of
Jim Gandolfini's interviews with "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq."
He's speaking with First Lieutenant Dawn Halfaker, who lost an arm in
Iraq.
FIRST LT. DAWN HALFAKER: When I
came back, a lot of people would ask me, well, what do - how do you feel
about this? Do you ever think you'll get married? Do you ever think
you'll have a boyfriend? Do you ever think you'll have kids? I did not
know the answers to all those questions, but as I go through life, I am
learning that it has nothing to do with whether or not I'm amputee. Do I
wonder if I ever my kid, if I ever have a kid, do I wonder if they'll
love me for who I am? I hope so.
JAMES GANDOLFINI: What were you just thinking about?
FIRST LT. DAWN HALFAKER: The
reality of, will I be able to raise a kid? I won't be able to pick up my
son or daughter with two arms. I won't. But, I just, I hope they still
love me, and I hope I will still be a good parent. What can you do?
JAMES GANDOLFINI: Well, if it matters, I think you're going to be a wonderful parent.
AMY GOODMAN: That's Jim Gandolfini speaking with First Lt. Dawn Halfaker. Matt O'Neill.
MATTHEW O'NEILL: I think when you see
that when he asks Dawn, Dawn, what are you thinking, after that long
pause, I think is an example of why he connected to people. He listened
so carefully to what the soldiers were saying. He paid attention to what
we were talking about, about documentaries or about friendship. And he
treated everyone with respect and warmth. I think, when you said the
political side of Jim, I was thinking about these interviews, and it was
not political in the traditional sense of the word, but he wanted
people to hear the stories that he heard. He was inspired by what they
said. He was inspired by the fact that he had never heard the stories
before. He did USO tours and came back saying, why is nobody talking
about these soldiers lives? How can I help tell these stories. You see
in that film, in that clip there, about all you ever see of him in the
film is the back of his head, because he wanted the cameras focused and
the spotlight focused on other people.
JUAN GONZALEZ: That's one of the
things I wanted to raise; how little he felt the need to be seen in the
films or even to raise long questions of the film.
MATTHEW O'NEILL: It was always about
them. I remember when we were doing press for the film out in Los
Angeles and the press would be saying, JIm, Jim, or, James, James, Mr.
Gandolfini! And he would always grab one of the soldiers and say, don't
talk to me, talk to them, it's about them, it's not about me. I got
nothing to say. He lent his energy and his warmth and his compassion to
these stories that were not being heard. It was a real gift everyone.
AMY GOODMAN: Let's go to a clip from
the HBO documentary, "Wartorn: 1861-2010" of James Gandolfini
interviewing two members of the Louisiana National Guard at Camps Slayer
in Iraq. The soldiers are Sergeant John Wesley Mathews and Sergeant
First Class Jonathan Deshotels.
SGT. JOHN WESLEY MATHEWS: It's
hard to be taught to do what we do. It's combat arms, and then they
expect you to just turn it off. That is a hard thing about being in the
guard, is that you go back and they expect you to just to just get back
in society.
JAMES GANDOLFINI: Who is they?
SGT FIRST CLASS JONATHAN DESHOTELS: Family, friends, whoever else.
SGT. JOHN WESLEY MATHEWS: ...and
the Army. In early April of 2006 is really when I hit rock bottom. I
actually contemplated suicide for a while. It had really got to the
point where I did not know what it was. Mentally I did not know where I
was. I was lost. I really felt like I was feeling my way with my hands
in the dark.
SGT FIRST CLASS JONATHAN DESHOTELS: It's like you just can't get straight. You just can't get yourself right. And no matter what you do -
JAMES GANDOLFINI: You mean, talking to other people, talking to each other, there's nothing that helps?
SGT FIRST CLASS JONATHAN DESHOTELS: You just can't figure yourself out.
SGT. JOHN WESLEY MATHEWS: It will
tear you apart. It will tear your life apart. And many a soldier has met
an end at his own hand or at a bottle because they didn't know to do.
AMY GOODMAN: The documentary "Wartorn." The voice in the distance was Jim Gandolfini.
JON ALPERT: But, it wasn't distant
from people because everybody thought that they knew him. He was sitting
in your living room every Sunday night, and he was part of your family.
He spent more time with you than your cousins. It was instant
recognition. So, people were ready to talk and share intimate things
with him and that was an extraordinary gift that he brought to these
documentaries.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And his involvement with Downtown Community Television? As a board member, was he frequently in The Firehouse?
MATTHEW O'NEILL: He came by The
Firehouse whenever he was in town. He continued to work in
documentary's. He stayed involved in our lives the same way he stayed
involved in the soldiers' lives. We've had so many of the people from
"Wartorn" and from "Alive Day Memories" reach out to us as they mourn.
He gave these men and women his cellphone number. He was a super big
movie star and they stayed in touch with him for years because he lent
that intimate connection and kept up with it.
AMY GOODMAN: Last comment, Jon Alpert?
JON ALPERT: We're in the middle of a
documentary that he was producing about people with learning
disabilities. It's another cause that he felt very strongly about,
again, nobody left behind. The kids who were pushed into the back of the
classroom, he felt that wasn't right. He knew that if they had the
right educational opportunity they could blossom, and he wanted
everybody in the country to think about that. I would also like the
Democracy Now! community not only to think about Jim, but also another
documentary filmmaker, Saul Landau. He's a friend of ours, and we need
to send him our best wishes. He is a really good guy.
AMY GOODMAN: That's right, all the best to Saul. You can go to our website, democracynow.org,
to see our interviews with Saul Landau who is battling cancer right
now. I want to thank you both for being with us and all of the work that
you do. Jon Alpert and Matt O'Neill who co directed, "Wartorn:
1861-2010" and "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq." They were were both
produced by James Gandolfini. That does it for our show. A very fond
farewell to our video production fellow Nemo Allen. We thank you, Nemo,
for your persistence, for your dedication and wish you the very best in
your journey to Colombia and beyond. You will always be with us.
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