James Gandolfini was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time... A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. I remember telling him many times, 'You don't get it. You're like Mozart.'

Cancer don't respect nothing.

You know, what's interesting is, being your own self is kind of a blur.

I was so besotted with '8½' that, when it was on TV, I used to take pictures with my 35-mm. camera of the frames of the film. That was the first time I'd ever really seen Italians on screen.

Television is a prisoner of dialogue and steady-cam. People walk down a hall, and the camera follows them around a corner.

I'm the number-one fan of gangster movies.

Network television is all talk. I think there should be visuals on a show, some sense of mystery to it, connections that don't add up.