BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Think Tony Soprano is about to spill the beans about that "Sopranos" finale?
Fuggedaboutit.
James Gandolfini, who, as Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, may - or may not - have been rubbed out in the controversial finale of the series, stared down reporters on Day 3 of the semi-annual TV critics press tour. The imposing actor, who even put in an appearance Thursday night at HBO's press party at the trendy W Hotel, managed to say virtually nothing about the shock ending that had fans of the series buzzing a month ago.
Gandolfini made it clear that he wasn't here to talk about "The Sopranos." He was here to promote "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq," premiering Sept. 9 in Canada on the Movie Network and Movie Central.
The searing, hour-long documentary features 10 men and women who, in some cases, barely survive being wounded in action.
HBO asked Gandolfini to serve as interviewer for the special after learning that the "Sopranos" star, through the USO, had paid a visit to the troops.
"I went to Iraq because I was playing this tough guy on TV, and I guess I wanted to go meet a few real ones or something like that," the typically reticent actor told reporters.
Meet them he did. He was joined on stage at Thursday's HBO press conference by five of the wounded soldiers who took part in the special. They had sustained serious injuries. As Cpl. Jonathan Bartlett succinctly put it, there were "12 functioning limbs" between the five soldiers at the session.
Bartlett, now 22, was just 19 and less than two months into his tour of duty when he had both legs blown off during an attack. Others who took part in the special were coping with traumatic brain injuries.
All found Gandolfini easy to talk to, although the actor himself kept insisting "I'm not Barbara Walters or whatever."
Given the enormous sacrifices these men and women had made, none of the reporters felt it was the time or place to press Gandolfini about something so trite as the ending of his TV series. One did dare ask after the session if Gandolfini was glad the whole "Sopranos" deal was finally over. "Yes," was his one-word answer.
Far more expansive about the "Sopranos" finale was Steven Van Zandt, who played Silvio in the series. He was at the press tour Friday to promote his latest TV project, U.S. cable channel VH1's "Seven Ages of Rock."
Van Zandt applauded the fact that "Sopranos" creator David Chase avoided any "fraudulent closure" for the series.
"Life doesn't work that way," he said. "I thought (the ending) was brilliant myself."
As for speculation that Chase might eventually write a followup movie about the mob family, nothing is in the works, according to new HBO co-president Richard Plepler.
Chase "hasn't had a conversation with himself about it," he told reporters. Would HBO want such a project?
Said Plepler: "David has an open door here any time he wants to do anything he wants."
If anyone could follow Gandolfini and the "Alive Day" soldiers it was Larry David. The "Seinfeld" co-creator was at the press tour (along with co-stars Cheryl Hines and Jeff Garlin) to promote the sixth season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," premiering Sept. 9 in Canada on the Movie Network.
At one point it looked like David was ready to walk away from the comedy. "Every season that I do is my last season," he told reporters. "That's the only way I can get through the season."
What brought him back? David said that after the fifth season ended he went into his office and was sitting at his desk and went, "Jeez, I don't have anything to do."
Another incentive may have been his recent separation.
David and his wife, Laurie, have split after 14 years of marriage. That took a huge chunk of his "Seinfeld" fortune. "My worth has just been cut in half. It's not that much anymore," he complained.
Other highlights from the press tour:
- HBO executives Plepler and Michael Lombardo gave odds of "50-50" that the two long-promised "Deadwood" followup movies would ever be made. Series creator David Milch has moved on to his new series, "John From Cincinnati," although low ratings have cast doubts on that renewal.
The "Deadwood" movies are "certainly on our books as something we're still interested in," said Lombardo.
It's complicated, though. Among the problems: HBO does not have "holds" on the "Deadwood" actors anymore, he said. Rounding up the cast for new episodes of the gritty western might be impossible.
Plus if "Cincinnati," starring Bruce Greenwood as a fading surf legend, is picked up, Milch would go right back to work on that series.
- Vancouver-born Jason Priestley had a good excuse for looking so tired at the press tour. He and his wife, makeup artist Naomi Lowde-Priestley, have a 10-day-old baby daughter.
The former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star was promoting "Side Order of Life," a new U.S. cable series about couples and relationships. Priestley joked that he was the "man meat" on the show.
- Former "One Day at a Time" star Valerie Bertinelli says she has lost "28 pounds and counting" since becoming a spokesperson for a dieting company. "I'm telling you, it's the best job I've ever had," she said. "They feed me and they pay me to lose weight."
Bertinelli, who looks fabulous at 46, says she has another 15 pounds to go. She was at the press tour to promote her new U.S. cable TV-movie "Clair," shot for the Hallmark Channel.
After a stormy marriage and divorce from rocker Eddie Van Halen, Bertinelli was asked if she had any advice for getting back into the dating scene. "Don't do it," she joked, adding that she didn't date "for a very long time after Ed and I separated."
She did eventually find a new man now, though, she gushed. (Published reports have linked Bertinelli to former financial analyst Tom Vitale.)
"There's still some good ones out there."
