‘Sopranos’ star: ‘No idea’ what ending signified

James Gandolfini thought cut to black in series finale ‘was great’

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updated 9:24 a.m. ET June 15, 2007

NEW YORK - Viewers weren’t the only ones who didn’t know what to make of the boldly ambiguous ending of “The Sopranos” — some of the stars didn’t, either.

James Gandolfini told the Daily News in Friday’s edition that he had “no idea” what to think was to happen to his character, the emotionally tortured mob boss and suburban dad Tony Soprano, after the hit series’ final episode closed Sunday with an abrupt cut to a blank screen.

“You have to ask (“The Sopranos” creator) David Chase that. Smarter minds than mine know the answer to that,” Gandolfini said. “I thought it was a great ending. You decide.”

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The screen went black and silent as Gandolfini’s character and his family sat down to dinner, leaving fans guessing — and some complaining — about the ending’s meaning or lack thereof.

Some have suggested that the movements of a man in the background portended a “Godfather”-style shooting. Others surmised that the show, which delved deeply into the domestic life of its mobster protagonist, was simply ending on an everyday note. Chase has declined to explain.

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Several of Gandolfini’s cast mates echoed his praise for the show’s open-ended conclusion.

“A conventional ending would have been a fraud,” Steven Van Zandt, who played Silvio, told the Daily News.

“Life doesn’t have tidy little endings,” said Van Zandt, a member of rocker Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. “Even some great songs just fade out like the last episode of ‘The Sopranos.’ ”