James Gandolfini and Michael Imperioli Got So Drunk on “Sopranos” Set They Got Chained to a Tree

During the filming of a memorable Season 4 episode of The Sopranos, cast members Michael Imperioli and James Gandolfini allegedly got so drunk that they had to be chained to a tree.

In a recent interview with Insider, Steve Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri in the hit HBO series, revealed that his cast members finished a bottle of whiskey while shooting the scene where Tony Soprano (Gandolfini) and Christopher Moltisanti (Imperioli) throw the body of Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) off a cliff.

“On the break, while they set up the lights, Michael and Jim drank a bottle of Wild Turkey,” Schirripa said. “They were so drunk that they had to chain their legs to a tree, because they were afraid they were going to fall off the cliff.”

Imperioli previously discussed the memorable scene earlier this year on his podcast Talking Sopranos. 

“We rehearsed on this cliff and they’re going to have this camera down in a creek on a boat looking at us, cameras on the cliff with us, and they’re going to light the state park. It’s a big production value thing,” Imperioli explained. “We had to wait until it’s night so we had a few hours to get made up and wardrobe and relax. We go to [James Gandolfini’s] trailer…we’re sitting around and Jim opens a bottle of Wild Turkey. We thought to have a drink because it’s been a long week.”

Imperioli then recounted how the chain came about. “Finally someone knocks on the door because it’s time to shoot and the bottle’s empty,” he continued. “We stumble out of Jim’s trailer. We’re plastered. We drank a whole bottle of Wild Turkey. We’re bombed. We’re stumbling to the cliff and we have to get to the edge to throw the body. We were too drunk to notice if anyone was annoyed, but they were worried we would fall off this cliff. They took chains and wrapped them around our ankles and tied them to a tree and covered it with leaves.”

Check out Imperioli’s full recap of the scene below.