James Gandolfini Got So Drunk Filming ‘The Sopranos,’ They Chained Him To A Tree So He Wouldn’t Fall Off A Cliff

James Gandolfini holding a glass of beer

We’ve all been there at some point.

You’re hanging out with your buddies, having a few drinks, and one of your friends has a few too many…

Or a shit ton too many, and next thing you know they’re flying around like a bat outta hell, being an absolute nuisance, and you just want to tie them to a tree so they can’t hurt themselves or somebody else.

I mean hell, most of us have been there ourselves. For most of us though, it’s not at work…

Steve Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri on HBO’s hit show The Sopranos, recalled a time when a couple of fellow actors on the show got so belligerent drunk on set, they had to get chained to a tree.

The culprits? James Gandolfini and Michael Imperioli.

Schirripa recalled the wild shoot in an interview with Insider:

“On the break, while they set up the lights, Michael and Jim drank a bottle of Wild Turkey.

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.

Apparently, the scene was in Season four, when Tony and Christopher Moltisanti threw Ralphie Cifaretto off of a cliff. Sorry for any spoilers out there, but you had plenty of time to watch The Sopranos by now…

Talk about ripshit drunk… also, bold strategy to drink a bottle of Wild Turkey while standing on the edge of a cliff… right before you have to shoot a scene.

But hey, that’s why James Gandolfini was one of the best to ever do it.

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