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Look WhosSmokin
He is a bit of a Renaissance man. He is an actor. He is a businessman. He is a chef, an author and a cigar connoisseur. Yet, despite his numerous abilities, he will be forever known for two words–“Johnny Cakes.” Yeah, he’s that guy: Vito, the gay mobster from The Sopranos. Despite being pigeon-holed as “that guy,” you won’t hear him crying. No, actor Joseph R. Gannascoli has no qualms about how he obtained his fame. In fact, the famous character’s lifestyle was his idea. “I was just a background character for the first few seasons,” said Brooklyn native Gannascoli. “I’d mutter a line here and there, but I was nothing more than just another guy on the show. Then I read a book about a true gay mobster and I thought it would be a really interesting direction to take my character. I brought the idea to the writers and I told them I’d be willing to do it because it is something I had never seen in a mob movie or television show before. I gave them the book, but two seasons went by and I never heard about it again. Then came the script for Season 5, Episode 9.” In that now infamous episode, Meadow Soprano’s boyfriend, Finn, caught Vito performing oral sex on a male security guard at a construction site. The scene made Gannascoli an overnight celebrity. “I held a party the night the episode aired. I think about 20 friends were at my home watching it and I never told them what was going to happen. I only told them that this was a big moment for me in the show,” he remembered. “And when the moment was getting closer, I kept yelling for them to pay attention. Then, when my head popped up from that security guard’s lap, they all freaked! Within moments my phone was ringing like crazy and everyone who knew me said their phones were ringing like crazy. Even my mailman said he got 10 calls from people who knew he knew me!” The next day, Sopranos fans across the nation discussed the scene. Every major entertainment magazine wrote about it. Morning radio hosts jockeyed for interview time with him, including Howard Stern, who interviewed Gannascoli via phone.
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Cigar City Magazine
by Paul Guzzo
As the show progressed over the next few seasons, Gannascoli’s Vito character became the lynchpin for the entire show. It was the Vito character’s murder that directly led to the mafia family war that led to the show’s grand finale. Gannascoli’s idea turned Vito from a background character into one of the most defining characters in one of the most defining shows in television history. “It changed my life,” he said. “I think it is one of the most shocking moments in television history [when his character was caught with the security guard]. I am proud of what the writers did with the character. They could have made him simply some homophobic gangster living in denial. Instead, they turned him into this sympathetic man who just wanted to live his life and got killed for it, but was still a true mobster to the end.” Of course, not all the talk about his character was positive. Gannascoli admitted that his close friends in Brooklyn “really busted my balls.” “But I could care less. I can take the jokes,” he said. “It allowed me to do so much more with my life. It gave me a face and name that has allowed my other enterprises to flourish.” He has his own line of extra virgin olive oil and spaghetti sauces that are available in supermarkets throughout New York. He wrote a book, A Meal to Die For, based on his pre-acting life as a cook with a gambling problem. The book rights have recently been purchased by a production company and will hopefully be made into a feature film soon. “I will actually be playing my uncle in the film, not myself. I think they want to get The Rock to play me,” he joked. Most dear to his heart, though, is his new line of cigars–Cugine, which means “cousin” in Italian. He is currently touring the nation promoting the cigars. “The cigars is where The Sopranos really helps,” he said. “Cigars are really competitive. There are a lot of great cigars out there and a lot of people don’t know the difference between the various blends. But when I’m promoting the cigars, because I am well known from the show, my cigar stands out. I am also working on a whole new line of cigar accessories–an ashtray shaped like a pistol, a shirt that says, ‘Real Men Smoke Cigars,’ humidors, and so on.” “Yeah, I have a lot going on and it is all going really good.” And he owes it all to oral sex. For more information on his cigars, book, olive oil and spaghetti sauce, visit www.josephrgannascoli.com.