Everyone seems to be talking about Cristin Milioti as of late, which is understandable if you’ve seen any episode of the HBO crime drama, The Penguin. The big takeaway from the new series based on The Batman is not the titular protagonist, but instead, the character’s criminal arch-rival, Sofia Falcone, played by Milioti. While she has been consistently exceptional, Milioti has finally been receiving her dues as a dynamic screen presence. From the beginning, she possessed keen decision-making, chasing after exciting projects with the finest creative artists. It’s hard to think of a more inspired beginning to one’s career than Milioti, whose second screen credit saw her in a brief role in the groundbreaking HBO drama,The Sopranos, in an overlooked but remarkable episode, directed by Steve Buscemi, which displayed incredible insight into the show’s thematic fabric.
What Episode of ‘The Sopranos’ Was Cristin Milioti In?
In the Season 6 episode of The Sopranos, “Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request…”, the titular incarcerated New York boss best known as Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola), is granted a temporary release from prison to attend his daughter Allegra’s (Caitlin Van Sandt, daughter of series regular Steven Van Zandt) wedding. Sitting alongside Johnny, his wife Ginny (Denise Borino), Allegra and his son-in-law Eric (Adam Mucci) is his second daughter, Catherine, played by a then-unknown Cristin Milioti. She would later appear in two additional episodes, including the harrowing Season 7 episode “Stage 5,” where John’s fight with cancer would meet its tragic end. Milioti’s brief appearance on The Sopranos would come full circle over 15 years later as the co-lead in The Penguin, which has drawn parallels to the David Chase organized crime-set drama.
Milioti only has two lines in “Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request…”, but, as with every inconsequential performance in The Sopranos, she leaves an impact. While they visit John in the prison waiting area, Ginny and Allegra talk about their diet, which prompts an already irritated Catherine to yell, “Can we ever talk about anything in this family besides food?!” You have to hand it to her, based on the amount of gluttony that occurs in the show, Catherine’s point is valid. The episode was directed by former cast member Steve Buscemi, who previously directed the acclaimed “Pine Barrens.” For any inexperienced actor in their early 20s, starring in The Sopranos would be an overwhelming endeavor. Milioti said to Entertainment Weekly that her stint on the show was “one of many profound, emotional, moving, and meaningful synchronicities” in her life. Ironically, her financially struggling family couldn’t afford an HBO subscription when she was cast.
Related
‘The Penguin’ Just Gave Us One of Sofia’s Most Devastating Scenes
“I walked out of one institution and right into another.”
Milioti may have felt like a deer in headlights while filming, as she shared with EW an awkward time when she accidentally ate a prop shrimp during the wedding sequence. Luckily, she was blessed to have Buscemi’s support behind the camera. “He was so incredibly kind to me,” Milioti said in an interview. She expressed gratitude for his warmth and for making her feel protected on set as a young actor who hardly knew where to look on camera. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen an episode of The Sopranos — Buscemi made her feel like a series regular.
Season 6, Episode 5 of ‘The Sopranos’ Is One of the Best
Not only did the episode introduce the world to Cristin Milioti, “Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request…” also happens to be one of The Sopranos‘ finest hours in its marvelous sixth season. By the show’s late-period run, David Chase was dead set on stripping away any semblance of nobility in Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), and in this episode, written by Terence Winter, Tony reveals his deep-seated insecurity to the audience through one shocking display of violence. Ailing from his gunshot wound, Tony watches his New York counterpart and dramatic foil Johnny Sack commit the worst sin for a mobster: express vulnerability. Overstaying his strict temporary release window, the U.S. marshals escort John and place him in handcuffs in front of the wedding hall as the newlyweds depart for their honeymoon. Embarrassed and ashamed that his daughter’s precious moment was being tarnished, Johnny is ushered out of the wedding in tears, drawing the ire of his underboss, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent).
After hearing his colleagues talk about Johnny with such shame and indignation over his tearful exit, Tony, fearing that his crew will see him as weak due to his ailing health, picks a fight with his strapping driver, Perry (Louis Gross), in front of the family. In one of the show’s most scathing indictments on toxic masculinity, Tony beats this lowly servant (one who would be a fool to retaliate against the boss) to a pulp just to validate his credentials as a “tough guy,” because, in the end, vulnerability is a death sentence in the world of organized crime.
New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.
- Release Date
- January 10, 1999
- Creator
- David Chase
- Seasons
- 6
The Sopranos is available to watch on Max in the U.S.
Watch on Max
