When The Sopranos first debuted in 1999, it didn’t just introduce a new mob-drama—it upended the language of television storytelling. Created by David Chase, the show gave us Tony Soprano (played by the late James Gandolfini), a New Jersey mob boss whose strong exterior hides a crumbling interior, and whose weekly therapy sessions peel back layers few TV antiheroes had confronted before.
But if you ask fans and critics alike which line still lands hardest today, it’s this one from the opening episode:
“Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type? That was an American.”
This one sentence sets the tone for everything Tony will become (and fail to become).
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