Edie Falco of Nurse Jackie Would like a Sopranos Movie, but it May Not Be Possible

Edie Falco, whose hit Showtime Series Nurse Jackie returns on Monday night, is on record as saying that she would welcome the chance to revive her role as Carmela Soprano in a Sopranos movie or reunion.

While being interviewed, mostly about Nurse Jackie, in USA Weekend, Falco was asked if she would like to play Carmela Soprano in a television reunion or movie.

Falco responded, "Sure. Of course. I miss those people so much. That's a lot of years to spend with people - a lot of intimate time, crazy early mornings, crazy late nights, out on the street in the snow. I love them, and I would do it again in a second.

But is a Sopranos reunion even possible? There are two main challenges, one seemingly surmountable and the other perhaps impossible.

The most obvious and talked about hurdle would be to get several key people involved. The other would be how to come up with a realistic and compelling storyline that would be consistent with the ones left behind at the conclusion of the series.

Any Sopranos reunion or movie it would seem would have to include at least three people, two on screen people and one off.

Onscreen, Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano and James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano would need to be onboard and the show's creator, David Chase, would naturally need to be one of the driving forces.

Chase has not exactly dismissed the chances of a reunion out of hand, but has done little either to encourage speculation that it might return.

It has been widely reported that most all on the cast is willing to do it...with the exception of Gandolofini.

The reasons for Gandolfini's unwillingness to at least publicly consider reprising his role as America's favorite mobster are not clear. Through the years, it has been said that Gandolfini was at times bothered by the playing as violent as a role as Tony Soprano and that the burden on him to be a central part of nearly every scene took a lot out of him.

Even if all three, Falco, Gandolfini and Chase, ever become fully committed to a reunion or movie, there are several character challenges that the Sopranos' writers would face.

Many of the supporting but key characters on the show were killed off towards the series end. The characters of Bobby Baccalieri, Adriana La Cerva, Christopher Moltisanti, Johnny Sack, and Phil Leotardo combined to serve as the foundation for the Tony Soprano centric storylines, and all were dead by the end of the series.

Furthermore, Junior Soprano, Tony's uncle, was in the depths of Alzheimer's disease and was incarcerated after shooting Tony. Realistically, his role would be limited at most.

So the writers of any reunion or show would have the challenge of introducing a whole new cast of characters that viewers would need to get to know over the course of a two hour movie while also writing a compelling story line...really, this is the antithesis of the 'slow build' that was the Sopranos at its best.

One possible way around this is to make a Sopranos 'prequel' of sorts. Sometimes to the frustration of the viewers, there were many loose ends and unanswered questions throughout the show; particularly in the later years. A movie, in theory, could serve to fill in some of the gaps along the way; thereby allowing the writers to bring back those characters. Perhaps, even, explain what actually did happen in the infamous final scene of the series, when the screen simply went black.

This approach, however would likely prove extremely complex to pull off as pulling on one proverbial thread might lead to unraveling elsewhere. Also, the advancing ages of the actors, particularly the Sopranos children, would prove challenging if the scenes were set at an earlier time.

The series was always known for its liberal use of flashbacks and dream sequences. It could be that a movie could be set in the present, but would involve some use of this with now dead characters. While that would work to at least get some of the past characters incorporated, it would be a huge risk to base too much of the movie on it...the fact is, these techniques were never that popular with the Sopranos audience nor its critics.

So while Edie Falco continues to build an impressive post Carmela Sopranos career with her critically acclaimed work as Nurse Jackie, and while as one of the 'big three' people needed, she has given the concept her 'thumbs up', the chances of a Sopranos reunion or movie would appear to be remote.

Source: Gayle Jo Carter, "The Liberation of Edie Falco", usaweekend.com