Tony Soprano Nearly Replaced Michael Scott On ‘The Office’

According to his costar, actor James Gandolfini – aka Tony Soprano – nearly replaced Steve Carell on The Office.

That’s according to actor Steve Schirripa, who dropped the bombshell on an episode of his Talking Sopranos podcast.

As he tells it, NBC wanted to hire Gandolfini after Carell’s departure in 2011 – offering him $4 million for the gig.  But Schirripa says HBO stepped in and paid Gandolfini $3 million to turn the role down.

NBC ended up hiring James Spader instead.  Gandolfini would die of a heart attack in 2013.

Sopranos star says James Gandolfini was paid $3 million to turn down replacing Steve Carell on The Office https://t.co/bNourkHgpX pic.twitter.com/MJXYisPUxs

— Yahoo Entertainment (@YahooEnt) July 15, 2021