The Sopranos to "going straight" (to Tony's dismay), but also has an intense violent streak. Those in Tony's closest circle within the DiMeo crime family include Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt). Silvio is Tony's consigliere and best friend. He runs the family's strip club headquarters, and other businesses. Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri (Tony Sirico), a tough, short-tempered, aging soldier who is fiercely loyal to Tony and Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore), a veteran gangster who runs an automotive body shop. Paulie "Walnuts" and "Big Pussy" (often called just, "Pussy") have worked with Tony and his father. Also in Tony's criminal organization are:
The Sopranos diverse and interesting heritages than the American public generally realizes." Humanities professor Camille Paglia, herself an Italian American, has spoken negatively about "The Sopranos", arguing that its depiction of Italian Americans was inaccurate, inauthentic, and dated. Chase has defended his show, saying that it is not meant to stereotype all Italian Americans, only to depict a small criminal subculture. A video game based on the series titled "The Sopranos: Road to Respect" was released for the PlayStation 2 by THQ in November 2006. In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that they had purchased a film detailing the background story