Vincent Pastore Kleinfeld insults. He is listed in the credits as "Vinny Pastore" playing "Copa Wiseguy." Pastore got a bigger role in the comedy/crime film "" (1995) as Tony Scarboni, one of the three gangsters and Lazarro's (played by Alan Arkin) clients. In the 1996 HBO television movie "Gotti", Pastore played the character of Angelo Ruggiero, alongside future "Sopranos" cast members Tony Sirico and Dominic Chianese. In 1999, Pastore got his biggest role to date in "The Sopranos", where he played the character Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. His character was murdered in the finale of season 2, but Pastore would make a
The Sopranos pilot episode which was shot in 1997. Chase directed it himself. They finished the pilot and showed it to HBO executives, but the show was put on hold for several months. During this time, Chase considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release "The Sopranos" as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season. The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999 with the pilot episode. "The Sopranos" was the second hour-long television drama series produced by HBO, the