Sonny Corinthos Connie Corleone, which is alluded to in Kate Howard's real name, Connie Falconeri. Similarities have also been noted between Sonny and Tony Soprano from "The Sopranos" and the characters that surround them both. Vincent Pastore, who portrayed Big Pussy Bonpensiero on "The Sopranos", came on the show to portray Maximus Giambetti, father of Sonny's bodyguards Milo Giambetti and Max Giambetti. Benard has described Sonny as "unpredictable," and stated that: "You never know from one second to the next what he is thinking, feeling or planning. He's a man in personal conflict who maintains an outward appearance of calm at all
The Sopranos organized crime casts a shadow over both the state and its Italian American community." At the end of the series, the PublicMind conducted a second national survey on "The Sopranos". In this poll, 41% of the 776 people polled said that they watched the show regularly, and 61% of this group (194 people, or 25% of the total) disagreed with the idea that the show portrayed Italian Americans in a negative light. Professor Roberts stated: "The show helped to perpetuate one of the more problematic and stereotypical images of Italian Americans. Both Italian and Italian American cultures have much more