Michael Rispoli Michael Rispoli Michael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was in the cast of the HBO television series "The Sopranos" as Jackie Aprile, Sr. Rispoli reunited with "Sopranos" co-star James Gandolfini in the 2009 thriller "The Taking of Pelham 123". Rispoli was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano that ultimately went to Gandolfini. Rispoli, a second-generation Italian American, was raised in Tappan, New York, one of eight children, and attended Tappan Zee High School, where he played football. He majored in theater at State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1982. The feature film
The Sopranos had a bigger impact on how stories are told on the small screen, or more influence on what kind of fare we’ve been offered by an ever-growing array of television networks." Hal Boedeker stated in PopMatters in 2007 that the series was "widely influential for revealing that cable would accommodate complex series about dark characters. "The Sopranos" ushered in "Six Feet Under", "The Shield", "Rescue Me", and "Big Love"." The series helped establish HBO as producers of critically acclaimed and commercially successful original television series. Michael Flaherty of "The Hollywood Reporter" has stated that "The Sopranos" "helped launch [HBO's] reputation