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Steve Schirripa had a very relatable fear during his tenure on The Sopranos.
The actor tells PEOPLE exclusively, while teaming up with Freshpet, about how he and other Sopranos costars anticipated getting killed off the mobster television series with almost every episode.
“We really were scared. I always said, you know, you get the script, you look at the front to see if you’re in it, go to the back to see if they were gonna kill you off,” Schirripa, 67, says.
“And it was a real concern, honestly, with all of us, except for Jim [James Gandolfini], of course, because the show couldn’t go on with anyone but [him].”
(Warning: light spoilers ahead.)
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Schirripa played Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri on the HBO drama and ultimately made it to the penultimate episode of the series, getting killed off in “The Blue Comet.”
The Blue Bloods actor also speaks about what it’s like being part of the Sopranos legacy, 26 years after it first premiered. “When you step away from it, you say, wow, I can’t believe I was a part of this just wonderful, incredible, smart show.”
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He says that he had originally watched the show when it would air every week, and hadn’t revisited it until he worked on his Talking Sopranos podcast with costar Michael Imperioli.
“I went back and watched it and I had a much bigger appreciation for it after I stepped back from it,” Schirripa explains. “To get on any TV show is very difficult. To get on that one, it’s like hitting the lottery twice.”
Schirripa teamed up with Freshpet to revisit his Sopranos days in a clever advertisement that will remind fans of the Family hanging out at Satriale’s Pork Store. His dachshund Willie served as inspiration to take on the “clever” commercial.
“Willie Boy, who’s eating Freshpet for the last couple of years, and they sent me the script over and after playing the detective for the last nine years [on Blue Bloods], it was fun to slip back into that old Sopranos mode, and I thought it was really smart, really clever, and [a] really funny commercial.”
As for what kind of dog Bobby Bacala would have had, Schrripa says, “Why not a dachshund?”