‘Sopranos’ Cast Lets Down Its Guard for a Night

It was a “Sopranos” family reunion at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood on Monday night, minus the murder and mayhem. The cast of the hit HBO show had gathered in the off-season for an Academy members-only discussion, moderated by actor-director Peter Bogdanovich (who appears on the show as the shrink of the shrink played by Lorraine Bracco).

James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) was able to take a few hours off the set of Ethan and Joel Coen’s “The Barber Project” to come--in full makeup and costume (a very dorky anti-Tony pants and suspenders combo).

Also standing out from the otherwise dark-suited cast was rocker Steve Van Zandt, whose role as Silvio Dante on the show is his first acting gig. The E Street Band guitarist looked very cool in a billowy blue, tie-dyed shirt unbuttoned to the navel, leather jacket and his signature head scarf.

One of the discussion’s funniest moments came when Bogdanovich asked Van Zandt how he was cast.

“I suspect drugs,” he joked. “Heavy drugs.”

Actually, the casting was the brainchild of producer David Chase, who was a fan not just of Van Zandt’s work with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, but also of his solo albums, “which are extremely hard to find,” said Van Zandt.

Chase’s version is a little different: A lifelong Springsteen fan, Chase said he had always marveled over Van Zandt’s picture on album covers. “He has the most interesting face,” he said. The role of the “Godfather”-quoting Silvio Dante was created with him in mind, Chase said.

“I wanted to live up to the faith David had in me,” Van Zandt said. “It hasn’t happened too often in my life that someone has had faith in me.”

The death last month of Nancy Marchand, who played family matriarch Livia Soprano, came up several times in the discussion. Chase said he has not yet decided how to deal with it on the show.

“Tony’s reaction to the death will not be an easy one,” he said. After all, what son wouldn’t feel ambivalent about a mother who put out a contract on him? “It will probably have a lot to do with that.”

Chase has plenty of time. The show’s third season is not scheduled to air until next March.

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Some genius has come up with a product that perfumes swimming pools with scents like bubble gum, coconut, strawberry, pine and citronella.

“Bathing with family and friends becomes a real pleasure. Evening parties have a refined atmosphere,” reads the sales pitch for AquaScents at https://www.cosmalia.com/webdoc10.htm.

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After finishing his trout almondine at chic Los Feliz eatery vermont, a New York-bred editor with whom I work was too tired to drive his dining companion back to her downtown hotel. Hailing his waiter, he asked if he wouldn’t mind getting him a cab.

He returned after a moment with a very nice glass of red wine.

He should have known . . . . Around here, no one drinks red wine with fish.

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Booth Moore can be reached at booth.moore@latimes.com.