An unlikely leading man and even more unlikely sex symbol, balding, bearlike James Gandolfini was touted as both after his starmaking portrayal of mobster Tony Soprano, a family man (in both senses) undergoing a mid-life crisis in the hit HBO drama "The Sopranos" (1999- ). Although he came to an acting career late in life, he was already a well-respected character player--one whom the audience perhaps recognized by sight if not by name--when he read the script for "The Sopranos". Sensing the quality of the writing and responding to the well-drawn character, Gandolfini was firmly convinced he wouldn't be cast, certain a more conventionally handsome "Irish-looking" guy would land the role. He confessed to being "shocked" when he actually nailed the role and was even more disturbed by the newfound celebrity status it brought to him. Born and raised in New Jersey, Gandolfini graduated from Rutgers and went on to work as a bouncer and nightclub manager. A friend convinced him to attend an acting class and he gamely went along. The experience left him "unsettled", especially an exercise in which he had to thread a needle; it was enough to push him into a new line of work. After studies at the Actors Studio, Gandolfini landed stage work in small venues before finally making his Broadway debut in 1992 as Steve Hubbell (and understudy for the role of Mitch) in a revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" starring Jessica Langeand Alec Baldwin That same year, he made his film debut supporting Melanie Griffithin "A Stranger Among Us", Sidney Lumet's uneven thriller set in the Hassidic community of Brooklyn. Gandolfini first registered as the philosophizing hit man Virgil in "True Romance" (1993), directed by Tony Scott. On the same day that film opened, he was seen on movie screens as John Cusack's brother in "Money for Nothing". Displaying a softer side, the actor was cast as Geena Davis' love interest in "Angie" (1994). After that, it was onto roles that saw him play villains ("Terminal Velocity" 1994) and competent men of authority (Scott's "Crimson Tide" 1995). Gandolfini mined the humor of the stuntman-mobster in "Get Shorty" (also 1995). He gave a chilling account of an abusively drunk neighbor who tries to force himself on Robin Wright Penn in "She's So Lovely" (1997) and further displayed his versatility as the concerned father who pleads with lawyer John Travolta to represent the community in its claims of water contamination in the based-on-fact "A Civil Action" (1998), as a creepy pornographer with a deadly secret in "8mm" (1999) and as a cold-blooded killer with a sensitive side in "The Mexican" (2001). Later that year, he garnered additional praise as a prison warden with a mean streak in "The Last Castle" (opposite Robert Redford) and as a straying husband in the noirish "The Man Who Wasn't There", written and directed by the Coen brothers. All of these roles, however, were mere warm-ups for Tony Soprano, one of the richest characters the actor ever had to play. Over the course of the first season, Gandolfini was handed a plethora of emotions to portray--from exasperation at the machinations of his fellow mobsters to the frustrations of dealing with his needy wife, growing children and overbearing mother to the discomfort of therapy sessions with the attractive Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco. The actor masterfully conveyed the numerous conflicting feelings with the right mix of anger and humanity. Audiences loved him and critics praised him and for his efforts, he was rewarded with a justly deserved Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2000 and repeated the triumph in 2001 and, after a season away from the awards when the series took a longer-than-usual hiatus, yet again in 2003. Back on the big screen, Gandolfini's creative fortunes were not as rich when he appeared opposite Ben Affleckin the painfully unfunny holiday comedy "Surviving Christmas" (2004).