10 Times TV Actors Thought They Would Be Fired For Sure
9. Michael Imperioli - The Sopranos
Michael Imperioli played Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) protégé Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, though on his very first day of shooting feared he would be let go after a blatant lie he told to the production came frothing to the surface.
In a 2020 interview with Page Six, Imperioli revealed that he never informed the show's production team that he couldn't drive, despite the role requiring him to occasionally operate a car in order to drive Tony around. This led to quite the unfortunate gaffe during his first day on set. He said:
"I didn't tell them [he couldn't drive] because I wanted the job and in one of the takes I actually back up into a tree and smashed up the back of the Lexus... We all jumped forward, the air bags came out, smoke, it was a big disaster and I was thinking [Gandolfini] must be thinking I'm an idiot, this is going to be a disaster, they're going to fire me... And he just looks at me and starts cracking up laughing and we both just broke down hysterically and I thought, 'Ok this is going to be a good ride.' That was a bonding moment."
Given that it's basically impossible to picture anybody else playing Chris as well as Imperioli did, it's just as well that this vehicular mishap didn't get him axed.