The Sopranos: 10 Best Minor Characters

All those that love The Sopranos will always remember Steve Buscemi's brief time in front of the camera as Tony Blundetto. Tony Soprano's apparently reformed, but really still psychotic cousin.

Buscemi would direct quite a few episodes of the show behind the camera during the run of the series, however, his connection to the Soprano family as Blundetto is iconic.

When Blundetto first comes out of jail he is a reformed gangster who has found a new passion in giving massages, much to the surprise of Tony and the crew. After becoming disenfranchised with his massage business and wanting to keep with Tony and the crew, Blundetto begins a life of crime again and ends up revenge killing Billy Leotardo and wounding Phil Leotardo after they killed Angelo.

This means that Tony is now under pressure from the New York families to give over Blundetto to them as payment. Tony knows that they will torture Blundetto before killing him, so Tony hides him to protect him. However, when things start getting violent with the New York crew, Tony knows he must hand him over. So, he kills Blundetto himself with a shotgun and tells Phil Leotardo where he is.

Tony never wanted to hurt his cousin who he really did like, however, he knew it would only end badly for everybody if he didn't. His relationship with Blundetto was one that reminded him of their childhood together and would haunt him later, when in his coma, Tony sees Blundetto as a kind of Saint Peter-esq figure, allowing Tony to join the afterlife.

Having an actor like Buscemi only appear in 14 episodes was a testament to how big the show had got by that point, as well as giving real quality to a minor character in a vast and stretching masterpiece.