How The Sopranos Led To Vincent Pastore Working With Diddy
By Daniel Kim
One of those projects was a role in the Jon Favreau-directed crime comedy film Made. When shooting The Sopranos episode "D-Girl," guest star Favreau asked Pastore on set if he could drive a limo. "I said, 'Yeah, I do it part-time,'" Pastore recounted. "He says, 'I've got something for you.'" If landing the part of Jimmy in Made wasn't enough, Pastore also met Diddy, who appeared in Made as Ruiz, on the movie's set. It wasn't long before Diddy offered Pastore a modeling job.
During the recent Talking Sopranos episode, Imperioli told Pastore that he remembered driving down Sunset Boulevard in California and seeing a huge billboard of Pastore in a black jogging suit with "Sean John" emblazoned on it. (Diddy's real name is Sean John Combs, and he started his own fashion line, Sean John, back in 1998.) "[The billboard] said Vincent Pastore: Actor Extraordinaire," Imperioli recalled.
Pastore said that even though the modeling gig didn't earn him much money, it landed him huge exposure — enough exposure that director Guy Ritchie saw the billboard and called Pastore's agent. As Pastore remembered, "The next thing I do, I'm going to London to work with him on Revolver."
Pastore has landed many acting roles since his time on The Sopranos ended, and his story serves as a good lesson that one job can unknowingly lead to another.
The rest of the podcast is a worth a listen, as Pastore talks about what he would be doing if he hadn't become an actor ("I'd probably be dead by now") and working with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse on his failed sitcom ("I said to him, 'Don't you know how to act?'").
