Lorraine Bracco (Getty Images)
Julianna Margulies with actor Chris Noth (Humberto Carreno/startraksphoto.)
Tony Sirico (David McGlynn)
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Friends and fans filled a Manhattan cathedral yesterday to remember James Gandolfini, a “big teddy bear,” whose larger-than-life role as mob boss Tony Soprano often left him consumed by darkness.
There were enough actors and extras to film a “Sopranos” episode at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Morningside Heights, where Gandolfini’s funeral drew an overflow crowd.
Gandolfini, 51, a New Jersey native who earned international fame, died last week after suffering a heart attack while vacationing in Rome with his family.
The list of heartbroken mourners straight from the “Sopranos” credits included co-stars Edie Falco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, Steve Schirripa, Aida Turturro, Joe Pantoliano and Steve Buscemi.
They were joined by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and such celebrities as Dick Cavett, Mario Batali, Chris Noth and news anchor Brian Williams.
PHOTOS: MOURNING THE LOSS OF JAMES GANDOLFINI
“Sopranos” creator David Chase spoke on behalf of the cast and crew.
“And you tried and you tried more than most us, and sometimes, you tried too hard,” Chase said. “Then he’d snap, and, of course, that was what people would read about, the snapping.”
Chase told a story about how Gandolfini had so much rage in his heart while playing Tony that he broke a refrigerator on the set while slamming it shut.
Chase said Gandolfini told him that when he was struggling with the dark aspects of the role, he said, “You know what I want to be. I want to be a man.”
But it was Gandolfini’s childlike emotions that helped him nail the essence of Tony Soprano.
“I think only a pure soul like a child can do it right,” Chase said.
Widow Deborah Lin Gandolfini said her husband was a loving, complex man.
”He cared more about others than himself,” she said. “People mattered to him. He was ironically very private . . . I love you, Jim, and I always will.”
Friend and dialogue coach Susan Aston said Gandolfini turned down a role in a movie that was shooting this summer to spend more time with his wife and children — as if he he knew his final curtain were falling.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to lose any time with Michael and Lily,’” Aston said. “He said, ‘Quality of life, time with family and friends, that’s more important than all of this stuff.’ ”
Aston said the family chose the massive cathedral at Amsterdam Avenue and West 112th Street because it’s a space “big enough to hold his heart and spirit.”
She called him “my big teddy bear of a friend.”
Family friend Thomas Richardson asked everyone to hold hands and hug each other the way Gandolfini would have done.
“That hug, that seemed too tight and felt too long. It’s a strange thing to do, but on behalf of Jim, can you do me a favor?” Richardson said. “Can you please stand, please grab the person next to you, close your eyes and hug them too tight, hug them with your heart.”
Even as friends paid tribute to the talented actor, the cameras were rolling.
Cable giant HBO, which ran “The Sopranos” for six seasons, filmed the service as a private gift to the family from the network. The footage will not be aired, the network said.
Private cameras and microphones were banned from the funeral.
A picture of Gandolfini hung from a window across the street from the church.
Scores of fans waited in the oppressive heat to get a glimpse of actors like Alec Baldwin and John Turturro.
Others managed to get into the funeral service, which was open to the public.
“They called it a celebration of life,” said one fan, Anthony Casio, 60, who came from New Jersey for the funeral.
“It was very touching and moving.”