James Gandolfini Was Paid $3 Million by HBO To Turn Down the Office and Protect His Sopranos Legacy

James Gandolfini, whose decision to turn down The Office kept his Tony Soprano character off network TV for good (Credit: Complex Pop Culture/X)

James Gandolfini once turned down the chance to run Dunder Mifflin, and it cost HBO a fortune. The Sopranos star was offered $4 million (£3 million) to replace Steve Carell on The Office, and HBO paid him $3 million (£2.2 million) to refuse.

The account comes from Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli, who played Bobby Baccalieri and Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos. They shared it on their Talking Sopranos podcast during an interview with Ricky Gervais, who co-created the original British version of The Office.