Leslie Odom Jr. didn’t know he was auditioning for ‘The Many Saints Of Newark’

"I could've been auditioning for 'The Garfield Movie' for all I know"

Leslie Odom Jr., who co-stars in The Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints Of Newark, has revealed that he did not know that he was auditioning for the film.

The Hamilton star was not considered for the first round of auditions for his role in the film, and when he was approached, details of the project were kept strictly under wraps.

“They didn’t send me a script, but they were sending notes,” Odom Jr. told NME. “Alan [Taylor, the film’s director] and David [Chase, the creator of The Sopranos] were telling me to ‘audition again, and keep this in mind.'”

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He continued: “I was like, ‘Are you going to send me a script? I don’t know who I’m playing, I don’t know who I’m talking to. This isn’t even the character’s real name.'”

The actor described the creatives as “very tight-lipped”, and said that he doesn’t recall being aware that he was even auditioning for a Sopranos movie.

“I could’ve been auditioning for The Garfield Movie for all I know,” he quipped. “I was like, ‘if these are the scenes for The Garfield Movie we’re going to be in good shape’.”

Meanwhile, Taylor has revealed Edie Falco returned as Carmela in a scene which didn’t make the final cut.

While none of the original cast have been confirmed to return, it seems Taylor has experimented with the idea. Speaking exclusively to NME, the director explained how Falco, who played Tony Soprano’s wife Carmela, shot a scene originally intended to start the film.

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Asked if he had spoken to Falco about the film, Taylor said: “Yes, not to give away too much but, when you make a movie you’re not exactly sure the final shape it’s going to be and we, believe it or not, shot a few things that included other cast members.”

The Many Saints of Newark is out in cinemas now.

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