When we first see Michael Imperioli in the season two premiere White lotus, he leans on a railing on the back of a boat in Sicily. She looks hotter than ever (not that it matters, but it needs to be said, and maybe it’s because everyone looks hotter on boats?). He’s in a bad mood as always, wearing a pair of stylish rectangular sunglasses, a black shirt and jacket. His hair is gray but still as thick as before Soprano It was opened in 1999.
Imperioli, played by Dominic Di Grasso, is on a special father-son vacation at the White Lotus Stadium in Sicily. Seeing him back on HBO is about as refreshing as taking a 7-day luxury trip to Italy (I don’t know). Imperioli has a look of excitement on his face, which makes sense in the context of the show: most people look forward to a vacation, especially one like this. But it also works as a meta moment. We’re just as excited to see Imperioli return to HBO as we are to see him on HBO. Imperioli has changed since then Soprano days. He is older and wiser than when he played Christopher Moltisanti. But his talent for making his impulsive and self-centered destruction unbearable and hilarious remains.
between soprano, Completed in 2007 and the second season White lotusImperioli starred in films and various television shows (incl Office, Califand lucifer). It even returned to HBO for a 2012 episode Girls and, more recently, in a small role in a limited series Guards. But his duty White lotus seems more important than anything he’s done since Soprano. Christopher Molisanti, a devoted but carefree young mobster struggling with addiction, was dangerous, but Imperoli’s performance earned him outrageous sympathy and two Golden Globes and an Emmy. Imperioli captures the despair, sadness, and fear that you can feel and occasionally laugh at (Moltisanti’s screen era and his presence produced some of the greatest comedies in the history of the world). By the end of the series, Moltisanti, despite being quite annoying, was the emotional center of the series, and as a result, his death in the final season remains one of the most emotional events in the history of storytelling.
On White lotus, Imperioli is playing someone very different from Moltisanti, but using his own brilliant tricks to draw him into his own mind. Something isn’t quite right about the Di Grasso family’s homecoming trip, which is reflected in the dialogue and Imperoli’s body language. Dominic is a guy who is usually confident, but there’s something posh, tense, and lonely about him, especially when he’s around his son, Albie, played by Adam DiMarco. In contrast, she has great chemistry with F. Murray Abraham, who plays her flamboyant, flirtatious father. After a strange and empty encounter with Albie in the hotel hallway, Dominique (in that perfect black shirt) goes to his room and calls his wife, who has nothing to do with him. His daughter doesn’t want to talk to him either.
Imperoli barely moves during a phone call. Instead, he lets his puppy-like eyes do all the work, which can switch to terrifying between blinks. Imperioli apologizes to his wife and asks for her forgiveness, but her eyes and eyebrows tell the true story of an absolute unit: he knows he will never receive it. At the end of the episode, Lucia (Simona Tabasco), an Italian prostitute, walks into Dominique’s room, only to be exposed by a client who contacted her online.
In the second quarter White lotus, Michael Imperioli brings the poignant weight of wanting to be a big spoon, no matter how obnoxious his behavior is, just as he did with Moltisanti more than 20 years ago. It’s great that Michael Imperioli is back on TV.
