
FRAZIER MOORE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK—Steven Van Zandt, who plays Tony’s pompadoured consigliere on The Sopranos, prepared for the role with knowingness remarkable for a first-time actor.
“Little Steven,” of course, was a career rock’n'roller: a performer in his own right as well as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
But he transformed himself into Silvio Dante with the knack of a seasoned thespian.
On his head he swapped out his signature bandana for a full-out coifed hairpiece. Clad himself in mob-certified finery. Packed on 50 pounds. “All the outside stuff,” Van Zandt sums up.
“Then I wrote a biography of Silvio: Lifelong friend of Tony … probably the only person who’s not afraid of him and can be honest with him … kind of the ambassador and diplomat of the family.”















