"Boardwalk Empire" star Steve Buscemi quickly approached Chris Caldovino when he started work on the HBO series in season three and proposed a deal.
"We had a running joke," Caldovino told Headlines & Global News, although Buscemi would have the last laugh. "Steve came up to me and said, 'Alright, we're making a deal right now. No retribution for me killing you on 'The Sopranos.'"
Buscemi had gunned down Caldovino and Frank Vincent's characters in the street during "The Sopranos" fifth season episode, "All Due Respect."
The former co-stars shook on the agreement that neither of their characters would kill each other in "Boardwalk Empire," but when Caldovino received his script for the last season episode, "The Good Listener," it seemed as if the Buscemi had reneged on the deal.
On set, the Brooklyn native confronted Buscemi about his character Tonino Sandrelli's demise. The veteran actor could only plead innocent. "I'm not doing it. My guys are doing it," he told Caldovino.
Cutthroat murder usually comes with the territory when starring in a mob-theme movie or TV show, as Caldovino well knows. The actor has found great success playing those roles, but he's looking to pursue characters outside the genre.
"Mob characters are fine because it pays the bills but there are other things that I've done that I'd also like to pursue," he said, such as playing characters on the other side of the law like a police detective or lawyer.
He'll play a cop in the upcoming movie "Stealing Cars" who arrests Emory Cohen's rebellious teenager for doing exactly what the title says. They both star alongside William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman and John Leguizamo.
Caldovino also plans to expand his credits behind the camera. He's a co-producer on the new film "The Nigerian," which starts shooting this summer. He'll also star in the movie that tells the story of an educated black man who loses nearly everything so he takes to a violent crime spree before learning how to really survive from a street hustler.
"I wanted to get into producing and get behind the camera. You gotta be involved in all of it," he said.
"The Wolf of Wall Street" actor won't break ties with the mob genre entirely. He also starts filming soon on the movie "Oil Run," but the action moves out of the traditional New York/New Jersey location and goes south to Texas.
"It's about the oil industry and mob infiltration... a little off the beaten path of mob movies," he said. "We got all the mob guys going down to Texas, which will be fun."
He's not leaving television altogether. He recently shot a pilot called Dirty Dead Con Men that he hopes will land him back at HBO or give Netflix an edgy new drama to boast.
"It's kind of like a modern 'L.A. Confidential' with crooked cops and con men and all that good stuff," said Caldovino, who co-stars with Peter Dobson, Kevin Interdonato and Kristen Dalton. "We had a screening of it. It came out really good. I have a lot of hope for it."
Caldovino may return to HBO much sooner. He's being eyed for a role in the upcoming 1970s rock drama from Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter, the creator of "Boardwalk Empire" and a three-time Emmy winner for his work on "The Sopranos."
The show would also reunite him with his former co-star Bobby Cannavale, who bit the dust at the end of season three of "Boardwalk" thanks to Caldovino.
"In season three, when Bobby and I were working together, we were betting on if I was going to kill him or he was going to kill me. I think we both figured out that I'd be killing him and that's what happen," he said.
The two friends share no hard feelings. Caldovino knows if they work together again, it only gives Cannavale the change to get him back. At the end of the day though, it's all in the writers' hands.
"We make the deals. It may still work out [that we kill each other], but we make the deals," he said.
The fifth and final season of "Boardwalk Empire" comes out today, Jan 13, on Blu-ray and DVD. "Stealing Cars" will premiere later this year.
