‘Cocaine is the Gollum of drugs’ – and other things we learned from Anthony LaPaglia’s surprisingly juicy memoir — SkimNews
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- Anthony LaPaglia recounts his father Egidio’s abuse in Beefacres, Adelaide, before he worked as a shoe salesman, moved to the US and built a Broadway and Hollywood career.
- Anthony LaPaglia says he first tried cocaine in 1993 while filming So I Married an Axe Murderer in San Francisco, became a “bingeing addict,” and quit without rehab because he could not live with “the stupidity.”
- Anthony LaPaglia says David Chase approached him in 1996 about playing Tony Soprano, while Les Moonves said The Sopranos was too racy for CBS; after LaPaglia committed to A View from the Bridge, HBO picked it up and cast James Gandolfini, whom he calls “far and away the best choice.”
- Anthony LaPaglia says he turned down the Australian slave-trader role in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained in 2011 to make Underground, prompting Tarantino to hang up; Django later grossed $450 million (A$646 million) worldwide while Underground was barely seen.
- Anthony LaPaglia says he hated working with John Landis on the 1992 film Innocent Blood, developed welts and dreamed of Landis dying violently; Robert Loggia stopped him from hitting the director during an argument.
- Anthony LaPaglia recounts that an actress he was dating told him Harvey Weinstein tried to “maul her” in a hotel room; he later called Weinstein a “prick” to his face, and Weinstein warned he would never work in one of his movies.
- Anthony LaPaglia says three divorces and poor financial control left him “pretty much broke”: he sold his properties, vintage motorbikes and exotic cars, now rents in Santa Monica and keeps one Rolex; after his accountant died in 2024, the IRS caught up with him and he repaid his debts.
Why it matters: LaPaglia bears the cost: he turned down a role in Django Unchained, which grossed $450 million worldwide, for Underground, which was barely seen; three divorces and poor financial control left him with one Rolex after his accountant died in 2024 and the IRS caught up with him. His account shifts attention from celebrity polish to the costs of his choices.
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