Michael Rispoli

Michael Rispoli (born November 27, 1960) is an American character actor.

He was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO television series The Sopranos, but was ultimately cast as Jackie Aprile, a recurring character in the show's first season.

He majored in theater at State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1982.

Rispoli reunited with Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini in the 2009 thriller The Taking of Pelham 123.

Rispoli, a second-generation Italian American, was raised in Tappan, New York, one of eight children, and attended Tappan Zee High School, where he played football.

The feature film Union Square (co-written and directed by Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner Nancy Savoca) premiered in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival: Rispoli co-stars with Mira Sorvino, Patti LuPone, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.

He also starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis.