Gabriella Piazza Booked ‘The Sopranos’ Prequel by Screaming About Pork Chops

Gabriella Piazza had just gotten a promotion at a New York City startup when she decided to ditch her 9-to-5 to pursue an acting career. After attending classes at New York Film Academy and making her own short film, she went on to book a number of shorts and a television role as Resident Elise Gasecki on NBC’s “New Amsterdam.” She now makes her film debut in “The Many Saints of Newark” (in theaters Oct. 1), playing mob wife Joanne Moltisanti in the “Sopranos” prequel. Here, she discusses how growing up on Long Island helped prepare her for the role of a lifetime, and how she made the transition from office job to actor.

Your dad is a former FBI agent and you weren’t allowed to watch gangster movies growing up. Did you have a lot of catching up to do before entering the “Sopranos” universe?
My father is a former FBI agent but a proud Italian American, so he does have some strong opinions about the mafia in movies and TV. I, serendipitously, when I got this audition, had been one season into [watching] “The Sopranos.” I was a bit late to the game, of course, but immediately, as everybody is, was hooked and totally immersed. I was doing my research without knowing that I would have to, so it worked out perfectly.

And growing up on Long Island, you’re surrounded by that culture all the time.
The Italian American culture is so strong. My family, you fight to get a word in at the dinner table. We have the seven fishes at Christmas. I actually called my mom right before the audition and I was like, “Mom, can you say these words to me so I can hear your accent really quick?” She was able to help me. It’s sort of in my bones, and I’m very grateful for that upbringing; [because of it,] I was able to play Joanne Moltisanti.

What has playing Joanne Moltisanti in “The Many Saints of Newark” added to your acting skills?
Because Joanne isn’t really mentioned a lot [in “The Sopranos”] other than the few times Christopher brings her up, and you see her only a few times, I learned to trust my instincts of creating a character without a lot to go from, other than the incredible writing of David Chase and Lawrence Konner and the direction of Alan Taylor. I was able to build within myself this trust as an actor with these heavy hitters, these incredible actors, and just trust that I was paying good homage to the Joanne Moltisanti that fans hopefully would love to see. 

You had a corporate career before you turned to acting. What was the moment you decided to pivot?
Admittedly, it did take me a little while to figure out I wanted to act. Ever since I was younger, I knew deep down I had an underlying passion. I went to acting camps, I always did sketches, but I never had anybody in my family really go after an acting career. I had all these incredibly brilliant people—my sisters, my brother, my parents; everyone around me did the corporate career. When I graduated college, I did what I was seeing. I got a corporate job. I rose up through the ranks and had the role of a VP of sales at this New York City startup, but I, constantly, throughout my career, was missing that creative portion. Shortly after that promotion, I met someone at work who changed my life. I was watching them use a corporate job as a side hustle and really go after their acting career. I realized it was possible. Right after meeting that person, I quit my job and started my own production company and went to school at night at the New York Film Academy and I made my own short film that did really well. It was as scary as anything, but it was the best decision I ever made. A lot of people get to act and know about it because they’re in the world or they’ve seen somebody do it. That isn’t the case for everybody. I hope to tell people it definitely is possible and it’s not too late. Wherever you are in your career, if you’re missing that creative portion, go after it, it’s possible. 

What advice would you give your younger self?
Everyone has their own path. It’s really hard, with social media and everything being so public nowadays, to celebrate other people’s achievements versus being completely envious that they’re 10 steps ahead of you. I would say to myself, and even to people just starting out, that it’s OK. Whatever’s supposed to happen is supposed to happen. It sometimes takes forever and longer than you want, but it’s your own journey and your own path. Make it yours and you’ll get there. And also definitely learn how to bartend. 

What is your worst audition horror story?
This was when I was first starting out and it was for, as everybody knows in the industry, the rite of passage [TV] show in New York—I’m not going to say the name, but I’m sure my fellow actors will know. I went in for a one-line co-star for a waitress. At the time, I was like, Yeah, co-star is just as important as a series regular. I’m going to go in there and take my time. I went into a four-minute waitressing scene around the room. I was picking up glasses, filling up water cups. I ended this four-minute silent scene with my one line, “Is that all?” and the casting director was like, “Yes, that is it. Thank you so much.” 

What was the audition process for “The Many Saints of Newark”?
The first casting director that I had ever taken a workshop with in New York, five years prior, was the casting director who brought me in for the audition. That in itself was validating, in the sense of I did that work, I’ve kept in touch with this person, and here I am in this incredible casting room. I walked in and I made an interesting choice: I sort of yelled one of my lines, which is my favorite line in the movie, and it wasn’t in the stage direction. Both casting directors in the room looked at me and started laughing and then continued with the scene. I remember leaving there being like, I don’t know if they thought I was nuts yelling at them like my mother or grandmother would do about pork chops. 

What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
I didn’t get this role, but when I auditioned for the remake of “A League of Their Own,” I dressed up in full softball garb because I was a huge softball player. I was supposed to go to college to play softball. I remember being like, This is the role that I was meant for. I was in full softball garb and I asked my agent to send this two-page email about my school softball career. I look back and I’m like, OK, it wasn’t my role, there will be others. But I loved that audition process because I gave it my all and my heart and I knew I had done my job. I definitely tried to go above and beyond with my cleats. You didn’t even see my feet. 

How do you typically prepare for an audition?
My biggest piece of advice is to be off-book. What works for me is I don’t really memorize the lines of the other person in the scene. I write my lines down in sequence so that I’m completely off-book. I can just listen and act. If I know those lines, I might not know when they’re coming because I’m not memorizing the other person’s part, but I know what mine are, therefore I have to listen and I know what response I’m supposed to be giving at that time in terms of text. I’m not worrying and searching for words. There’s so much stress going into auditions, and the one thing I feel like can alleviate that stress that’s in your control as an actor is to go in completely off-book. 

How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA card?
It was “New Amsterdam”! I got to play a resident. I got to bring somebody back to life! 

What performance should every actor see and why?
What always stands out to me is Karen Allen playing Marion Ravenwood in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As a little girl, you grow up watching Disney, damsel in distress [stories]. I remember watching this movie and being like, This is the first time I’m really seeing a woman fight against that damsel in distress narrative that I thought was everywhere. She’s yelling at Indiana Jones. She’s fighting back at Indiana Jones, she’s fighting with Indiana Jones. She does get trapped in a barrel and he does save her at one point, but for the most part, she’s a strong character.