Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa have done a lot of acting since their time on The Sopranos. However, given the quality and continued acclaim of the HBO series, it's no surprise the world still remembers them most because of their much-loved characters from the mob drama. There are some downsides to that, however, as Sanpelligrino CIAO! hilariously points out in its new ad campaign featuring the two actors.
In a humorous series of commercials, Imperioli and Schirripa receive a shipping container full of Sanpelligrino CIAO!, the latest product release from the Italian-based sparkling water company. Unfortunately, they're having trouble handing the product off to others, mainly because the general public still sees them as mafioso types despite Sopranos being a TV series. Schirripa spoke to CinemaBlend about the commercial shoot and what it was like re-teaming up with his former co-star:
We're very close friends. We did the podcast together, we've done movies together, we wrote a book together. So it was a lot of fun when Sanpellegrino came to us with it. One, I'm a fan of Sanpellegrino, honestly. We went down to Florida. We spent a few days down there, and we tried to give this wonderful Ciao! product out to people, and they’d mistaken us for our acting personas, shall we say. It was a lot of fun.
Schirripa may have an exciting role lined up in Dexter: Ressurection, but he was down to take a trip to Florida and shoot commercials with his longtime buddy. As mentioned above, Schirripa and Michael Imperioli co-hosted the Talking Sopranos podcast together and are very much involved in each other's lives decades after the mob series' polarizing ending.
It was a fun time, according to the actor, who had one big confession to make about filming the ad campaign. Steve Schirripa endorses Sanpelligrino CIAO!, to the point that he may have had a little too much of the beverage while filming the commercials:
You see a commercial or a show, and they're saying, ‘They're not eating, they're not really drinking. ’ I must have drank, I don't know how many Sanpellegrino peach Ciao!. I must have had twenty of them that day. It's really that good…It kind of reminds me of Italy. You taste that little pinch of Sicilian sea salt, so it makes it better. But just to go hang out with Michael, you know, we talk a lot more than we see each other even though we live a mile away, but it was a lot of fun.
Eating on the sets of movies and TV shows can be a mixed bag. Sometimes you have to bite into a gross heart and you throw up, and other times the food is so good you make yourself sick trying to scarf it all down scene after scene. I remember reading once that the kids from Harry Potter were getting sick because they kept eating the food in the Great Hall over multiple takes, and I feel like I would've had the same problem.
Fortunately, I don't think the natural fruit-flavored sparkling water gave Schirripa any issues, as he's a big fan of peach. For those curious, the new SanPelligrino CIAO! is offered in the following flavors:
- Lime
- Cherry
- Blood Orange
- Peach
The new product line is currently rolling out to stores and, as someone who has also tried them, I can say it's a great drink to have on hand while streaming The Sopranos with a Max subscription. I'm sure it'll also be great for that upcoming Blue Bloods spinoff if mob dramas aren't your bag. Whatever you watch, you'll see Steve Schirripa on commercials soon enough, in which he'll be repping this new product.
CinemaBlend continues to check on what stars of The Sopranos are up to, while, of course, also keeping up with the 2025 TV schedule. We're also very excited about Steve Schirripa joining Dexter: Resurrection, which is slowly building a remarkable cast for the serial killer's latest tale.
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