Since the one-season drama Detroit 187 was cancelled at ABC, Michael Imperioli has bounced between TV appearances and big screen roles, with Spike Lee's Oldboy among his upcoming credits. And coming next year, it looks like we'll be seeing the Sopranos star ("Christa-fa!") in Californication for a multi-episode arc.
The Showtime comedy wrapped up its sixth season on Sunday night and we already knew the series, which stars David Duchovny as the often reckless writer and music fanatic Hank Moody, would be back for a 12-episode seventh season. Today comes word that Imperioli will guest star in the show in a multi-episode arc, as a character playing a key role in Hank's latest venture. He'll play the role as Rick Rath, who's described as a successful old-school television producer.
Hank's dabbled in movies, music, and of course, books. Is the small screen on the horizon for the writer? The sixth season left off (spoiler alert if you aren't caught up!) with Hank about to go on tour with Atticus and then deciding at the last minute - or technically, after the last minute - to return to Los Angeles to get Karen back. Whether or not he does that remains to be seen.
Imperioli is fantastic, and another perfect piece of casting for a series that has already done very well in that department over the years. In addition to The Sopranos and Detroit 187, his credits include Life on Mars, and feature films The Lovely Bones and Goodfellas. More recently, he appeared in Girls and Necessary Roughness. His participation in Californication is one more reason to look forward to the show's anticipated return next year. Production on Season 7 begins later this month.
