Christopher Moltisanti

Christopher Moltisanti

Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
First appearance "Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance "Kennedy and Heidi" (episode 6.18)
Created by David Chase
Portrayed by Michael Imperioli
Information
Aliases Chris Maccaviti (episode 2.05)
Chris Montevani (episode 5.11) Chrissy
Gender Male
Occupation Union safety official, Stock market Chief Compliance Officer, movie producer, nightclub owner
Title Associate (Seasons 1 - 2), Soldier (Seasons 3 - 5), Capo (Season 6)
Family Joanne Moltisanti (mother)
Richard "Dickie" Moltisanti (father)
Carmela Soprano (cousin once removed)
Tony Blundetto (cousin)
Spouse(s) Kelli Lombardo Moltisanti (wife)
Adriana La Cerva (late fiancee)
Children Caitlyn Lombardo Moltisanti (daughter)
Relatives Tony Soprano (cousin - by marriage)
Janice Soprano (cousin - by marriage)
Barbara Soprano Giglione (cousin - by marriage)
Al Blundetto (uncle)
Pat Blundetto (uncle)
Meadow Soprano (second cousin)
A.J. Soprano (second cousin)
Hugh De Angelis (great uncle)
Religion Roman Catholicism

Christopher Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.

Tony Soprano has been a father figure to Christopher since the death of his father, Dickie Moltisanti. Tony affectionately refers to Christopher as his "nephew," but in fact he is a cousin of Tony's wife Carmela as well as a biological distant cousin of Tony himself.

Christopher is a volatile, narcissistic and impulsive young man, frustrated by his perceived lack of progress in the business. Christopher oversteps his authority when he hijacks trucks under the protection of family boss Junior Soprano. To teach him a lesson, Junior orders a mock execution on him. Christopher shoots a bakery clerk in the foot for ignoring him, commenting "It happens," a nod to Imperioli's role in Goodfellas where he is shot in the foot by Joe Pesci's character Tommy DeVito. In the second season Chris is shot by his subordinates Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte but survives.

Nonetheless, Tony trusts Christopher with sensitive tasks, such as disposing of the bodies of murdered capos Richie Aprile and Ralph Cifaretto, and arranging the assassination of New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi. In the third season Chris finally becomes a made man. This leads to friction with his new capo Paulie Gualtieri, culminating in the Pine Barrens incident and although they make an uneasy truce, they clash again on several occasions. By the sixth season he is promoted to capo, and Tony tells Christopher that he will lead the family into the 21st century.

Christopher has a tumultuous and abusive relationship with his long-term girlfriend Adriana La Cerva. He comes close to death when, enraged about rumors that his fiancée Adriana and Tony are having an affair, he pulls a gun on Tony, who is ready to kill him for the insult. He is spared only after Tony Blundetto intercedes for him. In the fifth season Chris learns that Adriana has been working as an informant for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and that she wants them to go into the Witness Protection Program. Valuing loyalty over love, Christopher reports Adriana's actions to Tony, who has Silvio Dante kill her.

Christopher then marries his new girlfriend Kelli Lombardo and they have a daughter, Caitlyn, but his interest in his new wife soon wanes. He grows disillusioned with Tony and frustrated with his progress in the family, and distances himself from the business by making a film and trying to become a Hollywood screenwriter.

Christopher struggles throughout the series with major drug and alcohol addictions and repeatedly spends time at AA and drug rehabilitation centers. Despite wanting Christopher to succeed, Tony doubts his nephew's loyalty and suitability to be his successor, and he fears that Christopher's immaturity and frequent drug problems make him a ripe target to turn state's evidence. Christopher's efforts to stay clean of drugs and alcohol cause him to spend less time at their regular haunts further arousing Tony's suspicions. Christopher causes a car crash as he is driving Tony home while high. After seeing that Caitlyn's baby seat has been completely destroyed in the accident, Tony suffocates the injured Chris and is finally rid of his troublesome nephew.

The character of Christopher contains various nods to actor Michael Imperioli's own life and career. Like Imperioli, Chris is a film and television buff with ambitions to be a scriptwriter (Imperioli wrote several episodes of the series), and there are references to Imperioli's appearances in Goodfellas and Dead Presidents. After auditioning for the role of Christopher, Imperioli thought that series creator David Chase was unimpressed with his audition and thus was surprised to be offered the part. Chase also said he wanted Imperioli because he had appeared in Goodfellas.[1]

Biography

Christopher Moltisanti was born in 1969 to Richard "Dickie" Moltisanti (their surname is Italian for "Many Saints" - David Chase frequently gives Sopranos characters ironic or symbolic names), a soldier in the DiMeo crime family, and Joanne Blundetto. Chris is a first cousin once removed of Carmela Soprano. Christopher's father, Dickie, was killed when Chris was very young. Tony Soprano affectionately considers Christopher a nephew (they had a cousin in common growing up; see below), and looks out for him over the years. Moltisanti is engaged to Adriana La Cerva before her murder.

Christopher is very loyal to his uncle — whom he once called "the guy I'm going to Hell for" — and Tony trusts him in return. Tony often entrusts Chris with sensitive jobs, including disposing of the bodies of capos Richie Aprile and Ralph Cifaretto. Moltisanti acts as Tony's mouthpiece, issuing Tony's orders to insulate Tony from potential racketeering charges.

Chris has his share of problems; he is prone to violent and impulsive behavior, and he has been distracted, at times, by lofty pursuits such as screenwriting. Some of the crime family's members appear to be jealous of Christopher's closeness to Tony. In particular, his fast ascent leads to friction with fellow mobsters Silvio Dante, Patsy Parisi and Paulie Gualtieri. He also has problems with substance abuse, eventually becoming addicted to heroin and alcohol, and being forced into rehab by his family, friends, and his fiancée, Adriana.

Chris abets others' drug use, as well. He provides Tony's daughter Meadow with speed when she requests it in order to study for an exam. His rationale is that if he refused, she would go to a less reputable dealer and possibly receive harmfully adulterated drugs or be raped and murdered. His drug use inspires Adriana to experiment with heroin, and - in the course of confronting Adriana about her and Tony's activities the night they crashed Tony's SUV - Chris alludes to financing Adriana's drug use. Later, after marrying Kelli Lombardo, Chris and fellow twelve-step program participant Julianna Skiff began an affair that reignites both addicts' heroin use.

Chris frequently wears FILA tracksuits and tank tops, and he has a penchant for pop culture, for having affairs with good-looking women, and expensive cars having owned a Lexus LS400, Mercedes CLK 430, BMW Z3, Land Rover Range Rover, Hummer H2, John Sacrimoni's Maserati Coupé (which "Sack" sells after he is arrested), and the 2007 Cadillac Escalade EXT, which he purchases after the Maserati is seized by the government and later fatally crashes.

Christopher's catchphrase on the show is, I'm sorry, T. He is notorious for frequently being late to meetings, irresponsible in his business dealings, and generally less "together" in his affairs than the rest of Tony's crew, due to his chronic drug and alcohol abuse, and so is constantly in the position of having to apologize for his shortcomings. Chris commits the first murder of the series by shooting Emil Kolar. Chris is occasionally haunted in dreams by Kolar's "ghost".

"Nephew" to Tony Soprano

Biologically Tony Soprano isn't Christopher's uncle. Chris' father, Dickie Moltisanti, was a soldier in Johnny Soprano's crew and was very close to Tony. Tony reminisces that Dickie was like a big brother to him so when Dickie died Tony looked out for Chris, affectionately referring to him as his nephew.

Tony and Carmela Soprano are connected to Chris via three separate family relationships:

Season One

Christopher's main goal in joining the Mafia was to get noticed and to rise up through the ranks; he was overjoyed when he found his name printed in a local newspaper alongside other mobsters. He was Tony's driver initially, and helped him as an enforcer. He "made his bones" by killing Emil Kolar in order to settle a dispute the family was having over the Triborough Towers garbage routes. He initially planned to place the body in a Kolar Bros. dumpster to send a warning, à la Luca Brasi from The Godfather. "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero convinced him to put it elsewhere as the mystery would be more effective and bring less heat to the crew. Chris later complained that he didn't receive enough recognition for his resolution of this problem. This murder haunted his dreams, and he twice had to dig up and move Kolar's corpse.

Christopher's legitimate job at the time was a Union Safety Official position in a local union that Tony got for him in order to keep the U.S. Internal Revenue Service off his financial history.

Another notable instance of Christopher's early criminal activity with the Soprano crew is his hijacking of Comley trucks with his friend Brendan Filone. These trucks were under Junior Soprano's protection, and the hijacking prompted Junior to request a sit-down and demand compensation. The late Acting Boss Jackie Aprile Sr. ruled that Chris and Brendan make restitution to Junior and leave Comley trucks alone. The two reluctantly complied and paid the $15,000 tribute to Junior, although Tony did take his cut, somewhere around $3,000. At a club with their girlfriends, Chris and Brendan planned another heist while high on crystal meth. However, on the night of the job, Chris backed down because he had decided to throw his loyalty wholly in with Tony and his crew. Brendan went through with the hijacking with two others, but it went sour and Brendan's associate dropped his firearm, causing it to fire and strike the driver, killing him. Brendan contacted Chris for help. Chris was reprimanded by Tony for not using his leadership to prevent Brendan from undertaking the job. The pair were ordered to return the truck to Comley and they complied. Chris was also extorting drug dealers for 10 percent of their income before Junior's crew took over his collections.

Junior was angered that his authority was flouted, however, and organized a mock execution for Chris. Tony's mother, Livia, held Chris in high regard because he had once put up her storm windows, and this affection may have saved him from a worse fate. He was abducted from a hot dog stand and driven out to the New Jersey Meadowlands by two Russian thugs, who executed Junior's orders. The less fortunate Brendan was shot in the eye by Mikey Palmice while in his bathtub. Later in the season, Chris confronted and killed Palmice under Tony's orders.

Chris also assisted in Jimmy Altieri's murder by luring him to a hotel room where he was shot by Silvio Dante.

Season Two

Chris was put in charge of the family's Webistics pump and dump stock scam. He received his stockbroker license by having someone take the exam in his name. Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte were his subordinates in this operation, and were also used by Chris to crack bank safes for extra income. Chris also continued to dabble in writing and acting, though this was strongly discouraged by Tony.

Eventually, Bevilaqua and Gismonte grew tired of Moltisanti and decided to murder him to gain favor with Richie Aprile. The pair ambushed Chris outside a diner and wounded him badly, though Gismonte was killed in return. Bevilaqua fled the scene. Chris had to have his spleen removed and went through a traumatic recovery process with Adriana by his side. Bevilaqua was eventually tracked down, and he was shot to death by Tony and Pussy. Chris later told the crew that during his coma, he had seen himself in either hell or purgatory after being shot and warned them that Brendan Filone and Mikey Palmice told him that three o'clock would be a significant time in their future.

Following Richie Aprile's death, Tony called Chris and Furio Giunta to dispose of his body; they used Satriale's bandsaw and processing room to dismember the corpse. At Meadow Soprano's graduation, Tony proposed Chris for membership (becoming a made man).

Season Three

Chris became a made man in 2001 alongside Eugene Pontecorvo. He noticed a crow on the windowsill at the ceremony and took this as a bad omen. As the Family's newest member, Chris inherited a betting shop from Paulie Gualtieri and was charged with a minimum weekly dues payment to Paulie, Christopher's capo. Friction was created early on between Chris and Paulie. Chris had difficulty making minimum payments to Paulie. Paulie would humiliate Chris by checking him for wires and taking advantage of Chris being a lower level mobster by having Chris pay for meals. This created a gradually building tension between the two that peaked during the Pine Barrens incident. They later agreed to bury the hatchet due to their mutual friendship. Christopher's other early work involved robbing a charity concert at Rutgers University, and working with Jackie Aprile, Jr. and his friend Benny Fazio. He also opened the Crazy Horse Nightclub in Long Branch, New Jersey with Furio Giunta as a partner, and Adrianna as front operator.

Chris was present when Jackie Aprile, Jr. and friends tried to rob a card game run by Pontecorvo. Chris and Acting Capo Albert Barese killed Aprile's friend Dino Zerrilli as he tried to escape. Chris immediately expressed to Tony his intent to murder Aprile, a request which Tony denied, causing Chris to question Tony's leadership. Eventually, a contract was put on Aprile and he was eventually found in the Boonton Projects. Vito Spatafore shot Aprile in the head, killing him. At Aprile's funeral, Chris was arrested on a gambling charge along with Patsy Parisi and Silvio Dante.

Season Four

Tony made Chris his main contact in his criminal dealings to insulate himself from prosecution. He then bonded his nephew to him by having him murder Lt. Det. Barry Haydu. He told Chris that Haydu had murdered his father, and gave him the detective's address. Chris surprised Haydu in his home and restrained him in order to question him. Haydu denied any guilt, but his involvement was clear by his repeated cries of 'I'm sorry!' and Chris killed him.

He was made acting capo of his crew when Paulie was imprisoned on a gun charge and was awarded a no-show job at the Esplanade construction site. His promotion irked Patsy, who had seniority. The two came to blows over Patsy's continued theft from the construction site, despite orders from Tony. Silvio was actually the guiding force behind Patsy's actions, as he was also jealous of Christopher's promotion. Chris was also entrusted with traveling to meet an aging family of hitmen with Silvio while organizing a hit on Johnny Sack. When Sack resolved his dispute with Ralph, the hit was called off.

Christopher's drug use spiraled out of control following his temporary promotion. When Tony called upon him to dispose of Ralph's body, Tony realized that Chris was high. Although they successfully concealed the body, Tony decided his nephew needed help. Later, Chris was car jacked by a Latino gang while trying to buy heroin. After Chris physically abused Adriana, Tony organized an intervention. When Tony learned that Chris had accidentally killed Adriana's dog, Cosette, by sitting on it when high, he became very angry as a result of his own beloved race horse being recently killed in a fire set by Ralph. He insisted Chris go into rehab and assigned Patsy to guard him.

Following Christopher's successful rehabilitation, Tony entrusted him with the planned hit on Carmine Lupertazzi; Chris contracted the job out to Credenzo Curtis and Stanley Johnson, some associates from the days of his heroin usage. When the job was called off and Tony urged him to make sure it couldn't be traced to them, Chris had Benny and Peter "Bissell" De La Rosa murder Curtis and Johnson while he waited in his car.

Season Five

Chris got into an argument with Paulie while hanging out telling past stories including the Pine Barrens tale. Paulie called Chris "Tony's Little Favorite." They later agreed to stop fighting before things got out of control.

Chris was put in charge of a cigarette smuggling operation; he partnered with Paulie and told to split the difference. While Chris was traveling to North Carolina to pick up some cigarettes, Tony and Adriana were involved in a car accident, and rumors began to spread about how the crash had been caused by Adriana performing oral sex on Tony. Chris found out, got drunk, started a fight with Vito Spatafore and pulled a gun on Tony in the Bada Bing. Following this incident, Tony was ready to kill Chris when their cousin Tony Blundetto stepped in and saved his life. Blundetto arranged a meeting with the doctor who treated Tony and Adriana following the crash to explain that both passengers must have been upright and in their seat belts when it occurred. Chris reconciled with both Vito and Tony.

Chris later travelled to his uncle Pat Blundetto's farm alongside Soprano and Tony Blundetto. They helped Pat move bodies hidden on the farm as Pat was planning to move away. While there, Chris recalled being bullied by the two Tonys and their behavior seemed to repeat itself when they ribbed him over his addiction problems.

Throughout this time, Chris maintained a turbulent and sometimes violent relationship with Adriana. He indulged her aspirations for a career in the music business by allowing her to produce a demo and later giving her a club to run. They became engaged before his drug addiction forced him into rehab. Years later, however, after he learned that Adriana was reluctantly providing information to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, he turned to Tony rather than accept her plea to join her as a government informant. Tony then deceived Adriana by convincing her that Chris had attempted suicide and that he was sending Silvio Dante to transport her to the hospital, only for her to be driven into the woods and executed. Chris later relapsed into heroin use and wept to Tony out of grief for Adriana.

Blundetto almost started a war with the Lupertazzi crime family by killing Phil Leotardo's brother Billy. Following this Tony had Chris go into hiding because he feared Phil might seek revenge on Blundetto's family. Eventually, Tony was forced to kill Blundetto himself.

Season Six, Part One

Chris was promoted to capo in the Soprano family sometime between 2004 and 2006, in keeping with Tony's long term plan to raise his nephew through the ranks until he is his sole contact to the rest of the family, through which all orders are issued, and eventually boss of the family. He used Chris to organize the sensitive hit on Rusty Millio. Chris initially questioned Tony's decision to contract the job out to their friends in Naples, but later decided it was a smart move. He used his Italian-speaking associate Corky Caporale to communicate with the hitmen and provide them with weapons and instructions, while paying him off with heroin. Christopher's readiness for the responsibility of leading his own crew is unclear as he has been distracted by the lure of a Hollywood career, relapsed into drug use, and displayed unresolved feelings over his murdered fiancee.

Christopher's crew got involved in a credit card fraud scam; his AA sponsor James "Murmur" Zancone and Benny Fazio take numbers from local businesses and sell them on to associates Ahmed and Muhammad. He wonders about whether these men have links to terrorism. The use of numbers from Nuovo Vesuvio led to a violent dispute between Benny and Tony's friend Artie Bucco. Tony blamed Christopher's trip to Los Angeles for the dispute not being settled quickly.

Chris married Kelli Lombardo in 2006 after learning that she was pregnant with his child. They made an offer on a new home together. He had a belated bachelor party with the Soprano crime family at Nuovo Vesuvio where "Larry Boy" Barese made a toast to his future. When he later delivered Corky's final payment, including more heroin, however, he watched his friend inject the drug and could not resist following suit. He spent the night at the Feast of St. Elzear festival with a stray dog.

Chris took a road trip to Pennsylvania with Tony just before the feast. On their way home, they spotted some bikers robbing a strip mall and took part of the haul for themselves. This led to a firefight (started by the bikers immediately after Chris shot out one of the tires on the bikers' van so the bikers wouldn't be able to pursue them) in which Chris shot one of the bikers as Tony drove away. Later, the two got drunk on the wine they had stolen, and Chris recalled telling Tony of Adriana's treachery. The two expressed their love for and loyalty to each other — though when the two later tried to recreate their camaraderie sober, it fell flat and ended in an awkward silence. Months later, Chris was back in AA meetings.

Season Six, Part Two

Chris calls Tony to wish him a belated birthday while he is celebrating it at the Adirondacks but Tony, disgusted, hangs up on him.

Chris premiered his film Cleaver in 2007 at a private screening with other Soprano family members and friends and is looking to have it distributed nationwide. He also seems to be distancing himself from the criminal lifestyle and staying away from the Bada Bing where he might go back into drug and alcohol use. In general, his relationship with Tony has cooled. When Tony begins grooming Bobby Bacala for the position Chris once held, it is clear that their relationship will never be the same. Given Christopher's resentment towards Tony about Adriana's death, and his continued desire to enter the film business, he and Tony continue to drift apart. When he relapsed to drinking after yet another confrontation with Paulie, he became very angry with the crew and left. He later ended up at his "friend" J.T. Dolan's home, looking for someone to talk to. When J.T. foolishly made explicit mention of Christopher's membership in the Mafia, and refused to let Chris talk out his problems that night, Chris shot him in the head and left.

Chris and his wife Kelli had a daughter named Caitlyn.

In "Kennedy and Heidi", as Tony and Chris are driving back from a meeting with Phil Leotardo and the New York crew, Chris, clearly impaired by drugs and alcohol, loses control of his Cadillac Escalade EXT and runs it off the road, turning over several times and coming to a stop in a ditch. Tony is well enough to climb out of the truck, but Chris is badly injured and coughing up blood. He pleads for Tony's help, mumbling that he wouldn't pass a drugs test and could lose his license. After getting out, Tony sees a tree branch impaling a car seat where Christopher's daughter could have been sitting and pinches Christopher's nostrils shut, causing him to choke to death on his own blood.

Throughout the episode's remainder, Tony displays the proper decorum for the family in mourning yet can barely restrain his relief that he is finally free of the burden Chris has placed upon him for so long; the many instances of insubordination, his drug and alcohol addictions, his reckless and thoughtless behavior, and his constant complaining about his frustrated ambitions. He also describes Chris as a "drag" on his emotions, and "a weak, lying drug addict." In a dream, Tony admits to Dr. Melfi that he did in fact murder Chris as well as other friends and family members before, specifically mentioning Tony Blundetto, Big Pussy Bonpensiero and Ralph Cifaretto. In the series' final episodes, Christopher's picture is hung in the pork store in his honor; Paulie is disturbed that the resident cat spends its days staring at the picture.

Clandestine knowledge

Because of his close relationship with Tony Soprano, Christopher is the only one (besides Tony) who knows which bodies were buried at "Uncle Pat" Blundetto's farm and where they were moved after Pat sold the farm, where Tony Blundetto's body was buried after Tony Soprano shot him, and what really happened to Ralph Cifaretto. Chris is also one of the few (along with Furio Giunta) to know Richie Aprile was murdered by Janice Soprano, and (along with Silvio Dante) to know about Tony Soprano's murder of Fabian Petrulio, about the aborted plan to hit New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi, Sr. and about Silvio's murder of Christopher's fiancee, Adriana La Cerva.

Killings or possible killings committed or assisted by Christopher

Christopher has helped dispose of several people murdered by other people throughout the series, mainly Tony.

References to Imperioli's career

Reception

TV Guide rated him #13 on their list of "TV's Top 100 Characters".

References

  1. ↑ Biskind, Peter (April 2007). "An American Family". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2012-03-21.

External links

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