at 17:45 on April 4, 2007, EST.
By NELSON WYATT


Actors Phillippe Bergeron (right), James Gandolfini (left) and Christian Laurin are shown in a scene from the season premiere of "The Sopranos." (CP PHOTO/HO/HBO/Craig Blankenhorn)

Tony Soprano meets Quebec mobsters in season premiere of series

MONTREAL (CP) - Tabernak! Tony Soprano is going head-to-head with the Quebec mob Sunday night in the season premiere of "The Sopranos."

And actor Philippe Bergeron couldn't be happier. "I think the French-Canadian bad guy has been vastly underused over the years," he says in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home.

"If you think about it, I don't think in the history of American film and TV there is a memorable French-Canadian baddie. I can't think of one."

Bergeron hopes he and fellow actor Christian Laurin, also a native Quebecer, will help fix that.

Bergeron plays Denis, a Quebecois mobster who wants to do business with Soprano in the kickoff to the acclaimed crime show's final nine episodes. Laurin is his sidekick.

"Now, what we're dealing, you'll have to watch it," Bergeron adds, invoking the show's code of silence when it comes to plot lines.

Admittedly, it's a small part of the show, which is broadcast on the Movie Network in Canada and HBO in the U.S. But it's a big deal for any actor.

"It's huge," Bergeron says. "Even for an American actor to be in a big three-to-four minute one-on-one with Tony Soprano, it's a big deal. Especially in the season premiere of the final season."

Buzz has built to a deafening roar around the final sprint of the series as fans try to figure out what will become of menacing mob boss Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini.

Bergeron's involvement in the show is almost worthy of a tinseltown story itself.

A fellow Quebecer who works in a Beverly Hills dentist's office was approached by one of her clients, "Sopranos" producer-writer Andrew Schneider. He was writing a French-Canadian character for the show and wanted some tips on dialogue to ensure it sounded authentic.

She put Schneider in touch with Bergeron, who's had a busy career in Hollywood for the last 20 years with appearances in such hits as "ER," "Alias" and "JAG."

Bergeron helped Schneider write the Quebec hoods' dialogue and says he then made another suggestion about casting: "Just make sure that you get the true French-Canadian guy - and by the way, I'm an actor."

He still had to audition, but aced it.

In character, the dark-haired Bergeron looks like someone who can match Soprano glower for glower.

He laughs when he describes Denis as "me, when I'm in a bad mood." Unlike Bergeron, Denis's accent is thick "like I'm straight from Lac St-Jean."

Bergeron, who will next be seen in the buddy cop movie "Rush Hour 3," says it's time Quebec mobsters got their due.

"We're so ripe for bad guys," he says. "The French-Canadian bad guy is very colourful, very emotional and we've never seen that. We've seen bad guys in every other big society on Earth."

"We've seen British bad guys, French, Arabic, Russian, Ukrainian - but we've never seen a French-Canadian," he says. "I'm very proud to have my stamp on this character."

Bergeron describes Gandolfini as "a brilliant actor."

"He's shy, moody," Bergeron adds, but not so shy that he didn't reach out during the six hours they spent together on set, across a table from each other in a New Jersey dive bar.

"At one point, I'm improvising," Bergeron remembers. "The producer comes and tells me to stick to the script. Gandolfini leans over to me and says, 'Welcome to my world,' meaning that even he is not allowed to improvise. It's very much a writer's show."

He says that he and Laurin also taught Gandolfini - who burns up the screen with profanity - a few Quebec curses.

"We told him the classics - hostie, tabernak, calice - and he kind of had a kick out of it because he had no clue."

Alas, Bergeron says Gandolfini didn't use his new language prowess in one rehearsal when he blew a line 10 times in a row, finally erupting with a machine-gun repetition of a curse word whose only Canadian connection is that it rhymes with puck.

"I felt like I was truly in front of Tony Soprano," Bergeron recalls of the moment, worried that maybe he was the reason for the flubbed line. "I got scared, and then he delivered the line flawlessly."

Bergeron says he hopes that between his acting and his contribution to the dialogue, he's given American viewers something they haven't seen before. When was the last time Americans ever heard someone say "tabernak" on TV, he points out.

"Probably never," he laughs. "This may be historical. The first 'tabernak' on American TV."

"Unfortunately, I'm not the one that says it - it's my partner - but I'm the one who wrote it."


©The Canadian Press, 2007

This is a huge spoiler. You should change the subj. line so people don't have the episode ruined likeI just did.

I'm not why this is a spoiler but thanks for the heads up, the media frenzy is in full swing. I can't wait, this is the only show I've ever cared about.

live4lust said:

I changed the subject line

Slave2daGroove said:

It's a spoiler because the italians think that the french are wusses, let alone what americans think of canadians.....Bergeron's character is gonna get whacked big time!!!!!

Can't wait till Monday (that's when I can start downloading it!)!

abierman said:

The French Canandian mob are full of bikers and pycho's so I wouldn't bet on that, but we'll see soon enough

Slave2daGroove said:

are you calling the Hell's Angels mobsters???? Better watch your back!

abierman said:

Hells Angels working with organized crime is a given as you need muscle, too bad they weren't smarter. There's nothing more inconspicuous than a member of the Hells Angels, I think my back will be all right.

Slave2daGroove said:

There are people here in the Netherlands who claimed that as well about the dutch Chapter of the HA's.....they got some bruises, I tell ya!