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THE SUN: Was that really your voice when Uncle Junior sang that aria on last month's Sopranos finale?
CHIANESE: (Bruce Springteen guitarist and Sopranos co-star) Stevie Van Zant took me in to a studio a few days before (we shot the scene) and we recorded it. I never thought I'd be in a studio with Stevie Van Zant.
THE SUN: How did the scene come about?
CHIANESE: (Executive producer) David Chase heard me singing that song once at a party. He asked me what the title of the song meant, and when I told him it was "Ungrateful Heart," it just stayed in his mind and he put it into the script. Incredible.
THE SUN: Do you think we'll ever see Uncle Junior follow Tony into the psychiatrists office?
CHIANESE: I doubt it very much. First of all, he doesn't articulate. Not like Tony. Tony's a young man. Uncle Junior is a World War II veteran. He's an old timer. He's from an era when psychiatry wasn't socially acceptable.
THE SUN: Why do you think The Sopranos has hit such a nerve with audiences?
CHIANESE: I think the story has depth. Chase truly caught the modern dilemma of a man in today's world. The gangster thing is just a hook to get people interested. Really it's all just a metaphor for the bind that people find themselves in at a certain time of our lives. The world is not perfect. It all comes from David's gut.
THE SUN: Have you ever been asked to rub anybody out?
CHIANESE: Oh God forbid, no. People can tell the difference between me and the character.