BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - James Gandolfini says he knows the difference between playing tough and being tough.

"I went to Iraq because I was playing this tough guy on TV and I wanted to go and meet some real ones," the man better known as Tony Soprano said yesterday.

Soprano was on hand at the Television Critics Association tour to discuss the new HBO documentary Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq, for which he is the executive producer and interviewer.

Gandolfini did not feel it was appropriate yesterday to answer questions about The Sopranos and its controversial ending.

"No, please, I'm begging you, put that to rest," Gandolfini said.

"It's not about me. I don't want to be antagonistic, but I just don't want it to be about me.

"I have plenty of personal views on Iraq that are not appropriate here today."

But is it a relief that The Sopranos is over?

"Yes, definitely," Gandolfini said.

For the hour-long documentary, Gandolfini interviewed 10 American veterans of the Iraq war who have come home with severe injuries.

Gandolfini went to Iraq with fellow Sopranos castmate Tony Sirico to visit solldiers a couple of years ago, which lit the fire for this endeavour.

"These are intelligent people who wanted to tell a story," Gandolfini said. "Just to get it out there, because I don't think you see this a lot, and that infuriates me."

It's a tough documentary to watch, and Gandolfini admitted he got emotional while conducting the interviews.

"I'm not Barbara Walters," Gandolfini said. "So of course I did."

As for the title, "Alive Day" refers to the day on which a soldier almost loses his life, but doesn't.

It airs on HBO on Sept. 9