No big pussy, actor Joseph Gannascoli discusses outting his character on The Sopranos.

By Lawrence Ferber

Gay cowboys? What's next? Gay mobsters?

Yes, actually. Fans of HBO's The Sopranos dropped their popcorn recently when mobster Vito Spatafore, one of the Soprano family's dependable and sometimes ruthless capos, was caught in a gay bar two Sundays ago. And last Sunday, Vito's subplot took center stage when his secret got out. “The writers are giving me a tremendous amount of work,” actor Joseph Gannascoli, who plays Vito, admits, “and I'm extremely pleased. I'm a friend of the gays as they say, so I hopefully have done it justice. I'm proud to do it.”

For those who haven't been watching, The Sopranos (which airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST/PT) revolves around mob boss Tony Soprano and his family. Last season it was revealed that the married-with-children-and-a-girlfriend-on-the-side Vito had same-sex proclivities. He was caught orally servicing a construction site security guard. (“I'm sure all of America fell of their chair when I popped my head up after [servicing] the security guard,” Spatafore laughs) On the April 8 episode, Vito's sexuality came again to the surface when he, in leatherman regalia, hit a gay bar and literally roped himself a guy (see them kiss on Gannascoli's Web site). At the time, a pair of mob bagmen had also stopped by the bar on collection business and spotted Vito in action. Vito panicked, claming, “It's just a joke!” and fled to a hotel room to contemplate suicide.

On the most recent episode, entitled “Live Free or Die,” Vito's secret had gotten out, prompting him to flee town entirely. Incredulous upon first hearing the news of his homosexuality, Vito's fellow mobsters soon frothed with homophobia and pledged to kill him. But Vito's wife came to his defense, insisting that he's a devoted husband and father. Even boss Tony came to the defense and acknowledged Vito's exceptional earning ability. Meanwhile, on the lam, Vito's car broke down in New Hampshire, where he found a temporary haven in an idyllic small town populated by free spirits and out homosexuals.

Gannascoli won't give anything away regarding what happens to his character in future episodes, but does imply that Vito will be around until the end of the season.

The Brooklyn-based Gannascoli, who recently launched his own pasta sauce line, A Sauce To Die For, wasn't only proud to play gay -- he was responsible for suggesting it in the first place. “The gay thing was my idea,” he says. “It was from a book I was reading, an openly gay mobster was part of a Brooklyn crew and they let him be openly gay as long as he earned and produced. No one bothered him about it as long as he didn't embarrass anyone and bring it into the family. He did what he did in his own time. I thought it would be very interesting and intriguing, the side you never see in the mob. It was also challenging as an actor -- you look at all the great actors who played gay. I thought it would be an honor [to be among them].”

Still, Gannascoli admits there was a moment of pause -- amongst his fellow cast members as well -- when his idea actually turned into typed reality. “When we were going in for the script read-through and I first got wind of what was going on, a lot of the [cast] said I wouldn't do it, I couldn't do it, I didn't have to do it,” he recalls. “Jimmy [Gandolfini] said, 'If you're not comfortable with this we'll go talk to [creator David Chase] now.' And I thought about it and said you know what, I'm an actor, I want to act, this is challenging for me and I'm not going to say anything, I'm just going to go ahead and do it. And I'm glad I did.”

Good-humored and gregarious, Gannascoli says that he has long been intrigued by queer life. As a child he witnessed Al Pacino shooting Cruising in NYC's meat packing district and was drawn to the work of gay actor Charles Laughton. His first career was in restaurants, and he worked at a handful of gay hotspots including NYC's Vanessa (“I think James Coco tried to pick me up there!”), Company, and Los Angeles' Chit Chat. “There was a phone on every table so they could call up people,” he recalls of the latter establishment. “I remember on a Friday and Saturday night when the place was packed I'd be calling up guys, playing around saying 'You son of a bitch, I saw you looking at him!' They'd go 'who is this?' looking all around. I'd be laughing!”

After a losing tailspin into gambling forced him out of the restaurant business (experiences he funneled into his new novel, A Meal To Die For), Gannascoli decided to try acting. He landed a role in the 1993 movie, Money For Nothing, and later impressed a pair of casting agents for The Sopranos. Thanks to his role on the addictive show, Gannascoli appeared on season one of VH-1's Celebrity Fit Club. However, he says that he didn't draw any inspiration from the show's uber-gay host, Ant. “Nah, as matter of fact I got a little perspiration, he got too close to me at times,” Gannascoli jokes. “I have to say Ant is a fun guy, he got along famously with my wife.”

There were plenty of real life gays on the set when they shot The Sopranos' pivotal gay bar scene, he reports, enlisted from Manhattan leather bars. During breaks, Gannascoli was schooled in the hanky code by a bear. Speaking of bears, does the actor hope to garner a large following of bears and chasers thanks to Vito's story arc?

Apparently, he already has one.

“I have a funny story,” he shares. “A fan from Chicago e-mailed me, and I emailed back. He came to New York and said, 'I'd love to get a picture with you.' I said, 'Well, I'm in Brooklyn.' He said he'd come to Brooklyn, so [when he arrived] I went and took the picture. His name is gaybearlover on his e-mail; I never thought about it. So I Googled my name one time and next thing I know I go holy shit, there's the picture on a bear chasing web site! I never knew what the bear-chasing thing was and all that. So I e-mailed him recently -- 'Gary, not for nothing, I don't mind you taking my picture, but you should have told me it was going up on a bear-lover site!' But I don't mind. It was funny.”

For more information on Gannascoli, see www.josephrgannascoli.com.