Robert Iler had sworn off acting after The Sopranos, but life had other plans – specifically, jury duty. The former A.J. Soprano found himself summoned to court, and instead of arguing his way out like a true mob boss’ son, he took a hilariously creative detour.
How? By booking a guest role on Law & Order. Iler’s post-Sopranos retirement wasn’t so final after all – at least when legal loopholes were involved.
From The Sopranos to jury duty dodging, Robert Iler’s hilarious acting comeback
Robert Iler had no plans to return to acting after The Sopranos. But when jury duty came knocking, he got creative – by taking a gig on Law & Order.
Iler, best known as A.J. Soprano, has mostly stayed out of Hollywood since The Sopranos ended in 2007. He originally told his manager he’d take six months off to play poker and relax with his friends. That break stretched into years, though.
Joining his former co-stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa on their podcast Talking Sopranos, Iler revealed,
After Sopranos, I told my manager I wanted six months off to go play poker and hang out with my friends and just do whatever. And he kept calling — ‘It’s been a year,’ ‘It’s been two years.’ The only thing I have done since Sopranos is I got called to do jury duty and I didn’t want to do jury duty … so twice, to get out of jury duty, I did an episode of Law and Order.
His acting career started with an unexpected twist. At auditions, he doubted he’d land A.J.’s role because the other kids looked more Italian. But show creator David Chase laughed every time Iler dropped an f-bomb – and just like that, he was in.
Despite walking away from Hollywood, offers still came. He admitted he felt “spoiled” by The Sopranos and feared anything else wouldn’t measure up. He said on the podcast,
I still get calls randomly to do shows … and it’s like you played for the [New York] Yankees and now people are like, ‘Hey, do you want to do this thing?.’ For me, I was extremely spoiled with my first thing. It was perfect.
So there is a part of me that thinks if you do something else, I will mess it up. … There are times when I think ‘no, never.’ And then there’s times where, like last week when in this quarantine, where I was watching Ozark … it blew me away … and I could see doing something like this and I would really enjoy it.
Instead, he turned to poker – until gambling became tied to his struggles with addiction. Now sober for several years, Robert Iler left that life behind.
Robert Iler talks Sopranos, Barstool fandom, and life after acting
Robert Iler stopped by Barstool NYC HQ last year, and let’s just say, he was deep in the Barstool trenches. The Sopranos alum, co-hosting Not Today Pal with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, sat down for a chat with guest co-host Glenny Balls, covering everything from his Sopranos days to his love for Barstool content (per barstoolsports.com).
He shared behind-the-scenes memories, including how emotional it was filming the series finale. They also touched on his role as “Bully #1” in Daredevil and his post-Sopranos life. Turns out, Iler’s a massive Barstool fan – he even recognized infamous office moments.
Easygoing, funny, and all-in on the convo, he made it clear: he’s just as much a fan as he is a legend.
Watch The Sopranos on Max & Prime Videos.
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