
The iconic crime drama The Sopranos is widely considered to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time. The series won a total of 21 Primetime Emmy Awards and 5 Golden Globes over the course of its 6 seasons. The Sopranos also jumpstarted the career of many of its cast members, bringing actors like Michael Imperioli and the late James Gandolfini into the limelight. The show also featured some unlikely cast members, namely, Steven Van Zandt (a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band) and the recently deceased Tony Sirico (a convicted felon who had just finished serving time for extortion and felony weapons possession).
However, outside of the main cast of The Sopranos, so many other actors made cameos as auxiliary characters, all of which were important to the development of the series. In fact, there are some actors who made brief cameos in The Sopranos that developed into A-list celebrity actors (or even musicians) later in their careers. And you probably don’t even remember them being in the show!
Yes, in this article, we’re going to take a look at what might be the best television series of all time and acknowledge some of the celebrity actors of today who made brief appearances in the series back at the beginning of their careers. Here are the 7 celebrity actors you didn’t know were in The Sopranos.
1. Michael B. Jordan
Today, Michael B. Jordan is one of the most well-known rising stars in Hollywood. He got his first big breakthrough role in Fruitvale Station in 2013 and, since then, he’s been landing movie after role to the point where his face is constantly on a movie poster. You probably recognize Jordan as the villainous Erik Killmonger from the Black Panther films or as Donnie Creed from the 2015 boxing movie Creed. However, before he was either of those things, he played a Newark youth who bullied Tony Soprano.
In a quick flashback scene, young Anthony Soprano is seen getting off a bus. Only moments later, he’s getting harassed by three young men to pick up a wrapper that he threw on the ground. Honestly, it’s hard to tell if these young men are more interested in bullying Tony or saving the environment. Either way, Michael B. Jordan’s character is one of the only people throughout the series to challenge Tony and not suffer a violent death.
2. Lady Gaga
Before she was one of the most successful pop stars of all time, Lady Gaga actually landed a small role on The Sopranos. In the episode (amazingly) titled “The Telltale Moozadell”, Gaga appears as one of the girls on the bleachers laughing and smoking cigarettes as AJ and his friends vandalize the school, an incident that ultimately lands AJ in big trouble.
However, while most people know Lady Gaga from her music, this appearance in The Sopranos is far from her only acting role. In fact, she even won an Oscar for Best Original Song in the 2018 film A Star Is Born and received a ton of critical praise for the 2021 crime drama House of Gucci. Lady Gaga’s acting prowess has certainly developed since her appearance in The Sopranos and, in reference to her cameo, she’s said, “When I look back on that scene, I can see exactly what I did wrong.”
3. Paul Dano
Paul Dano has received a ton of publicity lately for his role in The Batman as The Riddler, the counterpart to Robert Pattinson’s heroic lead role. Many have claimed that it’s the most impressive performance in a Batman movie since Heath Ledger’s rendition of The Joker in The Dark Knight. However, this is far from Dano’s only accomplishment. He’s also played major roles in iconic films such as There Will Be Blood, Prisoners, Swiss Army Man, Little Miss Sunshine, and Love & Mercy. But, before Dano amassed one of the most impressive filmographies in Hollywood, he played a minor role in the Sopranos.
Dano appears in the series as a friend of AJ’s named Patrick Whalen who has one of the worst bowl cuts I’ve ever seen and a major interest in AJ’s father. Whalen and his buddies question AJ incessantly about his father’s involvement in organized crime and even convince AJ to try to take them to the Bada Bing (Tony’s strip club). Unfortunately, they never find the club.
4. Lin Manuel-Miranda
If you know the name Lin Manuel-Miranda, it’s almost certainly in connection to the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, which received a record-breaking 16 nominations and took home 11 awards (including Best Musical) at the 70th Tony Awards. However, before Hamilton was ever in production, Lin Manuel-Miranda was dealing with a different kind of Tony: Tony Soprano.

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Yes, Manuel-Miranda had a brief cameo as a bellboy in The Sopranos in which he’s questioned by Tony and Paulie about when his place of employment was built. Manuel-Miranda’s character obviously couldn’t care less about the question, which irks the two mobsters. Fortunately, they decide not to harm the surly bellboy.
5. Will Arnett
Most known for his comedic roles as Gob in Arrested Development or as Stranz Van Waldenberg in Blades of Glory, Will Arnett also made a brief cameo in The Sopranos as the husband of the FBI agent who tries to turn Adriana into an informant.
Arnett plays an FBI agent himself in the two scenes in Season 4 that he appears in; however, he only has about one or two lines. In fact, Arnett claimed in an interview with James Corden that he only got the part because he was able to make director David Chase laugh.
6. Michael K. Williams
Before Michael K. Williams played the role of Omar Little in the HBO series The Wire, he had a small role in another HBO series about crime: The Sopranos. Yes, Michael K. Williams appears as a man named Ray Ray in the “Army of One” episode of Season 3. Ray Ray helps Jackie Aprile Jr. hide out in his housing project in Boonton while he’s on the run from Tony Soprano and his goons.
Unfortunately, Ray Ray’s efforts to help Jackie Jr. are in vain because Jackie Jr. gets shot in the back by Vito only moments after Michael K. Williams’s only appearance in the show. While Ray Ray never appears again in the show, we can only hope that he’s still sitting in that same room, playing chess with his daughter.
7. Cristin Milioti
Cristin Milioti is probably most well-known for her role as Tracey McConnell in the iconic sitcom How I Met Your Mother. However, she also played Teresa Belfort (Jordan Belfort’s wife) in The Wolf of Wall Street and, more recently, Sarah Wilder in the 2020 film Palm Springs. However, before she landed any of those roles, the New Jersey native had a brief appearance in The Sopranos as Catherine Sacrimoni, daughter of notorious mob boss Johnny Sack.
In her very first appearance on the show, she screams in a crowded prison visitation room, “Jesus! Can we ever talk about anything in this family besides food?” It’s a truly hilarious scene. Catherine Sacrimoni also makes another appearance in a later episode as she sits by her father’s bedside as he’s dying from cancer.
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