Conventional wisdom, and some hardcore gamers, dictate that video games based shows on TV are usually more for fans of the show than for gamers. Luckily for 7 Studios and THQ, The Sopranos isn't on TV, it's on HBO. Which might explain how they got such cast members as Robert Iler, Tony Sirico, and Joseph Gannascoli to do the voices of their characters -- Anthony "A.J." Soprano, Jr., Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri and the late, great Vito Spatafore, respectfully -- for The Sopranos: Road To Respect, a video game version of the mob drama.

GameSpy: When were you guys first approached about doing your character's voice in The Sopranos game?
Joseph Gannascoli: I would say... gee I don't even know. Maybe January of last year.
Tony Sirico: Yeah, maybe like seven, eight months ago. They called my manager and asked me if I wanted to do it.
Robert Iler: I don't remember exactly when I got the phone call either, but I do remember that my manager called me and asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said of course, I thought it would be great.
GameSpy: What was the reaction of the cast to this idea? Were people open to it, or were people thinking, "A video game? I don't want to do a video game."?

Tony's crew.
Robert Iler: People on our show love our show, and anything that has The Sopranos name on it, people really trust that it will be solid and good and worth putting our name on.
Tony Sirico: Yeah, I thought it was great. I knew David [Chase, the show's creator] was involved, and that was enough for me. He only does quality stuff. Plus it was different for me. I did a voice over before for a cartoon, but other than that...
Joseph Gannascoli: I did it because I thought it would be cool. I grew up in the era of stick ball, so video games are something I'm just going to start playing now. I'm definitely going to learn how to play this game. But I have friends who have kids who play video games, and I've taken notice of all the commercials for video games on TV, and they look pretty cool.
GameSpy: Only the men from the show are in the game. Were any of the women on your show bummed that they weren't included?
Robert Iler: I'm sure everyone would love to be in the game, but no one said anything to me about it.