The film that features James Gandolfini’s last role before his death in June, Enough Said, premiered without it’s colorful star. His co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Toni Collette, and Catherine Keener were on the red carpet and described the event as “bittersweet”. The BBC reports that the late star plays a more sensitive character than audiences are used to seeing in The Sopranos.

“This is how great an actor Jim [Gandolfini] was,” said former Seinfeld actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. “He was no Tony Soprano. This guy was thoughtful, generous, sweet, self-effacing guy – like the character he plays in the film.”

Co-star, Toni Collette, also described the premiere as a bittersweet affair. “I think when the experience of making a film has been so buoyant and lovely and fun, you want to celebrate that experience and share it with the world,” she said. “But also the film is dedicated to Jim. He is so divine in the movie. It will be bittersweet.”

Many of Gandolfini’s former co-stars from The Sopranos were at the premiere, including Edie Falco, Aida Turturro and Steven Schiripa plus the show’s creator David Chase.Tony Sirico, who played Paulie in the show, also remembered his friend.

“He’s our pal and we’re coming to pay our respects,” he said. “He might be dead, technically, but he’s still there with me. I got his pictures all over my wall. And I got a lot of years working behind him. Jimmy had a lot of colors. He was a great actor. He could play a tough guy, a softie. He played a coward in a film and that had to be a tough… but he did it. He’s wonderful.”

Gandolfini shot scenes for the film about a year before he died from a heart attack in June while on holiday in Italy. Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus play divorcees with children heading off to college who meet at a party and start a relationship.

Enough Said opens in theatres this Friday, September 20th.

Image via wikipedia