Characters

Anthony "Tony" Soprano (James Gandolfini) is the boss of the DiMeo crime family and patriarch of the Soprano household. He sees a therapist after experiencing panic attacks. His therapist is Dr. Jennifer Melfi, (Lorraine Bracco), also an Italian-American. Dr. Melfi struggles to maintain her ethical and professional position despite being endangered and threatened by Tony and his criminal lifestyle.

Tony's immediate family consists of his wife Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco), daughter Meadow Mariangela Soprano (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and son Anthony "A.J." Soprano, Jr. (Robert Iler). Carmela is a proud mother and devoted wife who struggles to accept her husband's criminal activity and infidelity as well as her own financial insecurity. She maintains a social network with other Mafia wives and widows. A.J. is initially a typical adolescent and struggles with an unconfirmed diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and teenage rebellion. Meadow is a gifted student who rationalizes her father's business and grows up hoping to pursue a career in medicine. In the final season, Meadow changes her mind about medical school and talks about going into law.

Tony's extended family includes his mother Livia Soprano (Nancy Marchand), sisters Janice Soprano (Aida Turturro) and Barbara Soprano Giglione (Nicole Burdette), uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano (Dominic Chianese), cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi) and nephew Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli). Livia is a shrewd manipulator and has emotional problems of her own. Livia is incapable of showing love or compassion of any kind. She cleverly transfers contempt for herself and others onto those who interact with her, creating substantial personal and professional complications for Tony. Junior, who frequently spends time with Livia, has seniority over Tony in their criminal empire and strives to maintain power. The dominance struggle between these two unbendable figures, coupled with Livia's manipulative influence over Junior, lead to a fudged assassination attempt on Tony in the first season. As a result, the relationship between Tony and his uncle Junior is strained throughout the series. Janice, who has had a child in Quebec, ran off to Seattle at a young age, but returns to New Jersey decades later and gets into disruptive relationships with some of Tony's colleagues. Barbara has moved away to start her own family. Blundetto grew up with Tony, but was convicted of armed robbery in their youth. He is finally released from prison in season five of the show. Christopher is Carmela's second cousin, but Tony considers him his nephew and protégé in the crime family, helping him rise through the ranks.

Tony's close circle within the DiMeo crime family includes Silvio "Sil" Dante (Steven Van Zandt), Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) and Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore). Sil is Tony's consigliere and best friend. Paulie and Big Pussy are longtime soldiers who have worked with Tony and his father. Also in Tony's family are Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi) , Furio Giunta (Federico Castelluccio) and Carlo Gervasi (Arthur J. Nascarella). Patsy is another aging soldier with a talent for bookkeeping. Furio is imported muscle from an associated Italian crime family and Carlo is an 'Old School' soldier who took over a crew.