James Gandolfini was originally supposed to be in HBO's most acclaimed new show 'The Night Of

Three years after his death, James Gandolfini's passion project premiered, andit's thriving."The Night Of" is aneight-part miniseriesthat airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO. It currently has a95% score on Rotten Tomatoes.The series was previously titled"Criminal Justice" and isbased on a BBC seriesof that same name. It follows Naz (Riz Ahmed), a straight-laced Pakistani-American student who finds himself in the middle of a murder case after his one-night fling with a strange woman ends in her brutal death.Gandolfini was in an unaired pilot of the show in 2013. He played Jack Stone, the lawyer who represents Naz. Around May 2013, HBO gave the series the greenlight, according to The New York Times. But the actor's life was cut short when he died of a sudden heart attackin a Rome hotel in June 2013. He was 51.Robert De Niro had signed on to replace Gandolfini but backed out due to scheduling conflicts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Then John Turturro was offered the starring role. Turturro knew Gandolfini, who starred in his passion project, 2005's "Romance & Cigarettes." (Watch the "Sopranos" star sing "A Man Without Love" in the film.)"I was friends with him," Turturro told The New York Times. "I went to his wedding. I went to his funeral."After Turturro wrote to Gandolfini's widow, he signed on, reassured that Gandolfini had only a minor appearance in the unaired pilot so there wasn't much to "erase," Turturro told The Times."[Gandolfini] very much wanted to do it and I wanted him to do it,"Steven Zaillian, who is a cocreator of the series, told The Hollywood Reporter. "But as much as I would have loved to have done it with Jim, this has really become [Turturro's]part. They're both great actors."While Turturro has gotten rave reviews of his performance, Gandolfini's name is still in the credits, listedas an executive producer.SEE ALSO:The 10 best and worst TV shows this summerDON'T MISS:The 6 biggest things that are shaking up the TV industry right nowJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: 7 things you missed in the new Star Wars Rogue One trailer
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