PEOPLE

PEOPLE
Gandolfini considersleaving 'Sopranos'
Making hits for a living ain't pretty, but whaddya gonna do?
Well, what James Gandolfini, who plays Mafia godfather Tony Soprano on HBO's three-year-old hit series "The Sopranos," might do is simply walk away from the show. In an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph, he said the bloodshed on "The Sopranos" appalls him so much he's considering leaving the family after next season.
"I don't think I will do a Mafia character again," he said. "I want to get away from the violence a little bit, because it is starting to bother me personally."
One scene that might have affected Gandolfini came at the end of last season. Soprano was forced to whack his best friend, who, it was discovered, was wearing a wire for the Feds.
Gandolfini also said he's shocked that some people see him as a role model.
"I can't believe it when people ask me to come and talk to their kindergarten class," Gandolfini told the Telegraph. "It boggles my mind." (Talk about a killer show-and-tell!)
An HBO spokeswoman declined to comment on the actor's remarks. She did say, however, that series creator David Chase is still weighing whether or not to take the show into a fifth season.
P. Diddy is in talksto take role in movie
Rap star Sean "P. Diddy" Combs was acquitted of gun and bribery charges earlier this year -- but he could be headed for jail anyway. Only this time, he'll get paid for the appearance, reports Wall of Sound.
The Artist Formerly Known As Puff Daddy is in final negotiations to play a small but significant role in "Monster's Ball," a Lions Gate film that will star Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Halle Berry and Peter Boyle. The story, set in the contemporary South, centers on Thornton and Ledger, a father-son team who work on an electric chair at the local prison.
Combs will play Berry's boyfriend, a death-row inmate who gets sent to the chair that Thornton's character -- a racist -- works on.
The film, directed by Marc Forster ("Vanished"), will be filmed in Louisiana, in part at Angola State prison.
This summer, Combs will also appear in "Made," a comedy about low-level mobsters. He's not one of the major characters in the film, but his influence in New York reportedly came in handy during the filming -- he gained the crew access to expensive clubs like Spa, China Club and 357.
Knight Ridder Newspapers