Gandolfini made his major film debut in Ocean's 8 (2018) and appeared in The Many Saints of Newark (2021), in which he played the role of Tony Soprano, a character originally portrayed by his father James Gandolfini in the television series The Sopranos.
While he was a teenager, Gandolfini enjoyed performing, but his father advised against an acting career; he wanted him to pursue sports or "be a director.
[6] After his father's death, Michael Gandolfini decided to pursue acting.
After early auditions, he was cast in the HBO drama series The Deuce as Joey Dwyer.
[9] In 2024, he was cast in Warfare, a war film written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland.