This Superstar Acted On The Sopranos And You Never Noticed
One fun thing about rewatching your favorite TV shows is knowing what happened to the stars' careers after the series wrapped. ER proved to be just the start for George Clooney, Paul Rudd's turn as Phoebe's husband Mike in Friends is now barely a footnote in his long career, and Malcolm in the Middle was an unexpected showcase for Bryan Cranston's particular set of skills.
Even more fun is seeing super famous people working in the tiny roles on these shows that helped them build a ladder to the top. There's something satisfying about knowing that people considered the VIPs on a set today got their starts on the lowest billing — and that their hard work paid off.
The thing about extras and minor characters is that their job is to blend into an episode and support the stars and story, which means it sometimes takes a while for people to catch on to their previous work — even when both the actor and the series are household names. That's why you never noticed one particular superstar who appeared for just a moment on The Sopranos.
Lin-Manuel Miranda did not make friends with Tony Soprano
Cast your mind back to April 2007, when Alexander Hamilton was just another old dead dude in a history book, and the sixth season of The Sopranos was inching towards its close. In the episode "Remember When," Tony (James Gandolfini) and Paulie (Tony Sirico) question a very unhelpful bellhop about a motel that may or may not have been replaced with a swanky hotel. That very unhelpful bellhop is played by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda, future creator and star of Hamilton.
By the time of his short appearance in The Sopranos, Miranda was already working on his breakout musical, In the Heights. He wrote the script for the musical based in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood while still in college, found producers in 2003, and saw the Off-Broadway version premiere in January 2007. That led to a remarkably successful Broadway run that kicked off a year later, before Miranda would go down in history as the creator of Hamilton. He's continued to keep busy, picking up songwriting duties for Disney on Moana and the upcoming Little Mermaid live-action remake, while a big-screen adaptation of In the Heights is set to premiere next year. No more bit parts here.