LaPaglia almost played Tony Soprano

Without A Trace star Anthony LaPaglia twice came close to portraying TV mafia kingpin Tony Soprano, WENN reports.

The Australian actor was creator David Chase's original choice for the lead role in The Sopranos but reportedly turned down the part.

In an interview with Sopranos fan Alec Baldwin on the final season DVD, Chase confirmed that he later considered giving LaPaglia the role of Soprano in a film-within-a-TV show storyline.

The proposed plot would have featured Tony Soprano's psychologist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) writing a book about the gangster and getting it made into a movie. LaPaglia would have played the film version of Soprano.