( CNN ) -- `` The Sopranos '' made him a star , but James Gandolfini 's rise to fame began with a small student film from 1989 . Playing a pimp named Mike , the tough guy role was the New Jersey native 's screen debut . Gandolfini did n't get paid for the performance in `` Eddy , '' but he left a lasting impression on the director David Matalon . `` He was really intense and always prepared on set , '' said Matalon , who made the movie for a mere $ 10,000 as a student at New York University . `` He was really focused . And he really loved acting . You can see he was a guy that was very conscious of the work . '' `` Eddy '' was a modern-day film noir , in which the title character falls for a working girl named Marge . When they decide to run away together , Gandolfini 's Mike kills Eddy and accidentally shoots Marge as well . Gandolfini was 27 and working as a doorman at the time , said Matalon . He cast Gandolfini after interviewing about 15 actors for the part . `` None of them were very convincing and threatening , '' Matalon recalled , `` and then he just had it . `` He came in , and the girl helping me do the movie , he started doing the monologue , and she was crouching behind me and I said 'as far as I 'm concerned , you got the part . ' `` Matalon remembered the moment Gandolfini walked onto the set for the first time . `` This giant scary guy shows up in the elevator . He was really in shape , really ripped . There 's a scene when he throws the guy off camera and in reality , he threw the guy so far into the air he went up and hit the ground . '' It would be four years before Gandolfini appeared in `` True Romance , '' his first major Hollywood film role , and a full decade before `` The Sopranos '' turned him into a television icon . But back in 1989 , the imposing young actor was just starting out on a career that came to a end last week with his death at 51 . `` He was a great guy , '' said Matalon , who is an accomplished screenwriter , producer and filmmaker . `` You could see there 's a slight dangerousness in him . It kept it exciting , but he never let it overcome his professionalism . '' Gandolfini funeral set for Thursday . Fans mourn Gandolfini : 'It 's not James , it 's Tony '
James Gandolfini 's first role was in a feature film in 1989 . Years before Tony Soprano , he played a tough guy character named Tony . The film 's director recalls he was ` ` really intense and always prepared '' on Tony .