How Michael Imperioli nearly tanked his ‘White Lotus’ Season 2 audition, and how he plans to pull it off in Season 3. (1:52)
The ABC comedy White Famous, starring Michael Imperioli, is moving closer to becoming a reality, and this time, Imperioli is not the star of the show.
“I was the one who got the job, but I’m not going to be the star,” says the actor, who plays a successful Italian restaurant owner. “It’s not my show. I’m just the guy who works on it.”
White Famous was conceived as a vehicle to showcase Imperioli’s talents, and the idea evolved to become The Unauthorized Michael Imperioli Story, executive produced by Imperioli and his co-stars.
Related: White Famous Season 2 will premiere in March
Imperioli first came close to becoming a part of the show after he auditioned on the show’s second season with a story about being a white gay son of an Italian father and a Pakistani mom named Nafisa. When told he’d gotten the part, he was stunned, then told Nafisa he deserved to be a part of the show.
“She said something to me like, ‘That was great, but I was hoping you’d do another audition,'” he recalls. “And I had done a good audition, but I didn’t do it in the way that I was supposed to in the beginning. The show gave me an opportunity to become better.”
Imperioli, who plays Kevin Kline’s (Martin Sheen) wealthy uncle, “had to grow as an actor, as a storyteller, as a person, as a person of power,” he says. “I had to learn how to bring the audience along with me.”
White Famous (1st and 2nd season)
The Unauthorized Michael Imperioli Story is based on a
