Sopranos Characters - Paulie Gualtieri
*spoilers* Paulie Gualtieri is a longtime associate of Tony Soprano on the HBO television series "The Sopranos.
" He is played by Tony Sirico, himself a onetime mafia associate who has spent time in prison.
Paulie is, in many ways, indicative of the kind of dangerous criminals that Tony Soprano must encounter on a regular basis.
In a way, he serves as a way of showing to the audience both Tony's skill and weakness as a leader.
Paulie himself is some sort of psychopath.
Despite killing several people over the course of the show, including an old woman he kills for the money under her bed and a waiter he kills over a tip, he never once shows a hint of remorse.
Indeed, following some of his killings, he will make a comment complaining about what an inconvenience the killing was.
His bizarre psychopathy comes across in more than just his killings, however.
When newly-made man Christopher is assigned to his crew, Paulie goes out of his way to make Christopher's life miserable, including sneaking into Christopher's bedroom and taking his fiancee's underwear.
What is strange about this incident is that Paulie seems genuinely surprised that Christopher would take any offense to anything he has done.
One minute, he is virtually threatening to kill Christopher, and the next, he is laughing with him about a singing fish.
As a character, he is terribly insecure, and requires constant affirmation of his abilities.
When Tony does this, Paulie is one of his most dedicated followers, however, he is quick to take offense to any perceived slight, to the point where Tony may not even realize he has offended him.
In Season Four, he provides a great deal of sensitive information to New York, because Tony ruled against him on a single stolen shipment in the previous season.
Usually, Tony is able to handle Paulie, who is likely the most psychopathic member of his family.
He gives Tony increasing levels of responsibility.
However, Paulie's personality is so irritating that even Tony considers killing him in the Sixth Season.
In the end, though, he decides that Paulie, despite all of his dangerous tendencies, is still useful.
" He is played by Tony Sirico, himself a onetime mafia associate who has spent time in prison.
Paulie is, in many ways, indicative of the kind of dangerous criminals that Tony Soprano must encounter on a regular basis.
In a way, he serves as a way of showing to the audience both Tony's skill and weakness as a leader.
Paulie himself is some sort of psychopath.
Despite killing several people over the course of the show, including an old woman he kills for the money under her bed and a waiter he kills over a tip, he never once shows a hint of remorse.
Indeed, following some of his killings, he will make a comment complaining about what an inconvenience the killing was.
His bizarre psychopathy comes across in more than just his killings, however.
When newly-made man Christopher is assigned to his crew, Paulie goes out of his way to make Christopher's life miserable, including sneaking into Christopher's bedroom and taking his fiancee's underwear.
What is strange about this incident is that Paulie seems genuinely surprised that Christopher would take any offense to anything he has done.
One minute, he is virtually threatening to kill Christopher, and the next, he is laughing with him about a singing fish.
As a character, he is terribly insecure, and requires constant affirmation of his abilities.
When Tony does this, Paulie is one of his most dedicated followers, however, he is quick to take offense to any perceived slight, to the point where Tony may not even realize he has offended him.
In Season Four, he provides a great deal of sensitive information to New York, because Tony ruled against him on a single stolen shipment in the previous season.
Usually, Tony is able to handle Paulie, who is likely the most psychopathic member of his family.
He gives Tony increasing levels of responsibility.
However, Paulie's personality is so irritating that even Tony considers killing him in the Sixth Season.
In the end, though, he decides that Paulie, despite all of his dangerous tendencies, is still useful.
