Imperioli now one of the good guys

Michael Imperioli, who played hotheaded gangster Christopher Moltisanti on “The Sopranos, is now on the other side of the law.

In the new ABC television series “Detroit 1-8-7, Imperioli portrays Louis Fitch, a workaholic homicide detective in a city with one of the nation's highest murder rates. A brilliant interrogator of criminal suspects, Fitch's life outside the station is a mystery to his colleagues.

“He's very private, Imperioli said at ABC headquarters. “Nobody who works with him knows anything about his personal life. He's not the easiest guy to get along with, but he's extremely good at his job.

Like his character, Imperioli has a hectic schedule.

In addition to shooting the series, which airs Tuesday nights, the 44-year-old father of three is promoting his directorial debut, “The Hungry Ghosts, a movie about a group of troubled New Yorkers. He recently sold the Chelsea building that housed the theater company he ran for $4.1 million, and he stars in a popular series of TV commercials for 1800 Tequila.

Dressed in jeans, a brown leather jacket and sneakers, Imperioli projects none of the menace or unpredictability of his “Sopranos character, who once shot a bakery clerk in the foot for not showing him the proper respect.

He's slight and soft-spoken, more comfortable talking about Buddhism than mob hits. (“Hungry Ghosts refers to imaginary Tibetan creatures with bloated bellies, tiny mouths and spindly limbs who are tormented by unfulfilled desires.)

“I've played some gangster roles, but that's obviously not me, Imperioli said. “When you're an Italian-American New York actor, it's just an easy way to get cast.

“Detroit 1-8-7 the numbers are police slang for murder is filmed in that blue-collar Michigan city, providing a flavor of authenticity.

“Detroit offers a unique visual landscape that tells the story of the city and what it's been through, Imperioli said. “It's been a very difficult time, but there's a sense of renaissance happening now with the renovation and rehabilitation of old buildings and neighborhoods.

“The Hungry Ghosts is a low-budget indie film that features three cast members from “The Sopranos and 19 actors who appeared in productions at Studio Dante, the theater run by Imperioli and his wife, Victoria. Steven Schirripa, who played Tony Soprano's brother-in-law Bobby “Bacala Baccalieri, co-stars as a late-night radio host with drug and gambling problems.

“I like working with people I know and feel a kinship to, Imperioli said. “Some of these actors I knew even before ‘The Sopranos.' We were in acting school together when we were teenagers.

Imperioli struggled for years before landing his first role. He was rejected hundreds of times at auditions, even for tiny parts in off-off-Broadway productions.

“I'd go for parts that didn't pay a dime, and there would be 300 to 400 actors there, Imperioli said. “It could be very discouraging. To make it in this business, you have to have a kind of dumb sense that you're really good. You have to believe that someone is going to recognize that, no matter how many times you're turned down.

Imperioli got his first big break in Martin Scorsese's “Goodfellas, the 1990 mob classic starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci. He played a bartender who is shot to death by Pesci's maniacal character.

Imperioli cut his hand while filming that scene and was taken to the hospital for stitches. When emergency-room workers saw the fake blood and bullet holes in his chest, they thought the wounds were real and wanted to rush him into surgery.

“I kept telling them that it was only my hand, but they thought I was delirious, Imperioli said. “Finally they opened my shirt and saw all the wires and blood packs. But I still had to wait an hour to get stitched up.