His head tilted down, and a reflective look passed across his face. Both of Michael Gandolfini’s hands rested gently atop his father’s casket.
The teen son of Emmy-winner James Gandolfini shared a poignant final moment with his dad Thursday after a funeral filled with two teary families: The actor’s New Jersey clan and the cast of “The Sopranos.”
The 13-year-old was a pallbearer at the emotional service held eight days after Michael discovered a stricken Gandolfini inside their Rome hotel room.
An estimated 2,000 friends, fans and relatives filled the Cathedral of St. John the Divine to bid a sad farewell to the gone-too-soon Gandolfini, who died at 51.
“It was a wonderful ceremony,” said “Sopranos” co-star Tony Sirico, who played Garden State tough guy Paulie Walnuts. “I cried a lot.”
The star-studded 100-minute memorial drew a large contingent from the hit HBO show in which Gandolfini made his bones as an emotionally conflicted mob boss from his home state.
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Show creator David Chase paid homage to his larger-than-life star, recalling how the actor never lost touch with the little boy inside both Tony Soprano — and James Gandolfini.
“That was why I think you were such a great actor, because of that boy inside,” Chase said during his eulogy. “And I think your talent is that you can take in the immensity of humankind and the universe, and shine it out to the rest of us like a huge bright light.
“And I believe that only a pure soul, like a child, can do that well. And that was you . . . You were a good boy.”
Chase wrote his recollections as if penning a letter to Gandolfini. His first attempt at writing a traditional tribute “came out like bad TV,” he confessed.
The contingent of colleagues from “The Sopranos” included nearly the entire cast: TV wife Edie Falco along with Lorraine Bracco, Joe Pantoliano, Dominic Chianese, Steve Buscemi, Vincent Curatola, Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, John Ventimiglia, Vincent Pastore and Aida Turturro.
A very pregnant Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who played daughter Meadow Soprano, dabbed a tear from her eye as she left the service. Schirripa, aka capo Bobby (Bacala) Baccalieri, wept outside the church before heading inside.
The group developed a tight bond during the show’s 1999-2007 run, when Gandolfini emerged as their acknowledged leader while “The Sopranos” became a runaway smash.
All in the spectacular Manhattan cathedral shared a hug at the urging of Gandolfini family friend Thomas Richardson, who recalled the actor’s penchant for an overly friendly squeeze.
“Close your eyes and think of Jim and hug too tight,” he said. Richardson also delivered a special message to Gandolfini’s only son.
“You have shown such strength in this unbearable time,” he said.
The “Sopranos” crew was joined by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ordered his state’s flags to fly at half-staff in Gandolfini’s honor, and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
Gandolfini was a fan of Gang Green.
Other bold-faced guests in the red folding chairs included Alec Baldwin, who worked with Gandolfini in a 1992 Broadway revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and actors John Turturro, Chris Noth, Julianna Margulies and Marcia Gay Harden.
Gandolfini earned a Tony nomination for best actor in a play for his work opposite Harden in “God of Carnage.”
Susan Aston, a Gandolfini friend and collaborator of 25 years, recalled his comedic words of comfort before they took the stage together in an ’80s production.
“‘Aston, what’s the worst that can happen? We suck,'” she recounted. “Those were liberating words of wisdom.”
The Jersey-born Chase, who also collaborated with Gandolfini on the film “Not Fade Away,” was the last speaker at the sad farewell. The first was Gandolfini’s wife, Deborah Lin, who thanked her late husband for their five years of marriage. “My husband was an honest, kind and loving man,” she said. “He cared more about others than himself. . . . Thank you for the memories of the beautiful life we spent together.
“I love you, Jim, and I always will. Rest in peace.”
The simple service included heart-tugging songs by Broadway performer Amy Justman, who sang “Ave Maria,” and baritone Jesse Blumberg, who did “Bring Him Home” from the show “Les Miserables.”
In addition to son Michael, Gandolfini left behind a 9-month-old daughter, Liliana. The actor died of a massive heart attack while in a Rome hotel.
A black hearse delivered Gandolfini’s remains to the Manhattan church from a funeral parlor in the actor’s old home town of Park Ridge, N.J.
Fans began gathering three hours before the 10 a.m. funeral. The line stretched more than a block down Amsterdam Ave., and included visitors from Ireland and Australia. Others took a much shorter route.
“I just had to be here,” said fan Barbara Tomanelli, 75, who lives a few blocks from the Manhattan church.
Gandolfini achieved his greatest success playing ruthless gangster Soprano, whose mother issues and scars sent him for psychiatric help.
The Very Rev. James Kowalski, during his homily, praised Gandolfini’s work as the fictional mob boss for examining more than just his life of crime. “If a violent gangster could force me to think more about family conflicts … and the possibility of redemption, maybe there is this thing called hope,” Kowalski said.
