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Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Gandolfini's next-to-last role was as sweet as he was

IMAGE: Enough Said
James Gandolfini's sweet character inFox Searchlight Pictures

If you see "Enough Said,"one of James Gandolfini's final movies, don't expect to see the late actor reprising his terrifyingly tough Tony Soprano character. 

Co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus told The Hollywood Reporter that Gandolfini's character, Albert, was "exceptionally dear and kind and thoughtful and self-effacing and very gentle, and in fact, this is very close to who Jim himself was."

Gandolfini's character and Louis-Dreyfus' character, a masseuse, fall for each other in the relationship comedy, only to learn that his ex is one of her good friends. Playing a vulnerable man wasn't easy for Gandolfini, even if the role may have been close to his own personality, Louis-Dreyfus said. 

"(The role was) not something that he was particularly comfortable playing," Louis-Dreyfus said. "And there was an enormous amount of vulnerability that he brought to bear to this part."

And that Tony Soprano cockiness was lacking off-screen as well, replaced by a Gandolfini humbleness. 

"He did keep saying to (director) Nicole (Holofcener), 'If you want to recast, if you don't think I'm right ... I understand,'" Louis-Dreyfus said. "He didn't feel deserving of the part, which frankly made him that much more lovable, I thought. More fall-in-love-able."

Joked Holofcener, "He just wanted us to keep telling him how sexy he was."

"And we did!" agreed Louis-Dreyfus.

The film is set to open on Sept. 18.