Joe and Johnny Cakes

Check out Friday's Life section for my interview with actor Joe Gannascoli, who played gay mobster Vito Spatafore on "The Sopranos." (The HBO series just scored 15 Emmy nominations.)

Joe will be at Gators nightclub in New Castle on Friday, beginning at 9 p.m. He was very cool, funny and often very "Sopranos" like. (Don't get him started about Dustin "Screech" Diamond who was on "Celebrity Fit Club", a VH1 series that Gannascoli also appeared in.)

Just to give you a taste of the interview - I asked Joe how his on-screen relationship with "Johnny Cakes," a New Hampshire diner owner, plays off screen.

"You always get those jerk-off wiseguys at sporting events who want to say something. But, for the most part, people loved the character,” he says.

And when the actor goes to a restaurant, someone will usually ask: ‘Hey, you getting the ‘Johnny Cakes?’ ”

He takes it in stride. “Mostly, they send over drinks or pick up my tab. It works to my benefit.”