If you have been tuning into basically any show lately, you may have noticed that F. Murray Abraham is always showing up. This actor has been popping up on various streaming shows over the past few years, which is pretty inspiring considering that he has been in this industry since the 70s.
He had a short stint in Moon Night on Disney+ earlier this year, after starring on the first two seasons of Apple TV’s Mythic Quest, then finally, he starred in an episode of Netflix’s anthology series Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities last month. Somewhere along the line, he must have thought that he needed to check another streaming service off the list and get on an HBO show, which leads us to season two of The White Lotus.
Abraham stars in season two of the hit series, portraying Michael Imperioli’s father. Imperioli recently revealed that the two had a real bond after they both caught COVID at the same time. While Imperioli was “dying,” Abraham was doing vocal warm-ups, as an 80-something actor who has been working nonstop for years does, naturally.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Imperioli, who said that Abraham is just as dedicated as he seems on the (very many) screens he occupies. “With Murray, my hotel room was underneath his, and I could hear him doing vocal exercises every single day. Even when he had COVID. We both had it at the same time, and I was dying with a sore throat. I couldn’t even speak. And I hear Murray singing. He’s 82 years old, doing it every day while he’s got COVID,” Imperioli said.
He added that Abraham is just so good at his job that he was unwilling to let COVID get in the way of portraying a weird old womanizer. “He just really embodies someone who has dedicated his life to the art and loves it and respects it.” The two obviously recovered and were able to star together as the father-son duo. Almost like the kind of relationship that Christopher always wanted with Tony Soprano.
Even though Mike White was unable to get any other Sopranos alums on board to play Imperoli’s dad, Abraham is a good substitute. Though the guy who plays Uncle Jun is literally still alive.