The actor teamed with Brad Pitt for this 2012 crime drama.
Though he only had a minor role, the actor made a big impact in the Oscar-winning film.
In this 2011 HBO film about the Loud family, the actor played a character involved in one of TV's earliest attempts at reality programming.
The actor played a troubled man who connects with Kristen Stewart's character in this 2010 film.
The actor played a general in this 2009 comedy about war.
The actor provided the voice of Carol in Spike Jonze's adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic.
In a remake of a 1970s classic, the actor plays the mayor of New York City during a hostage crisis in the 2009 remake.
The actor teamed with John Travolta in this period crime drama from 2006.
Starring with Sean Penn, Gandolfini played Tiny Duffy in this 2006 adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's classic about the power of populist politics.
In John Turturro's 2005 musical, the star played a character named Nick Murder.
The actor takes a swing at Ben Affleck in this 2004 comedy.
The actor held his own with Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt in this crime caper from 2001.
A retro noir thriller from the Coen Brothers offered the actor a terrific role in this 2001 film.
With a cast that included Robert Redford and Mark Ruffalo, the 2001 film concerns a disgraced general who attempts a prison uprising.
In one of his first big roles, Gandolfini squares off against Demi Moore in a 1996 drama about jury tampering.
In his greatest role, the actor both humanized and elevated the troubles of a mob boss in New Jersey. He will be long remembered for the work.
MORE: James Gandolfini: His Life in Pictures