The Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli has revealed his initially underwhelmed impression of the HBO series before it went on to acclaim.

Imperioli, who starred as Christopher Moltisanti in the iconic drama, told the AV Club in an interview published Thursday that the thought of doing a series on HBO did not have any prestige to actors at all at that time.

I wasnt like This is gonna change television, said Imperioli, who recently starred in HBOs The White Lotus . The pilot, he said, was OK.

Im not being facetious, really, I wasnt sure if it was a spoof, is this a comedy? Its on HBO, where there were no series. ... No ones ever going to really see this.

Millions, though, wound up tuning into The Sopranos after it premiered in 1999. The show would have 11.9 million viewers by its series finale, according to Nielsen data.