Word has it on the street that Steve Schirripa has been offered a cool half million bucks to have his guts stapled and then to go on the air and endorse it! This surely beats any other offer he has had since the end of “The Sopranos” three years back. And that is saying a lot since he has had a fair smattering of offers, some good, some bad and some most folks would not touch.

Did he take it up? Nope. He has seen a fair share of luck and success and hence could decline. The runaway success of “The Sopranos” resulted in more work and he has now signed on with ABC for “Secret Life of the American Teenager,” He has also made some movie appearances, and will shortly be hosting “Nothing Personal” a feature that will be aired on Investigation Discovery.

“Nothing Personal” analyses the root causes that lead to contract killings with each instalment going deep into a murder and chronicling why and how it occurred. The first episode concerns a mob dispute. Others belong to the domestic problem genre. Schirrip is also a producer for the series of six shows.

According to Schirripa he would not have taken up this offer if it was only a mob story. He does not like playing a nasty guy. And this from someone whose career leapfrogged largely as a result of being part of the team that brought “The Sopranos” to life!

To give him his due though, it seems he is not interested in being type cast as a mob guy. This is why he has accepted roles both small and big that would give him an opportunity to show other facets of his acting skills. This has proved difficult though. People want him to play Bobby ‘Bacala’ [Baccalieri] for eternity. He would rather now turn to crime TV such as “Nothing Personal.”

Schirripa confesses that his audience has changed radically from the days of “Sopranos” to the present day “Real Life of the American Teenager,” which he is thoroughly enjoying. Look at the perks. He is now stopped on the road by teenage girls saying they like his show. Beats fat Italian guys hands down, what?