Robert Iler (AJ Soprano)

[BravoFan]

Character profile from HBO.com

"You know what really pisses me off about my dad? He did all these really great things, then, before he was my dad...now he's just an asshole."

Tony's second born and namesake, Anthony, Junior is capable of causing his father more agita than the FBI's entire New Jersey Field Office. A.J. is an uninspired (read "lousy") high school student, a Nintendo cultist whose greatest talent is pushing his parents' buttons. Some highlights: he crashed Carmela's car while driving without a license; got caught smoking pot at his confirmation party; skimmed Nietzsche and Camus and declared life meaningless; went to gym class drunk on stolen Communion wine; broke into the school and vandalized the swimming pool; and, finally, was expelled for cheating on a geometry test.

Following the gym class bacchanal, school counselors informed Tony and Carmela that A.J. was on the "borderline" of Attention Deficit Disorder. A.J. was briefly in therapy, but his parents ultimately decided that A.J. was "just a kid who screwed up a little bit." When A.J. was expelled, however, Tony decided it was time for serious action: A.J. was enrolled in the Hudson Military Institute, a strict boarding school where there's no television and the day starts at 05:30. But when A.J. passed out while trying on his new uniform, it was discovered that he suffers anxiety attacks - the same malady suffered by his father and grandfather. As a result, his internment at military school was cancelled.

If A.J. were capable of following in his father's footsteps, his difficulties might not be a problem - after all, Tony was no scholar. But Tony has always been tough, resourceful and post-doctorate-level street smart; A.J. isn't. He's basically a sweet kid, of average intelligence, who's trying to cope with the fact his dad kills people.

[Google]