The new “Reacher” spin-off “Neagley” introduces viewers to sketchy pharmaceutical CEO Pierce Woodrow. The guy might look familiar, and not just because of his uncanny resemblance to Noah Wyle of “The Pitt” and “ER” fame. If you’ve just started watching “Neagley” and are wondering where you’ve seen Woodrow’s actor before, it’s possible you’re a fan of “The Sopranos.”
Woodrow is played by Matthew Del Negro, whose first major TV role came in Season 4 of “The Sopranos.” He played Carmela’s (Edie Falco) cousin Brian, a character who is briefly wrapped up in Tony’s world but who somehow manages to avoid ruining his life in the process — well, mostly. He buys a spec house from the Sopranos that could cave in one day from its low-quality lumber. Brian is surprisingly memorable for such a minor character, which might be why so many other series started casting him after Season 4 aired.
Del Negro went on to land recurring roles in shows like “The West Wing,” “Beautiful People,” and “United States of Tara.” Perhaps his most high-profile role in the 2010s was his performance as Michael Ambruso in “Scandal,” a sex worker who falls in love with the politician he’s been hired to entrap.
Matthew del Negro learned a fun acting lesson from James Gandolfini
Despite his long list of acting credits, Del Negro’s small role in “The Sopranos” is still one of his most famous performances. He was asked about it in a May 2026 interview with MovieJunk, and he shared a fun trick he learned from the show’s late leading man James Gandolfini. In order to effectively play a drunk character, Gandolfini told him he should spin around a bunch of times before the camera started rolling.
“We come in and the whole room is spinning, and you don’t have to play drunk, you’re just trying to walk a straight line,” Del Negro said. He recalled feeling “like a jacka**” for spinning around on set, but Gandolfini gave him some extra words of wisdom: “All that matters is that f**king box … If you are serving the story and serving your character … the performance is gonna last way beyond what anybody thinks of you on that set that day.”
Since Season 4 of “The Sopranos,” Del Negro has appeared in over 50 TV shows. Most of his individual television stints didn’t last long, but it’s possible “Neagley” will prove an exception. Whereas the spin-off’s parent series “Reacher” is forced by its source material to radically shake up the cast each season, “Neagley” can allow Del Negro’s Pierce Woodrow to stick around for Season 2. That’s assuming, of course, that he makes it out of the first season in one piece.
