Code of Silence

''You murder somebody, you gotta slow down for a while,'' mused ''Sopranos'' costar Aida Turturro at the HBO series' premiere party for its highly anticipated third season. ''I have some fun things coming up,'' the actress continued -- and that's probably no exaggeration from an actress whose character whacked her abusive mobster husband and then got her big brother to help cover it up. ''You can't keep going after you murder somebody, or, you know, you're gonna get caught!''

Caught, whacked, locked up, whatevah -- what matters is, the Emmy nominated drama where hitman angst meets homefront histrionics is back with a (bada) bang. And while the rest of youse hafta wait till March 4 at 9 p.m. to get your fix of two back to back new episodes, EW.com caught up with the cast at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 21. Even betta? We got lobster risotto, mucho vino, and a good old fashioned talking to from Dominic Chianese, otherwise known as tough guy ''Uncle Junior'' Soprano. Eyeing ''Sopranos'' creator David Chase, Chianese put it bluntly: ''See that guy? I work for him. And I...cannot talk. Am I gonna get out of my house arrest? Well, you have to use your creative imagination.''

Even Vincent Pastore, whose character ''Big Pussy'' was sent to sleep with the fishes last season, couldn't resist the chance to party with the family that whacked him. But what with Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) having a propensity to hallucinate, dream, and take drugs, might we meet the ghost of Big Pussy? Pastore laughed: ''I'm not saying anything. But, then again, anything's possible.''

HBO would be proud of such discretion. Fortunately, the gang soon moved out of the spotlight and into the Grand Ballroom at The New York Hilton for ''The Soprano Family Party.'' High on the thrill of watching the first two episodes, which (not to spoil anything) will change the way you think about lamps, Sting, and shoelaces, SOME couldn't help but talk shop -- particularly one of the show's third season newbies.

Actor Patrick Sully, 24 -- who plays the non- Italian love interest of Tony's daughter, Meadow -- faces pressure that no boy would envy. But he's not complaining. ''I have followed his [Gandolfini's] career for so long that when I finally got to meet him, it was incredible for me,'' Sully beamed. ''Even the first day of reading, he was so kind. He took me aside and said, 'Hey, I don't mean those things that I'm saying.'''

Chris Kattan of ''Saturday Night Live,'' a ''Soprano'' fan, was hesitant to pick a favorite character -- even though he was invited by cast member Drea de Matteo. ''Aaah, they're all good,'' said Kattan. ''But if you're asking who hits home with me, that would be [the tormented] Christopher (Michael Imperioli).'' And why hasn't ''SNL'' ever parodied the show? ''You know, it's hard to make fun of 'Sopranos' because it's a really great show,'' said Kattan, ''and you don't want to knock the best.''

Oscar nominee Benicio del Toro(''Traffic'') would surely agree. Cheekily affecting the mobster slang, he admitted that he could see himself popping up on the show: ''Yeah, why not? When it's good, it's good.'' Though he lingered by the buffet -- which featured risotto all'arasgosta e frutti di mare -- del Toro didn't come for the food. ''I'm a big fan of Steve Van Zandt (Soprano associate Silvio Dante). That's why I'm here.''

The belle of the ball, of course, was Edie Falco, who plays Carmela Soprano, the Mrs. Mob who dishes out a steady diet of cannoli and chutzpah. ''Carmela is very physical with people,'' Falco said, reflecting on her relationship with her character. ''It comes very easily to her and it doesn't with me. With the touching, hugging, grabbing -- it's an Italian thing, but I was not brought up like that.''

As the night wore on, the cast hammed it up for pictures with perfect strangers, relatives of crew members, and...the Feds? No, for real. New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- former U.S. prosecutor and current part time art critic -- couldn't resist the chance to catch an early glimpse of the show. And, THIS kind of art he could handle. ''I thought the two episodes tonight were great,'' the Mayor proclaimed. ''The first one was very realistic. And in the second one, they restored a lot of the humor of the first year. There was a LOT of comedy. I think it's gonna be a great season.''

Giuliani wasn't the only one moved by the second episode. The late Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, a mother that even a son couldn't love, died of cancer during the interim between the second and third seasons. This year, the producers deal with Marchand's passing in a way that is as cinematically sophisticated as it is tragically Greek. ''That was hard,'' Van Zandt told EW.com. ''There were a lot of mixed feelings because we loved Nancy and we all hated Livia. And so that's a great divide there.''

It's a show rife with great divides. On this night, Robert Iler, who plays Tony's teenage son, was right at home, surrounded by his friends. He said that this season his character will be a far cry from well adjusted. ''I'm gonna be a punk,'' he whispered over the laughter and disco music in the background. ''But my friends know all about it and they'll tell you...if you give 'em a little money.''

Bribery? In this room? We wouldn't dream of it. Much better to just move on to Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Now that Jamie's Meadow Soprano is a Columbia undergraduate living away from the fortress that was her family home, she's sure to be in for some action. Could she, uh, be more specific? ''Well,'' the actress smiled, ''Let's just say that Meadow's gonna go to college, she's gonna grow up -- A LOT.''

Sigler, who sported a look that was more club chic than Jersey Girl, had much mingling to do. But eventually she got to hit the dance floor, where she and Turturro boogied to the Sister Sledge song, ''We Are Family.'' Indeed, they are. And don't you fuhgedaboudit.

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