Father's Day, Sopranos Style

Since in his movies he has tried to murder youngsters ranging from Edward Furlong to Josh Hartnett, Robert Patrick probably would be the last person anyone would expect to receive a Father's Day card. Yet the silver-screen heavy's paternal instincts come shining through off-duty, according to John C. Hensley, his son in a memorable second-season story arc on The Sopranos.

"When I found out I was going to be on that show, I felt like a little kid who had been called out in the hall to fight a bully," he relates to TV Guide Online. "But Robert — whether he saw how terrified I was or without even knowing it — turned all my anxiety into excitement by basically being cool."

In fact, The X-Files leading man — and real-life dad of two — offered his baby-faced colleague the best piece of advice that he ever expects to receive. After a day of taping the episode in which Patrick gambles away his kid's wheels, "I said, 'Man, I am so grateful to be here,'" Hensley recalls. "Robert looked at me and said, 'Don't ever lose that. It's a good feeling to have.'

"Something about that just really struck a chord with me," he continues. "I had this initial fear of letting my excitement out, and him saying that really reinforced the idea that when we have fun, out of that comes our best stuff — not just in acting, but in being a human."