The Two Faces Of Steve On 'The Sopranos' And In The E Street Band, He's The Man Behind The Boss

So this is what it looks like when worlds collide: A casually dressed, middle-aged man in a mauve doo-rag sits in the first-floor restaurant of a posh Philadelphia hotel, nibbling scones and sipping Earl Grey out of a proper china teacup.

On this particular afternoon, Steven Van Zandt is a few hours away from a gig at the First Union Center with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and he seems even farther than that from the Bada Bing, the strip club his alter-ego Silvio Dante runs on HBO's "The Sopranos." But as shooting continues for the show's second season, he's spending three days this week on the North Jersey set, squeezing in his scenes around shows the band's currently doing in Philadelphia.

And yes, he's aware that you may be confused by the two faces of Steven Van Zandt.

"My mother didn't recognize me," he said of the transformation from rock musician to low-level mobster. "She said, `I recognized the voice and rewound the tape.' I really look quite different."

With his trademark scarf covering his head, it's impossible to see exactly where Van Zandt's hairline begins, but from the tendrils curling down his neck, it's clear he and Silvio go to different barbers. And while the usually serious, not terribly articulate Silvio dresses like a guy whose heart is with the mob bosses of yesteryear, the more light-hearted - and very talkative - Van Zandt dresses like a guy whose workday is spent, well, backing up the Boss.

Not that that's kept fans from stopping him on the street to talk about Silvio.

And after 30 years as a musician, much of which time he's been moderately well-known - either for his association with Springsteen or as a solo performer - Van Zandt still can't quite grasp the difference his first role as an actor has made in his day-to-day life.

"I think that every cliche you've ever heard about television is true," he said. "It was actually quite extraordinary how quickly it happened - just a couple of weeks after the show was on. I'm always on the street, so a lot of people come up and say hi. So, if 10 or 15 people a day come up to say hi, immediately, like eight out of 10 would talk about `The Sopranos,' " he said.

"It was really shocking, actually, to me."

But not as shocking, perhaps, as finding himself on one of television's most acclaimed dramas on his very first try.