Max Casella revealed that a growth hormone deficiency delayed puberty until age 27 and left his career nearly dead, until Broadway pushed him into adulthood.

Page Six reports the 59-year-old actor shared the story earlier this week at a Cinema Society screening of the film “Jimmy,” where he plays director Frank Capra opposite KJ Apa as Jimmy Stewart.

Casella, known to viewers as Benny Fazio on HBO’s “The Sopranos” and for earlier work on “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and “Boardwalk Empire,” did not soft-pedal what the condition did to his life and livelihood.

“It was insane,” he said.

“Wouldn’t have been my choice, but you know, given the cards you’re dealt. You make the best of it.”

Puberty at 27 left his career on the floor

He did not go through puberty until he was 27, and only after medical intervention. In his mid-20s, the physical fallout hit hard.

The awkward phase most kids face in high school arrived for him as a grown man trying to hold an acting career together.

“I went through the awkward phase that most people go through in high school,” Casella said. He described the usual male changes, zits, weight gain, the clumsy stretch of a body catching up late, and admitted he did not handle it smoothly.

“I had to start all over again. It was a humiliating experience,” he said. “I didn’t wear it well right away.”

His career, in his words, “was pretty much dead.” That is a blunt ledger entry for a working actor still building a name. No spin. No victim speech. Just the cost of a body that would not cooperate on schedule.

Eight shows a week on Broadway finished the job

The turnaround came from the stage, not a press tour. Casella landed Timon in the original Broadway production of “The Lion King” and worked at a punishing pace.

“I was dancing 8 times a week, and I completely became an adult.”

Hard repetition did what delayed biology had put off. The role demanded stamina, timing, and presence night after night. He credits that grind with carrying him the rest of the way into adulthood, the professional kind, not just the physical one.

That is a familiar American pattern even when the diagnosis is rare: the job that will not let you hide becomes the thing that rebuilds you.

Capra research, a screening, and a full afterparty

Now Casella is on screen again in “Jimmy,” the film centered on Jimmy Stewart’s path from World War II combat pilot back to Hollywood and the 1946 classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Casella portrays Capra, the film’s director.

He prepared the old-fashioned way. He read Capra’s book. He watched documentaries. He hunted for small habits because big speeches are not enough.

“What I was really trying to find out is how to play him. What kind of a person is he? How does he smoke a cigarette? How does he sit in a chair?”

Footage of a younger Capra is thin, he noted, so the work stayed challenging. He was after a vibe, not a wax-museum copy.

The Cinema Society screening drew a mixed room of working names. KJ Apa attended. So did Lucy Liu, Dan Abrams, “Riverdale” star Trinity Likins, “1923” star Jamie McShane, and “Stranger Things” actress Catherine Curtin. The afterparty landed at The Skylark.

Casella used the night to talk about the medical history most fans never heard, and about a career that had to be restarted after biology finally caught up.

Hollywood loves a comeback narrative when it is packaged clean. Casella’s version is messier and more useful: delayed puberty, a dead stretch of work, public awkwardness, then eight dances a week until the man matched the resume. Cards dealt. Work done. Next role.