Actor Anthony Ribustello is best known for his recurring role on the HBO hit series “The Sopranos.” He played Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano’s driver and bodyguard.

Now the Bronx lifer — whose other credits include Large Imposing Man on an episode of “Sex and the City” and Fast Eddie in the movie “Be Cool” – is trying to reinvent himself for another role: candidate for borough president.

With the special election to replace Adolfo Carrión just a few weeks away (April 21), Ribustello must make up for more than a lack of political chops and an enormous fundraising gap (he’s raised a total of $200, compared to front-runner Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s $279,680), but also the perception that a Republican can’t win a Bronx-wide election.

(Ribustello is the Republican district leader for the 82nd Assembly District, but the borough president’s race is nonpartisan.)

Asked if Ribustello, or any other Bronx Republican, could win the Bronx borough presidency, Bruce Berg, a political science professor at Fordham University since 1977, said, “No. There is simply an insufficient number of Republicans in the Bronx.”

But Ribustello, who lives in Country Club with wife Michele in the east Bronx where he grew up, refused to admit he had no chance at an upset victory.

“I really don’t know what to expect,” he said in a phone interview last week. “Years and years of data show that not many people come out to a special election,” by which he meant that perhaps he and his GOP mates could turn out enough voters to at least make it interesting.

“We understand we’re the extreme underdog,” said Bronx GOP chairman Jay Savino. “We’re not fooling ourselves. This is going to be an uphill battle, but hope to give the people of the Bronx a viable alternative.”

Ribustello, 42, said his two priorities as borough president would be to protect Bronx seniors and keep working families in the borough, citing a poor education system as one of the biggest reason why families move to the suburbs.

“The education system is underachieving,” Ribustello said. “We need computers in classes at a younger age. Make no mistake, computers are here to stay, not like the 8-track. We’re competing on a global scale, with India and China.”

He’s also against raising taxes and an extensive welfare system. “Welfare is not a lifestyle,” he said.

If he doesn’t win, Ribustello said he wants to show the Bronx that the Republican party is a “viable entity.”

And of course, he still has his day job, which last week was a role on the TV show, “Law & Order,” playing Disgruntled Paint Store Owner.