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From playing Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” to Aldo “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti in “The Many Saints of Newark” – the previous film from “The Sopranos”, which opens in theaters and on HBO Max Friday – Ray Liotta knows a thing or two on the wise.
But don’t let the brutality fool you: in real life, he’s more of a nice guy.
“I don’t hit people,” Liotta, 66, told The Post. “I have never been in a fight. I avoid it at all costs.
Yet after starring in Martin Scorsese’s classic “Goodfellas” in 1990 – considered one of the best crowd-pleasers of all time – Liotta is back with “Many Saints,” which traces the roots of the rise. of Tony Soprano in power. Given that “Goodfellas” inspired “The Sopranos,” playing Hollywood Dick – Christopher Moltisanti’s (Michael Imperioli) grandfather – is kind of a full circle moment for the Union, NJ, native.
The role responds to a long-standing desire that Liotta was to work with “Sopranos” creator David Chase, who also served as a screenwriter and producer on “The Many Saints of Newark”. “David Chase is a special and intense talent,” he said.
In fact, Chase once sued Liotta to play Ralphie Cifaretto in the mafia drama, but the actor passed on the role that ultimately went to Joe Pantoliano. This time, however, it was Liotta who was in the chase.
“I flew and had lunch with David and Alan [Taylor, the director]”, he said,” and at the end they asked me if I would play Hollywood Dick. “
Although her “Goodfellas” co-stars Imperioli and Lorraine Bracco appeared on “The Sopranos,” Liotta hasn’t really watched the game-changing HBO series. “I had seen pieces of it when it first came out,” he said. “But at this point in my life… you’re doing things.” And then I was just like, ‘I don’t know if I want to watch it.’ “
Liotta also didn’t feel the need to go back and binge on “The Sopranos” to create Hollywood Dick. “[The series] did not inform my decisions whatsoever of what to do. It was all in the script, ”he said. “Because I didn’t watch the show, I didn’t feel like I really missed a lot because I didn’t know what they were talking about. This film is alone.
Although not a fan of the “Sopranos”, Liotta was intrigued by the idea of James Gandolfini’s 22-year-old son Michael playing a young Tony Soprano in “Many Saints”. “It must be a trip,” he said. “What’s interesting is that it wasn’t like a young version of what James did exactly. It wasn’t that fat Tony Soprano we know from the show. There was an innocence to it. [him]. “
Although Liotta couldn’t give Gandolfini any advice – “I barely saw him – I never worked on the days he worked,” he said – he still hopes to bond with the young actor about his “totally” promising career. and how he dealt with the trauma of his father’s death in 2013.
“I would love to talk to him one-on-one,” he said. “He was the one in Italy with his father [when he suffered a fatal heart attack], and all of a sudden something like that happens when you’re 14, it’s a really innocent age.
For her part, Liotta – who was adopted from an orphanage in Newark, NJ, before moving to Union – is enjoying a career rebirth at age 66. He will also play new villain Gordon Evans in the third season of the Amazon Prime drama “Hanna”, which will be released in November. And he has also wrapped up the role of Big Jim in the upcoming Apple TV + limited series “In With the Devil,” with Taron Egerton.
“Yeah, I’m not complaining. But I worked for it, ”he said. “I must have been through a time when things were going down instead of going up. I have definitely had an eventful career. But I’m extremely persistent and competitive where I just wanted to come back to a certain place. “
And he loves that he can now switch between TV and film in a way he couldn’t in his early days. “If you were doing television [before], so maybe your career as a person in the movies was slipping, “said Liotta, who also starred with Jennifer Lopez in NBC’s Brooklyn crime drama” Shades of Blue “from 2016 to 2018.” C ‘ is much more open, less snobbish. “
Whether on the big or small screen, Liotta is happy to “keep on pretending” until the end of her old age: “I still feel extremely young, even though I’m in my sixties. “
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