L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4 Anytime you had somebody c o m e t o t h e h o u s e t o f i x something he would wonder, "Am I taken advantage of?" And, as a kid, I wouldn't see that as big of a deal. Now I have that same mentality, you hire someone to paint t h e h o u s e a n d y o u g o g e t three or four different esti- mates. My father will shop around for eight years before he buys a car, instead of just going and buying one. When we got my first car, we got kicked out by the car dealer because my dad knew more about the car than the guy selling it. So, yes... I think I have inherited some of those characteristics! D i d y o u p i c k a n y o f t h e s e t h i n g s a f t e r becoming a father your- self? I u s e d t o h a t e d o i n g chores, whether it be cutting the lawn or washing the car; now I've got a six-year-old and a three-year-old and I'm giving them chores. At the time, I didn't know I was doing chores but I realized those were things that were i n s t i l l i n g w o r k e t h i c a n d responsibility for your own actions. Now I want to do that with my own kids. W h a t m a d e y o u decide that Robert De Niro was perfect for the part of your father? Well, first and foremost, we never thought it was a p o s s i b i l i t y t o e v e n g e t Robert De Niro. But when we were talking about who was going to play the father character, we spoke about his past movies that were k i n d o f c o m e d y - d r i v e n like Meet the Parents, and w e a l l l o v e d h i s c o m e d i c style, his timing, and not only his acting but also his facial expressions when he wasn't in character. He was always active, you looked at his face and you could kind of tell what was going on. Just by reading the man's face. What was the process of having him involved in the movie? I worked with him in The Irishman and then he came to see a show at The Radio City... I never had the man's phone number, I didn't have a n y p e r s o n a l c h a n n e l o f communication with him. It's not like I called him one morning and said, "Do you want to play my dad?", it was nothing like that. He got t h e s c r i p t t h r o u g h P a u l W e i t z , w h o ' s o n e o f t h e m o v i e p r o d u c e r s , a n d h e l o v e d i t . A n d t h e n f r o m there, he wanted to read it o u t l o u d w i t h a g r o u p o f actors to see how it sounded. Shortly after that, he com- mitted to coming on board. That was something I never t h o u g h t w a s e v e n i n t h e cards for us. What happened next? I went to see him in Okla- homa, where he was shoot- ing Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon because he wanted to see me. So I f l e w o v e r t h e r e a n d w e talked about the script for three days. He was very par- ticular about every detail, which I didn't expect. After- ward, he sent me a new ver- sion of the script that would correspond to his own copy of it so that when we went through it on the phone, we would be on the same page. There are a lot of phrases in the film that are in Italian, and I sent a video to him of me repeating them. I was on s e t w h e n t h e y s h o t t h e scenes in the salon, and he wanted to learn certain tech- n i q u e s , s u c h a s h o w I d o h i g h l i g h t s f o r a w o m a n ' s hair. So I would show him h o w t o d o i t . T h e n h e ' d motion for me to step aside and he'd do it himself. That was impressive to me. He really wants to do the things his characters do, so when the time comes for him to do t h e m o n f i l m , h e k n o w s what he's doing. Y o u h a v e a l o t o f s c e n e s t o g e t h e r . H o w was working with such a huge talent? I w a s l e a r n i n g j u s t b y w a t c h i n g h i m . W h e n h e likes to do movies, he likes it to be like any activity. Before working with him, I would learn my part and repeat it. And that was it. But he was always asking me, "What am I doing in this scene?" Just like that, you know, while he's doing a scene... like he's f o l d i n g c l o t h e s , o r h e ' s putting on cologne, or what- ever else he's doing. He's always looking for an activi- t y , w h i c h I f o u n d r e a l l y interesting because when you watch a movie, you kind o f l o o k t o s e e w h a t t h e action is, and it makes the movie more interesting. So, I definitely learned that. Did you get any piece of advice from him dur- ing the movie that was precious for you? I had to get emotional, at the end of the movie, but I d i d n ' t k n o w h o w t o g e t there. But I just couldn't do i t i n t h e f i r s t t w o , t h r e e takes. I didn't cry. Then, he t o l d m e : " T h i n k o f y o u r father, think of all the stuff he's been through. Coming here as an immigrant, learn- ing a new way, a new cul- t u r e , s t a r t i n g a b u s i n e s s from scratch, a family, and buying a house." So I started to think about all that, and then, I took that into the scene. It was like an inten- sive acting lesson, for the whole 10 weeks I worked w i t h h i m . A n d n o w m o r e than ever, I feel a lot more confident in my ability to pull this stuff off. I just did a TV show where I played a rookie and went into that experience with a lot more confidence. So going back to your f a t h e r : h e w a s f r o m Cefalù, Sicily. What is your relationship with S i c i l y ? D o y o u e v e r visit? He left when he was 15. He always worked. When he was 60 he had quadruple bypass surgery. After that, I told him we should go to Italy together. I wanted to make that father and son trip because he talked about his childhood experiences, but we had never visited. So 12 years ago we went, the two of us, to his hometown, Cefalù. And I am so glad we d i d i t b e c a u s e h e h a d n ' t been back in 50 years and I had never been there. We experienced the whole thing together. And he's been back every year since we went, he reconnected with his best friend, our family members he hadn't seen in years so now he's like the mayor of the city. He's really, really connected with his roots. And I felt like if we never had done that trip, he might have never gone back. So I am glad we did because it's not only a reconnection for him, but it's also a connec- t i o n f o r m e , t o w h e r e h e came from. In many scenes in the movie, you and de Niro say some sentences in I t a l i a n . D i d y o u l e a r n I t a l i a n f r o m y o u r father? The one thing that our families regret is that I did not learn to speak Italian growing up. That's because my mother, who was born and raised here but is Ital- i a n , d i d n ' t w a n t t o s p e a k Italian. So we didn't speak Italian and I wish we would h a v e b e c a u s e n o w a s a n adult, at 49, I think it's sad I don't know the language. But my dad did speak Ital- ian often around the house, especially when he didn't w a n t u s t o k n o w w h a t h e was talking about! I think the immigrant story in itself may be similar in a lot of different backgrounds, so a lot of people can relate to that menta- lity… I think my story is very relatable to many, regardless of their origins Robert De Niro at the Chicago premiere of the movie (Photo: Barry Brecheisen)

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