RIP Ray Liotta
- Thread starter paultzman
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braintrust
Well-known member
Copland, too. Great cast that went onto The Sopranos. Liotta was thought to have been offered the role of Tony Soprano before James Gandolfini.
Was not a virtual unknown. He had good reviews in Something Wild and an outstanding role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Fiels of Dreams. His Goodfellows role as Henry Hill was the pinnacle of his career. As an interesting sidenote, he was adopted and always thought he was Italian. Only later in life he found out he was actually of Scottish extraction.
After seeing him steal the show in Something Wild, I expected a lot more from him when I heard that he had been cast in Goodfellas. A fine performance, but not a great one. This article sums of my feelings about Liotta..
Regardless, a very good actor and by all accounts, an even better person. Gone way to soon. RIP.
How Great Was Ray Liotta? He Had Me at ‘Something Wild’
Before Liotta impressed people in “Goodfellas,” he upended Jonathan Demme’s screwball comedy “Something Wild” and scared the living hell out of everyone who saw it.
www.thedailybeast.com
Regardless, a very good actor and by all accounts, an even better person. Gone way to soon. RIP.
L J S A
Well-known member
I'd be really interested in hearing who you would have cast in the role with the power of hindsight.After seeing him steal the show in Something Wild, I expected a lot more from him when I heard that he had been cast in Goodfellas. A fine performance, but not a great one. This article sums of my feelings about Liotta..
How Great Was Ray Liotta? He Had Me at ‘Something Wild’
Before Liotta impressed people in “Goodfellas,” he upended Jonathan Demme’s screwball comedy “Something Wild” and scared the living hell out of everyone who saw it.www.thedailybeast.com
Regardless, a very good actor and by all accounts, an even better person. Gone way to soon. RIP.
Wasn't set up to be an Oscar worthy role.
Henry is the Nick Caraway of this story - more of an observer than a participant in every plot line until his drug habit brings everything down. He's basically chronicling what Jimmy, Tommy and Paulie are doing.
Still, he was the glue that kept the movie together and in some scenes like beating the neighbor, entering the Copa, spiraling downward with Karen, he was absolutely phenomenal
.
Henry is the Nick Caraway of this story - more of an observer than a participant in every plot line until his drug habit brings everything down. He's basically chronicling what Jimmy, Tommy and Paulie are doing.
Still, he was the glue that kept the movie together and in some scenes like beating the neighbor, entering the Copa, spiraling downward with Karen, he was absolutely phenomenal
.
Tough to say. Of the others considered for the role(Baldwin, Penn, etc), no one jumps out at me. But it's always tough to picture another actor in an iconic role. As for Mainman's claim that the the role was not an Oscar type of role, that's pure BS. I can distinctly remember Liotta being touted for his Oscar worthy performance by the Goodfellas PR machine before the movie opened. So clearly they thought it was an Oscar type of role.