Hollywood.com: Are you sick of playing mobsters?
Chazz Palminteri: “No, why would I do that. I always have fun. As long as it’s a character that’s multi-faceted and three dimensional. If you look at Sonny from A Bronx Tale, he was this father figure. Cheech from Bullets Over Broadway, he was a playwright. Primo Sidone from Analyze This, he was this comical guy who was crazy. This guy here is three dimensional. He’s a mobster, but he’s also a father who befriended this black family when he was younger. As long as he’s three dimensional, I’m okay with it.”
HP: What appealed about working with Usher?
CP: “It’s always the script first. When I knew he was attached, I thought, ‘Gee.’ Obviously, he’s a huge star. He seems like a real talented guy. When I met him, what I really liked was that there was this humility about him. He said, ‘Hey Chazz. If there’s something you can show me or pointers, please do that.’ He was open to everything. He was really bright. I’d tell him something once and he’d just do it every time.”
HP: What kind of advice to you pass along to Usher?
CP: “There were times when he was so good in the scene, but there’d be a moment maybe where he’d turn his head away from the camera. I’d say, ‘Hey man. When you say those lines, make sure you look at me because the cameras over here.’ Technical stuff. So he can shine. I want him to be great. I want him to shine. I want any actor who’s in the scene with me to be great. I’m not worried about me. I want the scene to be great. I’ll be fine. Let him steal the scene. Who cares. It’s about the work. I’ve always felt that way.”
HP: Is it strange when, as a veteran actor, all these singers are getting movie roles?
CP: “Doesn’t bother me at all. If you respect the work, not at all. That’s an elitist attitude I find. In the end, if the guy can do it, he can do it. I don’t see nothing wrong with that at all. As long as you respect the work, the work is there for everybody to do.”
HP: Do you have daughters?
CP: “I have one daughter. She’s young. She’s a little sexy thing Gabriella. And my son is ten. I’m very protective of my children. But, listen, I want my daughter to marry a good man. I don’t care what color he is. I could say that honestly. I’ve met some Italian guys that I wouldn’t want my daughter ten feet near. Are you kidding?”
HP: Would you do another animated film?
CP: “I just did two. I have Hoodwinked with Glenn Close. It’s the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I play one of the sheep. I saw pieces of it. It was good. Also, I’m in another one called Cat Tale. I’m the voice of a pigeon. It’s a cat who thinks he’s a dog.”
HP: What kind of reaction do you get walking down the street?
CP: “I get two. Either they come running over to me and go, ‘Oh my God…” Or they get really scared.'”
HP: I heard you may be turning A Bronx Tale into a Broadway show?
CP: “I’ve been working on that for four or five years. Jimmy Webb and myself. He wrote all the great hits. It’s in the really great stages now. I’m hoping 12-15 months it’ll be on Broadway. It’s a long process. It took me about eight months to write the play. Same amount of time to write the screenplay. It’s a process because you have to combine music and lyrics and script. It’s taken a while, but it’s going good.”
HP: What moment, in your career, made you feel like you were on your way?
CP: “I think the first time I did the complete play of A Bronx Tale. When it was a one man show. I’d never done the complete thing before. I did it [one] night and I got a standing ovation. I thought, “This is something special.” And that was it. It took off from there. I knew it was good, but you’ve got to test it in the waters first.”
HP: Is there a part you are dying to play?
CP: “A priest. I want to play a priest.”
HP: Would you write yourself something?
CP: “I’ve been thinking about it. Yeah. A street priest. I knew this one street priest. He was a paradox of things. He was a wise guy, but then he was a priest. I found him to be fascinating. He’s a character I’d like to play. I think I’m going to have to write it.”
HP: Who would you like to work with?
CP: “Martin Scorsese. And I know Marty. People always say, ‘You’ve worked with Marty.’ I go, ‘Noooo.’ I see him. I go, ‘Marty. Marty. Can you put me in a movie? Can I do something with ya?’ I always wanted to work with DeNiro and I did. And Woody Allen and I did. But Marty is someone I want to work with. I just want to be in one of his movies. I bug him in a friendly way.”
HP: Did you and Emmanuelle have any father/daughter like talks?
CP: “Yeah, we talked about things. She’s exploding right now. I talked to her about that. I explained to her: ‘Don’t get caught up in the heat. Just stay focused in the work and you’ll be fine.’ If you get caught up in the heat, you’re in trouble. For whatever reason, I wind up talking to these young actors and they call me on the phone in a jam. It’s amazing because… There’s one actor. I won’t tell you who he is, of course… He’s 23 years old and he was a huge star and then got cold. Couldn’t get a movie. He called me up, freaking out. I said, “Hey man. It wasn’t about you in the beginning so don’t think it’s about you now. It’s all about the heat. Out here, they’re heat seeking missiles. They go for where the heat is. Now, it’s got to be about you. Now it’s about your talent. So relax. Take a deep breath. Do a play or a small movie and your time will come again.” My first three movies were A Bronx Tale, Bullets Over Broadway, and The Usual Suspects. I was getting offered things like ‘Five foot four Chinese man.’ I’m going, What!’ I call my agent: ‘He’s Chinese and he’s five four.’ The response: ‘They’ll change it. They’ll change it. Don’t worry.’ A British doctor? Why am I getting this? It’s insane. All careers go hot and then you get to a thing where you just work. These young kids get caught up in the flavor of the month. They end up in rehab! I’ve called them myself there. I say, ‘It’s not about you. They’ll eat you up and spit you out. They do not care. You’re a commodity. It’s a machine.’ Then, finally, they get it. Some of them get it. Some of them don’t. You keep calling and talking to them, but they just don’t get it. One thing I’ve learned in life, you can not bring anybody up. If they don’t want to do it, they will not do it. But the reverse is not true. They can bring you down.”
HP: The ones who don’t get it… Is it ego that gets in the way?
CP: “I think that maybe. I don’t know. If they have a wife or child that helps. I’ll say to them, ‘Hey. Go home. Hug your kid. Kiss your wife. That’s the home base. This other thing is the jungle. Go out there. Have fun. Manipulate them. Then, come home.’ If you make this everything, it will let you down. I do not read reviews. The last reviews I read were A Bronx Tale. After that, no. I have not read anything about myself in the last twelve years. The great reviews I shun away from even more because if I start believing the great ones then I have to believe the bad ones. So I do not believe any of them. So, like a horse race, I keep going. The next project. The next project. The next project. At the end of my lifetime, I’ll do 100 movies. God bless, I hope. I’ve done 40 so far. Maybe I could do another 40. And I hope that 20 are great. 20 are good. Maybe another 15 not bad. 10 suck. But I can’t control all of this. So I just do them.”
HP: Do you see yourself as a character actor?
CP: “Well, yeah. Have I starred in movies? Yeah. Can I still? Yeah. There’s like five guys who make 25 million dollar players–Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts… Guaranteed box office. Other than that, there’s everybody else. It’s no big deal. I don’t make 20 million dollars a movie, but I have a great life and that’s OK.”
