Another great actor who played villains and not just gangsters as per Goodfellas; he was Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, head of the Capulet family in the horrible 1996 take on Romeo & Juliet, The Stuff and The Rocketeer. He even did cartoon voice work via Duckman and Hey Arnold! What I had to look up because I figured he had been in something with Star Trek and I was partially right, he was Worf’s adopted human brother! Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko, playing a futuristic Russia instead of an Italian!
Back to Goodfellas which was what probably really accelerated his career. When I went to a special screening at Alamo, the host said Paul originally turned down the role of real-life mob captain Paul Cicero. He told Scorsese he just couldn’t get into the head of this guy to play him well. Scorsese told him to take a bit more time and report back. Then Paul found the key to Cicero was through a quiet, calm, pent-up rage as you see on the screen, especially when he has tell Henry Hill (the late Ray Liotta) to not be dealing drugs in their operation. He did a good job. The real Cicerco was even more despicable. One thing they left out of the movie…Cicero had a sexual relationship with Hill’s wife while Hill was in the penitentiary.
Jennifer introduced me to the movie The Cooler a couple years ago and it had Paul appear in a minor role as a lounge singer who just wasn’t bringing in the crowds Alec Baldwin wanted for the casino. I had no idea he could sing! Sadly, this is not a spoiler since the movie is over 19 years old, he meets a bad end because he is replaced by a younger guy played by a former member of NSYNC.
Thanks for everything Paul. I even forgive you for marrying that awful rightwing blowhard Dee Dee Benkie.