We're dream chasers. Nobody owes us our dream. But we have to chase it.
From Michael Rispoli
I grew up around hardware. I could sell you all the plumbing and electricity you want.
I think I was drawn to acting just as a way of getting noticed.
My mother and father were supportive. But in an Italian family, you kind of work with your hands, or you are an engineer or a doctor. But an actor was something they couldn't get hold of. They were afraid I wouldn't be able to make a living, and for many years, they were right.
That's what I play - blue-collar Italian-Americans. You got to be typecast in order to work. I've been blessed.
If I were to be cast as Cyrano or a Connecticut prep-school teacher or a gay boutique owner, it would only happen if some director I had worked with in the past said, 'Why don't we give Rispoli a shot at it?'
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