The Italian gangster thing has become a form of the modern-day Western.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The Mafia is a question every time an Italian raises his head.
I'd like to do a number of films. Westerns. Genre pieces. Maybe another film about Italian Americans where they're not gangsters, just to prove that not all Italians are gangsters.
I've played some gangster roles, but that's obviously not me. When you're an Italian-American New York actor, it's just an easy way to get cast.
Like art and politics, gangsterism is a very important avenue of assimilation into society.
People love stories about the mafia: 'The Godfather,' 'American Gangster.'
I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. The real community is built on the working man, the guy who's the cop, the fireman, the truck driver, the bus driver.
The classy gangster is a Hollywood invention.
I know nothing of what it is to be a gangster.
Mulberry Street was the beating heart of the Italian-American experience, but you don't find those gangsters now. I live with a bunch of yuppies and models.
Italian-Americans are not the Mafia.