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There's no big splashy renaissance in Italian films. We have good young actors and directors. What we lack are screenwriters. It's hard to write about Italy.

The Mafia is a question every time an Italian raises his head.

Italian-Americans are not the Mafia.

I prefer to live in the country where it's quiet. Woody Allen movies there are dubbed into Italian.

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.

There are lots of wonderful old Italian actors. You don't need to take an Egyptian to play an Italian actor.

Italians are fantastic people, really. They can work you over in an alley while singing an opera.

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.

In fact, it is amazing how much European films - Italian, French, German and English - have recovered a certain territory of the audience in their countries over the last few years.

A really irritating thing when you're watching a film is if somebody's accent isn't bang-on - it distracts you from getting into the story because you're thinking: 'Where are they from?'