First it was a play, then a movie, now a play again. "A Bronx Tale" had become a hot property for movie offers when Chazz Palminteri first performed the one-man show on stage in Los Angeles and off-Broadway in the early 1990s.
Despite offers of up to a $1 million for the rights, Palminteri held out for a deal that would include a role for him in the movie. He struck gold when Robert DeNiro approached him after a show and said "I think you would be great as Sonny," the character based on the neighborhood wise guy from Palminteri's childhood. Palminteri wrote the screenplay and DeNiro made his directorial debut on the 1993 movie.
"A Bronx Tale" was a breakthrough for Palminteri, who has since appeared in more than 50 films, including "The Usual Suspects," "Analyze This" and Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway," for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts hosts eight performances of Palminteri's semi-autobiographical show starting Tuesday. Palminteri spoke to us by phone from Chicago, where he is currently appearing.
OnMilwaukee.com: When I first heard this was on Broadway last year, I was surprised. You already adapted this into a movie. You got to work with Robert DeNiro on it. To me, that's the pinnacle. I would think then you're done with it and you move on with your movie career. Why did you decide to reprise "A Bronx Tale?"
Chazz Palminteri: People still talk to me about "A Bronx Tale," how it changed their life. I have parents who tell me their sons saw it, and they grew up with it. The show is about not wasting your talent, and being the best you can be.
And I was thinking about it and I thought there's a whole generation of kids who never saw the original show. So I decided to bring it back to Broadway. And when I brought it back there it was a hit on Broadway. And it could still be going there, but it was a limited run. We only ran for four months because there was another play coming in. So, I decided to do a film for a few months. Then when I finished it I just said, you know, why not take the performance to the major cities.
When I first did it, I wasn't a father. When my son saw it on Broadway, he's 13 years old, he came backstage and said "Dad, I promise you I won't waste my talent." To me that was worth it alone, just for that.
OMC: Your father was a regular, working class guy in the Bronx. But then when you make your big breakthrough in Hollywood, it was with a story that is very personal to him. And a story that was a tribute to him and people of his ilk. How did he react when the movie came out?
CP: He was thrilled. I mean here's Robert DeNiro portraying him, the greatest actor of our time. He really loved it, he really did.
OMC: Chazz, my father-in-law is a proud Italian-American from Chicago. He's tired of mob movies. He feels that Al Capone is glamorized in Chicago and shouldn't be. Do you think somebody like him would enjoy "A Bronx Tale?"
CP: Without a doubt because "A Bronx Tale" is not about the mob, it's about the working man. You see I wrote "A Bronx Tale" to counter that focus on the mob. The mob is just an aberration in the Italian-American community. "A Bronx Tale" is a tribute to the working man, not the mob types.
Palminteri: I get defensive about people who think that everyone from the Bronx who's Italian is in the mob. I was never in the mob, I was a good guy, I didn't do that sort of stuff. Many Italian-Americans are good people, working people. Do I get offended when people think that because my last name ends in a vowel that I'm in the mob, yeah.
OMC: The young actor who starred in the movie version of "A Bronx Tale" is now serving a prison sentence for burglary. What do you remember about Lillo Brancato?
CP: He was an incredibly talented young man. He had been discovered by producers hanging out on the beach. He had the gift, he had all these wonderful things given to him and he got involved with drugs. That's it; he ruined it. I warned him over the years when I'd run into him. But you know if I had to look at some good that comes out of this (it) is that I hold him up as a poster child for other kids. When I give lectures to some of these kids I tell them 'Look at Lillo Brancato. He was in the quintessential movie about not wasting your life. And that's exactly what he did. And why? Because he didn't listen to the words that he said (in the movie)."
OMC: Your role in Woody Allen's "Bullets over Broadway" seemed to be a great example of breaking out of stereotype. It's a novel twist -- you play a wise guy who discovers he has a talent for playwriting and theater. Is that what appealed to you about taking that part?
CP: Definitely, that was the whole thing. I played a guy who grew up in the streets of New York and had a talent for theater. And that's what made it so interesting. I mean that's me, it was me.
OMC: Still stinging from losing out to Martin Laundau for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1994?
CP: He's a great actor who's done great work for many years. And I thought he was fabulous for the role (in the movie "Ed Wood"). He deserved it. I mean look, I was up against Samuel Jackson for "Pulp Fiction" and Gary Sinise in "Forrest Gump." Any one of us could have won it, and I thought it would have been OK. But Marty won it, and God bless him, he deserves it.
OMC: I have to say -- I'm shocked that you were never in "The Sopranos!"
CP: I think the only two Italian-American actors who were never in "The Sopranos" were me and John Turturro, we used to laugh about that. For whatever reason, you know I was making movies, that's how it worked out I guess.
OMC: Do you think you'll ever see a script with a plot as complex as "The Usual Suspects?"
CP: I don't know, that was a great script. I remember reading it and just saying "My God, this is so different." I mean look, did I know it was going to be classic? Of course not. Did I know it was great? Yeah. I thought, "Well, if the director can somehow manage to do this it could be great." We had an incredibly brilliant young kid named Brian Singer, it was only his first big movie. And he did an outstanding job and it was a great script.
OMC: What does making it big in Hollywood do to old friendships? What's it like to be nominated for an Oscar, and then run into say old friends from the Bronx, or a friend who is still a struggling actor?
CP: You know what, it matters how you are. If you're comfortable with who you are, it absolutely does nothing. I mean, I grew up with my friends, I go back to the neighborhood, or I go back to visit their homes, a lot of them live in Westchester, and things are still the same. If you're comfortable, and you know who you are, then you don't change. A lot of these people they become stars and try to change to be that person. Just be yourself, that's the way I am and it works out OK.
OMC: If a studio gave you the money to do any type of movie you wanted, what's an untold story you'd like to tell?
CP: Yeah, there are a couple things that I'm writing now, but I can't talk about them. I'd like to get the money for it. We'll see, who knows, I have to get the money first, but we'll see.
OMC: OK, then how about a particular role you'd like to play that you haven't done before?
CP: I haven't been a priest yet and I really want to do that. I'm a Catholic and religion is very important to me.
OMC: Your next movie coming out called "Hollywood and Wine" was written and directed by Kevin Farley, who went to Marquette University here in Milwaukee.
CP: Kevin Farley is just a very talented young actor, a terrific director. I had a great time working with him. I enjoyed working on the movie, it was fun. You know I do a lot of serious movies, so it was fun working with comedians. It's a talented family there. Chris (Farley, Kevin's brother) was a hell of a talent.
OMC: Well Kevin and Chris both went to Marquette. If you see Kevin at the premiere, ask him about naked beer slides. That was the big tradition when the Farley brothers were at Marquette in the '80s.
CP: Naked beer slides? All right I will.
