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Easton Jones
Professor James Reddoch
Film and Theater 1070
5 December 2015

Italian Americans in Film

When you think of Italian Americans as actors what kind of movies do you usually
think of? That is right mobster or gangster movies. This probably because film directors
felt that if they casted Italian Americans for these types of movies they feel like it would
be more immersive to the audience because they wouldn't be taken out of the film
because of their accents weren't even close to what it would sound like and they
wouldn't look like plain white people they would at least look a little more like Italians.
Italian Americans were widely known for how aggressive and who quick they were to
turn in early cinema, they were known as on the edge, trust no one accept your family.
But what people did not understand was that they were adaptive and most of the well
known Italian American actors changed with the film industrys needs.

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This obviously changed over time, many actors started moving away from the
gangster or mobster movies and started setting out to other films or film genres, such as
Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro, thought of as one of the greatest American actors of
all time, was born in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia
(Admiral) and Robert De Niro, Sr. (Nekouis. "Best American Actors/actresses with
Italian Roots." IMDb. IMDb.com, 16 July 2011. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.) He played huge
roles in major mobster/gangster movies such as Goodfellas, The Bronx Tale, The
Untouchables, and Casino. Casino is about a low level mobster that is put in charge of
the Tangiers Casino. While he is in charge he is a huge success and has no problems,
but after a while he starts to lose what he has and people start to turn against him.
People that start to give him trouble are his enforcer Nicky Santoro, his ex-wife that
hustled in his casino, and her ex-husband that was a con artist. Those are the main
people that give him the most trouble, but there are a few politicians that give him
trouble as well. All of these factors put Sam Ace Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro.
Robert De Niro did a very good job in all of these mobster/gangster films, as it was
stated earlier Robert De Niro is one of the greatest actors of all time. He started acting
in films such as Meet the Fockers, Last Vegas, and Dirty Grandpa, all comedy films.
Robert De Niro still had roles in films that were serious or that still had action in them but
he showed that he is a very versatile actor. Joe Pesci is also one of the Italian American

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actors to sort of change up their portfolios in film, Joe Pesci went from mobster movies
to some family movies and drama movies, he also proved to be a very versatile actor
and a good one at that event hough some of the other films he was in did not get very
good reviews he was still very good in them. One actor that stayed about the same with
his films was Sylvester Stalllone, he mostly stayed with action movies, he is most known
for his roles in Rocky, The Expendables, and The Rambo series. There is nothing wrong
with what Sylvester Stallone has been doing he found a role or a mindset of a character
that fit him very well and he stuck with it he is known for being one of the biggest names
in action films today. Chazz Palminteri is another big Italian American name in film he
was in the film A Bronx Tale, in this film he is the head of the Mafia in the Bronx. A father
played by Robert De Niro fights for his teenage son that is getting pulled in by the head
of the Mafia, played by Chazz Palminteri. The strange thing about this film is that Robert
De Niro one actor known for begin Italian plays an Irish father trying to keep his kid out
of the Mafia. Chazz Palminteri is portrayed as a strong, father like figure to this young
impressionable irish teen in the Bronx. This Film is what put Chazz Palminteri on the
map as an actor. Chazz Palminteri also was one of the iconic Italian American actors
that was able to get out of only doing mobster/gangster movies, he also did films such
as Noel, Faithful, Poolhall Junkies, Lady and the Tramp II, Stuart Little, and Littlman.
Chazz Palminteri had a very large acting portfolio with roles in comedy, family/kids,

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romance, and action films. Another actor that is amazing very iconic is Al Pacino. One
of the greatest actors in all of film history, Al Pacino established himself during one of
film's greatest decades, the 1970s, and has become an enduring and iconic figure in the
world of American movies. (Nekouis. "Best American Actors/actresses with Italian
Roots." IMDb. IMDb.com, 16 July 2011. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.) Al Pacino is most known
for his roles in The Godfather, which is about the Italian Mafia, and Scarface, which
oddly not about the Italian Mafia, it is actually about a Cuban drug lord. But this is more
about Italian actors playing Italian roles. In The Godfather Al Pacino plays the roles of
Michael Corleone of the youngest son of Don Vito Corleone the head of a Crime family.
Al Pacino is reluctantly brought into this crime family, throughout the film Al Pacino falls
deeper and deeper into this family business and starts to lose his wife. Al Pacino did
very well in this movie, he is also a part of a movie that people have questioned if it is
the greatest movie of all time. Al Pacino is or was in the same boat as Sylvester
Stallone, he stayed close to one genre.The action drama genre, he is known for
mysterious characters or powerful strong characters. Another Italian American actor that
has a very large portfolio is John Travolta, by far he has been in the broadest selection
of film/movie genres.

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One American actor that has done a very good job and has gone above and
beyond expanding his acting portfolio is Ray Liotta, he has been in so many movies and
television shows, he is most known for his role in Goodfellas a mobster film from 1990,
in this film Ray Liottas character started working for the Mafia at a very young age, just
making deliveries for them and delivering messages, as he grew up he was officially
inducted into the Mafia, he made good friends that would have his back forever, or so he
thought until the head of the Mafia or one of the Made Men thought that Ray Liottas
character was no longer needed. His best friends and closest companions were well
known Italian American actors, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, they stuck by Henry Hill,
or Ray Liottas character through the whole film until Joe Pescis character was
murdered. This is when Henry Hill starts to wonder who he can trust, his wife has to
start watching her back as well because the Mafia knows that they can break Ray
Liottas character into showing himself and maybe coming after them so that they can
get back at him. Ray Liotta did a very good job in this movie he really stuck out and
started making a name for himself with this film Ray Liotta being in this film lead to him
playing roles in other big films and made it easier for him to broaden the roles he could
play. He starred in other big films such as Hannibal, The Identical, Corrina Corrina, The
Muppets, and Charlie St. Could. While his career was booming he covered almost every
single genre out there such as, family, drama, romance, horror, action, and comedy, Ray

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Liotta has got to be one of the most highly recognizable American actor to play Italian
roles. Some actors were portrayed as Italians but were not of Italian descent such as
Marlon Brando and Ray Liotta. He played roles of Italians in films/movies such as, On
the Waterfront, The Freshman, and The Godfather. One of the biggest Italian Mafia films
to ever be produced and they had an actor that was from Irish and Dutch descent play a
full blooded Italian. One this that helps Ray Liotta and Marlon Brando is that they have
been around Italians their entire life. For example Ray Liotta was adopted by an Italian
family. In hindsight this was probably better for his career even though, I used to wear
being adopted on my sleeve. 'How could you give up a kid?' That sort of thingAnd I
realized when I met her, there were really valid reasons, and that almost 99 percent of
kids that are put up for adoption are always for the betterment of the kid. The household,
the situation, the age just dictates that that's the best thing to do for the child. As he
said in an interview with Larry King. (King, Larry. "I Have A Huge Dose Of Jealousy |
Ray Liotta | Larry King Now - Ora TV." YouTube. YouTube, 3 Sept. 2014. Web. 08 Dec.
2015. Ray Liotta explained that he felt like he was just let go even after his mom told him
the circumstances she was in and that she could not take care of him with those
circumstances. These two actors played some of the biggest roles in mobster and
gangster film history and they didn't even have Italian blood, if you would put them in a
portfolio with pictures of other Italian men you would most likely say that they have the

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distinct characteristics in their faces and most likely in their bodies, the point is it they did
a very good job becoming Italians in the roles they played and made the characters in
the mobster and gangster films come alive. Ray Liotta even went to Italy to find the real
Henry Hill to see what he was really like and how he felt about the movie that was being
made about his life. He did this to see how close he was to actually becoming the
character. When asked by Larry King if he stays in character when he goes home he
responded with, Non really except for Henry Hill, I became Henry Hill for the duration of
the shooting. (King, Larry. "I Have A Huge Dose Of Jealousy | Ray Liotta | Larry King
Now - Ora TV." YouTube. YouTube, 3 Sept. 2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.)

In conclusion Italian actors, are widely recognized for portraying members of the
Italian Mafia or old time gangsters; they were able to fill their portfolios with roles from
alternative film genres in various different leading and supporting roles. These Italian
American actors abilities to be versatile in media, whether it be film or television,
discarded the stereotype of the tiresomeness that Italian American actors were subject
to during the era in which the mobster/gangster genre was most popular. The purpose of
having these Italian American actors portray these mobsters or gangsters is because it
is more immersive to the audience, people are more likely to be engulfed into the film if
they saw the actor and the character coming from the same background. Even though

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every film did not do that such as The Godfather, with Marlon Brando portraying a full
blooded Italian, that was one big role in the film that was portrayed by an Irish and
Danish blooded actor. Marlon Brando still did an amazing job in that film though he and
Ray Liotta, as stated before, had to be some of the most talented actors to pull off the
Italian roles they did throughout their career, most actors cans say that they can do
what Ray Liotta and Marlon Brando did. Italian Americans did have a lot going for them
with the big mobster era, and after seeing that they were adaptive with the film industry
and could play different roles, they still do have a lot going for them.

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Work Cited
1. King, Larry. "I Have A Huge Dose Of Jealousy | Ray Liotta |
Larry King Now - Ora TV." YouTube. YouTube, 3 Sept. 2014.
Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
2. Nekouis. "Best American Actors/actresses with Italian Roots."
IMDb. IMDb.com, 16 July 2011. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.