“He called me his British Joe Pesci”: the actor Martin Scorsese compared to an icon
There’s only one Joe Pesci, and he tends to do the majority of his best work under the direction of Martin Scorsese. As unique as he may be, the legendary director was so impressed by an actor born and bred in the United Kingdom that he dubbed him the transatlantic equivalent of the diminutive firebrand.
It would have been all too easy for Pesci to be pigeonholed as cinema’s favourite angry short guy when he first broke through, but he was far too talented for that. Admittedly, the majority of his most memorable performances and iconic characters have come from being the angry short guy, but that’s a significant oversimplification.
Pesci was equally capable of splitting sides and projecting menace, serving as either a tightly-coiled ball of rage or a slapstick buffoon, and he was equally great at both. Not many actors could bring pathos to Joey LaMotta, shine as Tommy DeVito, ham it up as a sidekick in the Lethal Weapon franchise, and get their arse handed to them twice over by Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, but Pesci could.
Pesci has won an Academy Award from three nominations, won a Bafta from two nods, and been shortlisted for a trio of Golden Globes. Every single one of those accolades has come from a Scorsese-directed picture. Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Irishman won him the recognition, and that’s not even counting his incendiary Nicky Santoro in Casino, either.
With that in mind, when Scorsese looks at another thespian and sees shades of Pesci, praise can’t come much higher. The actor in question is undoubtedly one of Britain’s finest, but one major difference he has from his spiritual predecessor is that when Stephen Graham decides to show up in a mass-produced slab of Hollywood fluff, the results tend to be shite.
Pesci has Lethal Weapon and Home Alone, whereas Graham has Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, so it’s not like-for-like. That being said, if he isn’t being asked to stand against a greenscreen and mug for the cameras, then there aren’t many British talents who can match him on top form.
Scorsese was an early supporter, too. Graham’s first major American production was Gangs of New York, before he was hand-picked to play Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire. Marty knows a top-notch actor when he sees one, then, so much so that hearing him make those Pesci comparisons was music to the Liverpudlian’s ears.
“He called me his British Joe Pesci,” Graham told iNews, before relaying his mind-blowing experience of not only reuniting with Scorsese, but getting the chance to spar with both Pesci and Robert De Niro in The Irishman. “Where I’m from in Liverpool, you never imagine you’re going to be in the same room as them, let alone be in a scene with them.”
The cream always rises to the top, however, with Graham’s list of film and television credits displaying beyond all doubt that he’s a force to be reckoned with. No BBC or ITV drama really feels complete if he’s not in it, and his presence instantly elevates the many that do enlist him. Hollywood doesn’t really seem to know what to do with him, right enough, which is a shame when he’s a Scorsese-endorsed star.
They’re almost the same height, too, even if Graham towers over Pesci by a whole inch at an imposing five feet and five inches. In the same vein, he’s far from being a one-dimensional angry short bloke either, displaying an incredible amount of range as cops, criminals, fathers, fanatics, skinheads, gangsters, victims, perpetrators, and even a chef.
There’s not much he can’t do, but one thing that’s missing from his filmography is a standout comedy turn. If he really wants to further his reputation as the British Joe Pesci, then maybe it’s time for Graham to start pratfalling. Maybe not in a UK-based Home Alone rip-off, and keep him as far away from the Chuckle Brothers as possible, but it’s the last remaining unconquered frontier to hammer it home even further.
