Martin Scorsese on when he knew Ray Liotta was perfect for ‘Goodfellas’ role
In May 2022, Ray Liotta “died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting Dangerous Waters. The 67-year-old actor was famed for roles in Field of Dreams, Blow and The Place Beyond the Pines, but none of these roles boosted his Hollywood status quite like that of Henry Hill in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas.
Earlier this week, Liotta received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honouring almost 50 years of service in TV and film. When asked about his Goodfellas and when he knew Liotta was suitable for the role, Scorsese revealed that it wasn’t during the official casting process or even on set, but when the pair bumped into each other ahead of the project.
“We were thinking about just a few actors to play Henry Hill, and Ray was one of them,” Scorsese told Variety in a new interview. “I had one concern. I knew that he could handle a role like the one he had in Something Wild, but here he would have to carry the whole picture. He had to look like he could have come out of that world, he had to have a certain innocence, he had to have authority, but most of all, he needed charm as a counterweight to the violence and the horrifying behaviour. I loved Ray’s work, we got along very well whenever we met, and I knew we could work together.
“But still… I wondered,” he admits. “And then, something clicked into place.”
Scorsese continued to reveal that he had been in Venice shooting the controversial The Last Temptation of Christ when they first crossed paths. “I was staying at the Excelsior Hotel. I was crossing the lobby to do an interview, and I saw Ray waving to me on the other side of the room — he was there with Dominick and Eugene,” Scorsese recalled. “He headed toward me to say hello, and he was confronted by a phalanx of security. And… he handled it. Perfectly.”
Due to the controversy of Scorsese’s current movie, he had received several death threats for adapting Nikos Kazantzakis’ portrayal of Christ. “[Ray] reacted very quietly, very calmly, politely,” he continued. “He allowed them to observe their protocols, and he defused the situation. He looked at me, I looked at him, we signalled to each other that we would talk at a more convenient moment, and we went our separate ways.
“I took a little more time to think about it, but I realise now that I was just going through the motions. That was when I knew he would be Henry Hill.”
Watch the trailer for Goodfellas below.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.