Ray Liotta’s four greatest roles, according to Ray Liotta: “I have some that stand out”
“As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a gangster,” Henry Hill tells us at the beginning of Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster film Goodfellas, and this was many people’s first introduction to Ray Liotta, who delivered an unforgettable performance in the film as if he was practically made for the part.
It wasn’t his first time on screen, of course, as he’d made his film debut seven years before in The Lonely Lady, but it was a true breakthrough moment, such that no one could ignore Liotta after Goodfellas. It’s no surprise, then, that he considered it one of his greatest performances, and while he admitted to not having favourites when it came to picking out past movie roles, he revealed in a Reddit ‘AMA’ that it’s one that “stands out”.
He’d wanted the role desperately, and Scorsese met with him several years before the film’s release to get him on board, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing, because Liotta wasn’t exactly that well-known at the time, so Warner Bros weren’t keen on casting someone without a massive amount of star power behind them in the leading role.
It all worked out in the end, however, and he played the part of Henry to widespread acclaim, so while he might not have picked favourites, when it came to reflecting on his career, he couldn’t help but mention one of his definitive roles, writing, “Obviously Henry in Goodfellas”.
Elsewhere, Liotta was a big fan of the film Narc, in which he played a police officer attempting to track down the person responsible for killing an undercover cop. Written and directed by Joe Carnahan, the neo-noir film was well-praised, and Liotta even earned a nomination for ‘Best Supporting Male’ from the Independent Spirit Awards.
Made on a relatively modest budget of $6million, sometimes these less flashy films prove to be the most rewarding for an actor, and Liotta looked back on the movie, released in 2002, fondly, even if it wasn’t exactly a glittering box-office smash hit.
He was also proud of The Identical, despite the fact that it was widely panned and absolutely bombed at the box office; there was little to redeem this musical film, which was so bad that you wonder how it even got greenlit. A tale of separated-at-birth twins who lead rather different lives, with one of them becoming an Elvis-esque rock ‘n’ roll star, and Liotta playing their father, but why he took on such a bad film remains a great mystery.
Finally, a favourite that is much more understandable is Muppets Most Wanted, because who doesn’t love those puppets? Liotta wrote, “Dancing with Kermit and everybody in Muppets Most Wanted, singing and dancing with Danny Trejo and The Muppets is a once-in-a-lifetime thing”.
He played Big Papa, an inmate, who returns years after he cameoed in the 1999 film Muppets from Space, and while it’s not like Muppets Most Wanted was a significant role for Liotta, the fact that he got to hang out with Kermit and the gang was enough to satisfy him.
