The movie Joe Pesci regrets doing: “I was very unhappy”
Among the greatest actors of the late 20th century, Joe Pesci is often ignored, largely as a result of his near-invisible public presence. Collaborating multiple times with Martin Scorsese, as well as other such filmmakers as Sergio Leone, Richard Donner, Chris Columbus and Oliver Stone, Pesci enjoyed a relatively short stint in the industry, gaining three Oscar nominations throughout his time and one coveted win.
Rising to prominence at the dawn of the 1980s, Pesci made a name for himself in such movies as Raging Bull, Once Upon a Time in America and Lethal Weapon 2, regularly working with actor Robert De Niro. Far more of an introvert than his acting peer, Pesci only appeared in a handful of movies throughout his prime, being happy with rearing his head every couple of years to deliver a powerhouse performance.
Such is evident when Pesci got to the stage in 1991 to claim his Academy Award for his role in Scorsese’s Goodfellas, delivering the shortest speech in the show’s long-running history. The audience was gearing up for a long monologue when Pesci came up to collect his ‘Best Supporting Actor’ Oscar, but he merely jumped up on stage, uttered, “It was my privilege, thank you”, and then left.
Elusive though he might be, Pesci has given the odd interview over the years, recently sitting down with Empire to discuss the release of Scorsese’s 2019 flick The Irishman, starring himself, De Niro and Al Pacino. “I’ve never looked for attention,” he said candidly to the publication, “The only time I ever had a publicist after that was to keep me out of magazines — forgive me — because I think things should just happen”.
Largely as a result of his rare public appearances, Pesci created a mystifying allure that made him an acting powerhouse whenever he did appear on screen. “I’ve been in tough places,” he explained, “Nothing I can talk about, but I’ve seen terrible, terrible fights. So I knew the sense of fear”, with the actor bringing this real-life experience to his time as some of cinema’s most evil characters.
Yet, despite the amount of classics he’s appeared in, Pesci isn’t happy with his entire filmography, regretting his time in the 2010 Taylor Hackford movie Love Ranch with Helen Mirren and Bryan Cranston. “I was very unhappy with the editing and what they did with my character,” the actor exclaimed, criticising the movie that barely made $100,000 at the worldwide box office.
Take a look at the trailer for the film barely anyone has seen below.
