By John Rizzo
Vincent Pastore “
I
’ve got a nice round artsy career right now,” says stage, screen and TV actor Vincent Pastore. Come again? “Artsy?” The man who is known to millions as Sal Bonpansiero on The Sopranos? And if not Pussy, then some kind of wise guy in a host of movies and TV shows. But it’s not a stretch to apply the term “artsy” to someone who sings and dances in a musical like Chicago on Broadway. Or someone who stars in the latest incarnation of The Apprentice. And those are just a couple of things that Pastore has been doing lately. Nevertheless, once an actor becomes associated in the public mind with one of the most compelling characters in an incredibly popular series like The Sopranos, it’s hard to think of him as anything else. And whose fault is that? “I’ve played doctors, and all kinds of roles,” asserts Pastore, “but the gangster movies are the ones that sell the most.” In the heated debate that rages in the Italian American community over whether Mafia- and gangster-type shows are “demeaning to Italian Americans,” it is often insinuated that the actors are the main culprits in socalled “negative stereotyping.” The argument goes that if Italian American actors would only stop playing wise guy roles, Italian Americans would no longer be connected with organized crime, at least in a theatrical way. But what this point of view ignores is the indisputable fact that Americans, and plenty of other people throughout the world for that matter, just cannot get enough of Italian-style heavies. The reasons why so many are thoroughly captivated by the glamorizing of criminal activity, or at least anti-social behavior, are numerous and intriguing. It could be that deep down; people resent the government and like to fantasize about beating City Hall. Or maybe the rampant consumption of gangster shows indicates an angry backlash on the part of the public against political correctness. There is also the appeal of the criminals’ “code of honor,” a virtue that seems to be sorely lacking today in big business and government. In most of these dramas, within the criminal subculture, there are still “good guys” and “bad guys,” and the bad guys usually get what they deserve. This quirky kind of morality play seems to have replaced the Western as the favorite genre of the modern chivalry tale, American-style. As for the Italian thing, it could be something as innocent as the public sharing the same preference for the type of food and wine that the various wise guys seem to be eating and drinking all the time. In any case, there is unmistakably a demand for shows like The Sopranos, and for an actor to get paid for acting is what this business is all about. As Pastore says, “Why should I feel guilty? I love what I do, and I’m not really into turning down work.” Just looking at an image of Vincent Pastore, especially after seeing him portraying cosa nostra types in so many movies, one might arguably think that he was the poster boy for Made Men. There’s the swarthy complexion, the thick curly, almost kinky, hair and the bushy eyebrows – real Italian-looking. You might think that this guy just has to be a wise guy – unless you consider that James Farentino could be described the same way, in his portrayal of St. Peter in Jesus of Nazareth. The full story about Vincent Pastore is not about some small-time hood, but about an Italian American man who worked very hard, legally, to get the rewards of the fulfilled American Dream, just the way many of us have. Vincent Pastore’s grandparents came from Calabria and Campania in the early part of the last century. His father worked on the New Haven 40 AMICI / Fall 2008
Railroad and Pastore was born in New York. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the Navy and served three years, then went to Pace University on the G.I. bill. It was about this time that Pastore got heavily involved with Community Theater and got the bug to be an actor. “I used to drive my wife crazy with rehearsals and having parties for the company,” he recalls. But this was strictly amateur stuff and he still had to make a living. “I was in the bar business for about 20 years – setting up bars, running bars, tending bars and selling bars,” he sighs. Then he worked for a while with Greyhound and met Danny Aiello. As Pastore tells it, “Danny Aiello had a big influence on me. He was a dispatcher and he was turning his life around. So I thought to do the same thing.” There was still a lot of drudgery ahead for Pastore. Getting a job as a suburban limo driver, he was able to fit in some auditions with his schedule. “I would always ask for a trip to Manhattan,” he remembers, “where I would drop my customer off, make an audition, then pick the customer up and go home.” He did this for a while, but nothing big came of it. “So I had my last club adventure with a place called the Crazy Horse. There I met Matt and Kevin Dillon, who both liked me and set me up with the people who got me into my first film, True Love.” This was the big break that all aspiring actors dream of, but rarely happens. This role led to a host of appearances in both films and TV series. Undoubtedly though, his most memorable role was as “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos. Interestingly, this was probably the easiest part he ever got. As Pastore puts it “I just met David Chase and he said ‘You’re Big Pussy.’” The end of the Sopranos long run has not brought an end to Pastore’s career. Besides doing live Broadway theater he hosts a weekly radio show and is working on a new TV show, his favorite medium. “With TV, you block, you shoot and it’s over,” he claims. “Most of all, I’d like to have my own sitcom someday.” If it could happen with a perennial bit player like Jackie Gleason, why not Vincent Pastore? The show he’s working on now is of the “reality” variety called FoodFellas, “about three guys who start a restaurant in the Bronx.” Pastore also engages in more serious activities, like arranging benefits for wounded soldiers in the Knightsbridge Veterans Hospital. His Italian American pastimes include acting as Grand Marshal for the Bronx Columbus Day Parade and the St. Joseph’s Day Parade in New Orleans. The controversy will go on about actors feeding the defamation of Italian Americans. “If it were any other minority…” the anti-defamation leaders say. Yet it’s hard to remember any serious ruckus from the typically sensitive Jewish American community when Lee Strasberg played Hyman Roth in Godfather II. And the truth is, other American ethnic minorities don’t have the same history as Italian Americans – they all have their own unique heritage, good and bad. Perhaps all the energy going into making pariahs of the Italian American actors who succeed in their profession, could be better spent promoting all the glories of Italian culture.