Married to Mob Roles — and Happy About It

By SUSAN KING

Aug. 20, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

In 1988, Vincent Pastore was a nightclub owner in his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y. Now, he’s a member of what is known affectionately as the Gangsters Actors Guild, or G.A.G.

Pastore, along with such actors as Frank Adonis, Tony Darrow, Dave Salerno and Tony Sirico, have appeared in almost every mob movie, TV show and series over the last decade. Pastore’s had roles in the acclaimed HBO drama “Gotti” and NBC’s miniseries “Witness to the Mob” among others.

He became an actor almost by accident and didn’t even think of it as a profession until he was in his 40s. But he’s made up for lost time since then with a steady stream of roles.

Pastore is best known to TV audiences for his role as Big Pussy, the right-hand man and confidant of Tony Soprano in HBO’s acclaimed cult mob series, “The Sopranos.” The first season ended with Pastore’s character missing in action and feared dead.

Pastore gets a chance to play a funny mobster named Al in the new Hugh Grant-James Caan gangster comedy, “Mickey Blue eyes,” which opens today. Grant’s girlfriend, actress Elizabeth Hurley, is the producer of the comedy.

He’s also an interview subject in the new TNT documentary, “Family Values: The Mob & the Movies,” airing Tuesday on the cable network, and will be seen next month in the TNT movie “A Slight Case of Murder,” which stars William H. Macy.

The 53-year-old burly actor, who comes across as a big pussycat, recently chatted over the phone about his new movie, working with Caan and, of course, “The Sopranos.”

Question: Did you make “Mickey Blue Eyes” before you joined “The Sopranos”?

Answer: We shot “The Sopranos” pilot and then I did [the 1998 NBC miniseries] “Witness to the Mob.” Liz Hurley was letting me do both movies. [Hurley is one of the film’s producers.] I was working days on “Witness to the Mob” and nights on “Mickey Blue Eyes.” You get in a van and you drive across town and you become another gangster. It was funny.

Q: Speaking of funny, you have a great scene in “Mickey Blue Eyes” in which you and Caan discover you are both burying bodies at the the same location.

A: That was the day when I worked all day on “Witness to the Mob,” where I was doing a scene where I was about to get killed by Sammy Gravano, and I got into a van and went across town and Jimmy Caan was waiting for me. He said, “Who are you that I got to wait for you?”

Q: Did you like having the opportunity to play a funny mobster in “Mickey Blue Eyes”?

A: The comedy is great. The comedy lets you know that we can laugh at this stuff. There is a lot of comedy in “The Sopranos.” Every time someone says something, it means something else. But let’s talk about “Mickey Blue Eyes.”

Q: Well, I want to talk about everything, but you can tell me how “Mickey Blue Eyes” came about.

A: When I knew I was going in to audition for a movie that was starring Hugh Grant and Jimmy Caan, I wanted it because Jimmy Caan is Sonny Corleone. You say, “I’m going to work with Caan if I get this part?” So this is true--it’s kind of corny--I was in front of Liz Hurley and I said, “This is going to be great to be in a movie with you and Caan.” And she said, “I’m not in it.” And I said, “No, not you, Hugh Grant.” So, I think she liked me because we kind of hit it off. But I’m telling you, Caan, he is the master of gangsters and he’s Jewish! He was fabulous.

Q: So do you get recognized a lot these days because of “The Sopranos”?

A: Once it started running. I used to get recognized from the HBO “Gotti” movie, but “Sopranos” took us all over the hump.

Q: Did you and the cast have any idea “Sopranos” would become such a sensation?

A: No, and you can pinch me if you want, right from L.A.

Q: So, is Pussy returning to “The Sopranos” next season?

A: I think one of the biggest hypes that is going on with the show is “Where’s Pussy?” They want to know what happened to my character.

Q: So do I. Can you give me any scoop?

A: [Sighs.] I’m talking to the press here. HBO tells me to tell everyone, “Whatever.”

Q: Were you bitten by the acting bug as a young man?

A: I didn’t get into acting until 1988. Before that I ran clubs in New Rochelle for 20 years. They were discos and rock ‘n’ roll clubs.

Q: So how did you make the transition from club owner to actor?

A: The true story is that Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon brought me into it [acting] and that’s a true story and I’ll talk about it forever. They used to live in a nearby town and they used to come to my club a lot and I became good friends with these guys. They talked me into acting and that is the God’s honest truth!

Kevin brought me down to meet his manager and I had an interview. I took acting classes and some classes in college, but I didn’t have a clue how to break into film and the New York business. The agent gave me a guidepost and I started doing some independents and a lot of theater. I started to study acting at 42!

Q: What do you think it was about you that made the Dillon brothers think you could be an actor?

A: I guess because I looked like a gangster!

Q: What was your big acting break?

A: I did a film called “True Love” written and directed by Nancy Savoca. We won the Sundance Film Festival, and I said to myself, “I’m a movie star,” because that was my first job. But I couldn’t get anything after that. Then I became a day player on “GoodFellas” and then I worked on “Awakenings” and I did a movie called “Men of Respect.” But my real break was “Jerky Boys,” which was a Disney film. I had a lead and I was opposite Alan Arkin throughout the whole piece. After people saw me do that they figured I could cover film [from beginning to end].

Q: Have you ever turned down a role because you thought it portrayed Italian Americans in a bad light?

A: No, I haven’t turned any work down. The only time I turned work down is when I can’t do it because of “The Sopranos.” I don’t think I am in a position [to turn down work]. I had a talk with my agent and he had seen “Mickey Blue Eyes” already and he said, “Vinnie, I think you are in the position now you got to start turning some stuff away.” But when you got a daughter in grad school and you are paying her expenses, it’s pretty hard to turn a job down.

You just hope the films are going to be good. A lot of times, you don’t think they are going to be good and they turn out to be masterpieces.