I find that people who are from the bigger cities in the USA…
…and who have worked in the public safety sector especially, tend to have an x factor about them that is not easy to quantify but once they begin an acting career
it’s obvious that they’re just cut from a different cloth than most of the rest of people who are their colleagues, comrades, fellow countrymen and citizens. And it seems to give them a unique quality when they become actors and performers.
I can use two people for example. One of them is [b]Dennis Farina[/b] the other is [b]Steve Buscemi[/b].
[quote][b]
Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina[/b] (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American stage and film actor, who prior to his acting career worked as a Chicago police detective
Before becoming an actor, Farina served three years in the United States Army during the Vietnam Era, followed by 18 years in the Chicago Police Department (1967 to 1985), during which he advanced from patrolman to detective.
1982, while still working as a detective, he made his stage debut in the Steppenwolf Theater Company production of A Prayer for My Daughter, directed by John Malkovich. Chicago Tribune critic Richard Christianson criticized the production but said that Farina and other actors had "moments that were riveting."
Film and TV career
edit
Farina began working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant, which led Mann to cast him in a small role in the 1981 film Thief. Farina worked with Mann again, as mobster Albert Lombard, in several episodes of Miami Vice. He moonlighted as an actor in Chicago-based films (like Code of Silence, a 1985 Chuck Norris film) and theater before Mann chose him for his Crime Story series, which aired on NBC from 1986 to 1988. He later starred as the title character in Buddy Faro, a short-lived 1998 private detective series on CBS.
Farina played mob boss Jimmy Serrano in the comedy-crime film Midnight Run; and Ray "Bones" Barboni, a rival criminal to Chili Palmer, in Get Shorty. He played FBI Agent Jack Crawford in Michael Mann's Manhunter, the first film to feature the character Hannibal Lecter. His other film appearances include Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, Striking Distance, Another Stakeout, Snatch, The Mod Squad, Reindeer Games, Men of Respect, Big Trouble and Out of Sight.
In 2004, producers of the television series Law & Order hired him as Detective Joe Fontana, following the death of longtime cast member Jerry Orbach. Farina stayed on the show for two seasons. In May 2006, it was announced he was leaving Law & Order for other projects.
His role of Detective Lt. Mike Torello on Crime Story was as a Chicago police officer, assigned to the U.S. Justice Department. Farina's Law & Order character, Detective Fontana, worked for Chicago Homicide before his transfer to the NYPD. Fontana shared a number of other characteristics with the actor who played him since they came from the same Chicago neighborhood, attended the same parochial school and had the same tastes in clothes and music and were fans of the Chicago Cubs.
[/quote]
While it might be easy to explain his work as a Chicago police detective just being himself in his acting career I believe that it’s just not that simple but it isn’t that complex either. It’s my opinion that he’s actually acted in most of his law enforcement career and that it’s a requirement for his life lifestyle profession and even his environment. He’s not masquerading as someone who’s actually not all the roles that he’s filled. He’s simply giving certain aspects of his identity and personality in order to make the characters he’s playing seem more real more genuine and authentic believable and realistic. I think it’s something that has to be done in a big city and in the law enforcement community. If you’re going to have any amount of success and command both respect as well as garner support for the jobs that are required of him he had to be legitimately qualified but also have his colleagues believe that he was exactly what is required to do his work successfully. I’m not sure if I’m wording this accurately but the point I’m trying to make is that acting in the films tv shows and stage productions is a lot of a parallel between the work roles of his life. I think it’s something that is not often seen in 99.999 % of other actors and the only one who comes to my mind for being similar is [b]Steve Buscemi[/b].
[quote][b] Steven Vincent Buscemi[/b]
(born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. Buscemi is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. His early credits consist of major roles in independent film productions such as the AIDS drama Parting Glances (1986), Mystery Train (1989), In the Soup (1992), and his breakout role as Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Firefighter
Buscemi was a New York City firefighter from 1980 to 1984, with Engine Company No. 55, in the Little Italy section of New York, while secretly taking acting classes and dabbling in stand-up on the side. The day after the September 11 attacks in New York, he returned to his old firehouse to volunteer; he worked twelve-hour shifts for a week, and dug through rubble looking for missing firefighters.[65] On May 25, 2003, Buscemi was arrested with nineteen other people while protesting the closing of a number of firehouses, including Engine 55.[66] In the middle of 2011, Buscemi joined rallies against the threat of closing eight Brooklyn firehouses during the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He said that closing these firehouses "is no way to protect New York."[/quote]
It may be harder to see their similarities at first but they actually have several. The least of which is more of a coincidence that they both were in the Miami Vice TV series of the 1980’s in very minor detail.
But just like Farina Buscemi has been cast in works based in the city he grew up in New York and though it would be easier to say that both actors were only involved due typecasting and their accents were more of the reason I choose to see it differently.
I believe that this is again as more of an adaptation of their own personalities and personal experiences.
[quote]
Other early performances include Parting Glances (1986) as well as an appearance in an episode of the television series Miami Vice in 1986.
In 1989, he appeared in four films, including James Ivory's comedy Slaves of New York, Howard Brookner's ensemble period film Bloodhounds of Broadway and the New York Stories segment directed by Martin Scorsese entitled, "Life Lessons"
[/quote]
With the exception of [i]Millers Crossing[/i] which wasn’t set in any specific city (though it is said to have been inspired by New Orleans)
Buscemi worked on the following projects that were all connected to New York City in one way or another
[quote]
1990, he played Mink Larouie in the Coen Brothers' neo-noir gangster film Millers Crossing starring opposite Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, and John Turturro. This was the first of five of the Coen Brothers' films in which Buscemi performed. Critic Roger Ebert described the film as one that "is likely to be most appreciated by movie lovers who will enjoy its resonance with films of the past." Also that year, he starred as Test Tube, a henchman of Laurence Fishburne's character Jimmy Jump in Abel Ferrara's crime film King of New York, as well as Edward in the anthology film Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, the protagonist of the "Lot 249" segment of the film. In 1991, he played a bellboy, Chet, in the Coen Brothers film black comedy Barton Fink starring John Turturro and John Goodman. His first lead role was as Adolpho Rollo in Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup (1992)
[/quote]
Keeping in mind the length of this post and the fact that it is never my intention to copy pasta from other sources unless it’s relevant I don’t think it makes sense to put much more into this explanation of my observations and how Buscemi like Farina is doing an excellent translation of his real life into the stories of the projects that he’s been in. Boardwalk Empire has a New York/New Jersey centric theme that is of a bygone age but is still much more interesting because of the way that it’s translated into relatable characters and situations that are more interesting to the viewer because of the subtle authenticity that comes from having Buscemi in the cast. And though he’s a bit of an adaptable figure who has and can become whatever is necessary for his roles such as in Fargo or The Big Lebowski I believe he’s much more than just a character actor who satisfies the one dimensional needs of a narrative. His X factor is mercurial but that doesn’t make it any less true and relevant. Again just my opinion but I do find it very interesting and rare. What do you think? Is there someone else that you believe could be added to this list of people?
I think [b] Chloë Sevigny[/b] could be the third but I will have to save her for a different time and post. As she wasn’t a police officer or firefighter etc but she does have some interesting experiences that I think set her off for success as an exceptional actress.
(I don’t usually make posts like this but I’m trying to challenge myself and keep from falling into repetitive patterns and ruts and keep things interesting. Yes it is a rough and unrefined in general but I do believe in the spirit of this post and the ideas and my observations that I tried to share and express here. Thank you)
it’s obvious that they’re just cut from a different cloth than most of the rest of people who are their colleagues, comrades, fellow countrymen and citizens. And it seems to give them a unique quality when they become actors and performers.
I can use two people for example. One of them is [b]Dennis Farina[/b] the other is [b]Steve Buscemi[/b].
[quote][b]
Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina[/b] (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American stage and film actor, who prior to his acting career worked as a Chicago police detective
Before becoming an actor, Farina served three years in the United States Army during the Vietnam Era, followed by 18 years in the Chicago Police Department (1967 to 1985), during which he advanced from patrolman to detective.
1982, while still working as a detective, he made his stage debut in the Steppenwolf Theater Company production of A Prayer for My Daughter, directed by John Malkovich. Chicago Tribune critic Richard Christianson criticized the production but said that Farina and other actors had "moments that were riveting."
Film and TV career
edit
Farina began working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant, which led Mann to cast him in a small role in the 1981 film Thief. Farina worked with Mann again, as mobster Albert Lombard, in several episodes of Miami Vice. He moonlighted as an actor in Chicago-based films (like Code of Silence, a 1985 Chuck Norris film) and theater before Mann chose him for his Crime Story series, which aired on NBC from 1986 to 1988. He later starred as the title character in Buddy Faro, a short-lived 1998 private detective series on CBS.
Farina played mob boss Jimmy Serrano in the comedy-crime film Midnight Run; and Ray "Bones" Barboni, a rival criminal to Chili Palmer, in Get Shorty. He played FBI Agent Jack Crawford in Michael Mann's Manhunter, the first film to feature the character Hannibal Lecter. His other film appearances include Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, Striking Distance, Another Stakeout, Snatch, The Mod Squad, Reindeer Games, Men of Respect, Big Trouble and Out of Sight.
In 2004, producers of the television series Law & Order hired him as Detective Joe Fontana, following the death of longtime cast member Jerry Orbach. Farina stayed on the show for two seasons. In May 2006, it was announced he was leaving Law & Order for other projects.
His role of Detective Lt. Mike Torello on Crime Story was as a Chicago police officer, assigned to the U.S. Justice Department. Farina's Law & Order character, Detective Fontana, worked for Chicago Homicide before his transfer to the NYPD. Fontana shared a number of other characteristics with the actor who played him since they came from the same Chicago neighborhood, attended the same parochial school and had the same tastes in clothes and music and were fans of the Chicago Cubs.
[/quote]
While it might be easy to explain his work as a Chicago police detective just being himself in his acting career I believe that it’s just not that simple but it isn’t that complex either. It’s my opinion that he’s actually acted in most of his law enforcement career and that it’s a requirement for his life lifestyle profession and even his environment. He’s not masquerading as someone who’s actually not all the roles that he’s filled. He’s simply giving certain aspects of his identity and personality in order to make the characters he’s playing seem more real more genuine and authentic believable and realistic. I think it’s something that has to be done in a big city and in the law enforcement community. If you’re going to have any amount of success and command both respect as well as garner support for the jobs that are required of him he had to be legitimately qualified but also have his colleagues believe that he was exactly what is required to do his work successfully. I’m not sure if I’m wording this accurately but the point I’m trying to make is that acting in the films tv shows and stage productions is a lot of a parallel between the work roles of his life. I think it’s something that is not often seen in 99.999 % of other actors and the only one who comes to my mind for being similar is [b]Steve Buscemi[/b].
[quote][b] Steven Vincent Buscemi[/b]
(born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. Buscemi is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. His early credits consist of major roles in independent film productions such as the AIDS drama Parting Glances (1986), Mystery Train (1989), In the Soup (1992), and his breakout role as Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Firefighter
Buscemi was a New York City firefighter from 1980 to 1984, with Engine Company No. 55, in the Little Italy section of New York, while secretly taking acting classes and dabbling in stand-up on the side. The day after the September 11 attacks in New York, he returned to his old firehouse to volunteer; he worked twelve-hour shifts for a week, and dug through rubble looking for missing firefighters.[65] On May 25, 2003, Buscemi was arrested with nineteen other people while protesting the closing of a number of firehouses, including Engine 55.[66] In the middle of 2011, Buscemi joined rallies against the threat of closing eight Brooklyn firehouses during the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He said that closing these firehouses "is no way to protect New York."[/quote]
It may be harder to see their similarities at first but they actually have several. The least of which is more of a coincidence that they both were in the Miami Vice TV series of the 1980’s in very minor detail.
But just like Farina Buscemi has been cast in works based in the city he grew up in New York and though it would be easier to say that both actors were only involved due typecasting and their accents were more of the reason I choose to see it differently.
I believe that this is again as more of an adaptation of their own personalities and personal experiences.
[quote]
Other early performances include Parting Glances (1986) as well as an appearance in an episode of the television series Miami Vice in 1986.
In 1989, he appeared in four films, including James Ivory's comedy Slaves of New York, Howard Brookner's ensemble period film Bloodhounds of Broadway and the New York Stories segment directed by Martin Scorsese entitled, "Life Lessons"
[/quote]
With the exception of [i]Millers Crossing[/i] which wasn’t set in any specific city (though it is said to have been inspired by New Orleans)
Buscemi worked on the following projects that were all connected to New York City in one way or another
[quote]
1990, he played Mink Larouie in the Coen Brothers' neo-noir gangster film Millers Crossing starring opposite Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, and John Turturro. This was the first of five of the Coen Brothers' films in which Buscemi performed. Critic Roger Ebert described the film as one that "is likely to be most appreciated by movie lovers who will enjoy its resonance with films of the past." Also that year, he starred as Test Tube, a henchman of Laurence Fishburne's character Jimmy Jump in Abel Ferrara's crime film King of New York, as well as Edward in the anthology film Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, the protagonist of the "Lot 249" segment of the film. In 1991, he played a bellboy, Chet, in the Coen Brothers film black comedy Barton Fink starring John Turturro and John Goodman. His first lead role was as Adolpho Rollo in Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup (1992)
[/quote]
Keeping in mind the length of this post and the fact that it is never my intention to copy pasta from other sources unless it’s relevant I don’t think it makes sense to put much more into this explanation of my observations and how Buscemi like Farina is doing an excellent translation of his real life into the stories of the projects that he’s been in. Boardwalk Empire has a New York/New Jersey centric theme that is of a bygone age but is still much more interesting because of the way that it’s translated into relatable characters and situations that are more interesting to the viewer because of the subtle authenticity that comes from having Buscemi in the cast. And though he’s a bit of an adaptable figure who has and can become whatever is necessary for his roles such as in Fargo or The Big Lebowski I believe he’s much more than just a character actor who satisfies the one dimensional needs of a narrative. His X factor is mercurial but that doesn’t make it any less true and relevant. Again just my opinion but I do find it very interesting and rare. What do you think? Is there someone else that you believe could be added to this list of people?
I think [b] Chloë Sevigny[/b] could be the third but I will have to save her for a different time and post. As she wasn’t a police officer or firefighter etc but she does have some interesting experiences that I think set her off for success as an exceptional actress.
(I don’t usually make posts like this but I’m trying to challenge myself and keep from falling into repetitive patterns and ruts and keep things interesting. Yes it is a rough and unrefined in general but I do believe in the spirit of this post and the ideas and my observations that I tried to share and express here. Thank you)
46-50, F
