Known for his roles in The Sopranos, Gotti, The Family, Revolver and more, Vincent Pastore stars alongside Armand Assante in the new crime comedy Don Q where Vincent plays a version of himself.
He stopped by to talk with me about it.
Hi Vincent, how are you?
How do you say your first name?
It’s pronounced Owen; it’s a weird Irish Gaelic spelling.
Oh really?
Yeah, I think my parents just want me to get beaten up in school. It worked.
You like Van Morrison?
Oh yeah, he’s a big part of our lives as my folks are Irish.
Van Morrison, every time I see him backstage at a concert, he always asks me about the Sopranos; he’s a big Soprano fan.
Oh, is he?
Yeah, I hope he watches Don Q. That’d be nice if he sees Don Q.
That would be awesome, he should do, because that’s a fantastic movie.
Oh, you Like it? Good!
Yeah, I just thought it was unlike anything I’d seen before. It’s kind of a comedy, but I thought it was a bit of a tragedy at the same time.
Well, that’s what theatre is. It’s very difficult, the way Claudio wrote it. It has a lot of arcs and twists and turns and some people start off in one direction and they end up someplace else. Like Don Q ends up the hero. He ends up the hero. We all end up the hero because like Don Quixote, he saves the girl. There’s talk of a sequel too.
Oh really?
Yeah!
So, how did you prepare for the role of playing yourself?
When Armand called me up, he said, “you’re going to play the actor”. We came up with this idea that my show, we couldn’t say it was Sopranos. The show was set after Sopranos. Vinny passed away after Sopranos and it was called Smash and Smash became a big hit.
We came up with that idea because there was really a guy on my block back in the day called Carmine Smash. His family’s going to probably come after us for residuals (laughs). And I wrote a play, which I’m casting right now. I put it up a couple of times. And there’s a character in the play called Smash. So, I said, the show is called Smash and Claudio loved it. And I thought it was so cool. The first time in the movie where I encounter Don Q is in the restaurant. I’m hanging out with my fans and stuff. I kind of got a thing for the waitress and I’m walking out and he sees me. He just saw me on television and he thinks I’m Smash and he goes *taps his chest* and I go *taps chest* and then the next time you see me, it’s like, boom, he’s there at the table with me. And he talks me into going on the hit with him. It’s magical. It was really unique. Really good.
Unique is the word I would say for it. It was just unlike anything I’d seen before. Totally unpredictable. Just refreshing to see a film like that getting made today.
I’m going to tell you something. I’m a big Colin Farrell fan. He’s doing an amazing job on The Penguin. But some of his other stuff like the movie he did, they shot in Ireland. What was that called?
Banshees of Inisherin.
Yes. That’s it! Where he’s like “why don’t you want to drink with me? What’s the matter?” That’s great work and that’s the kind of work that I hope that me and Federico Castelluccio, who’s in the film, and Sandra Santiago, we look to make these things work. I mean, it’s only on the written page. You’ve got a script. Those people ain’t alive yet. If I give you the role instead of giving it to somebody else, you’re going to do it your way. So, when somebody comes on the set, whether it’s Sopranos or Don Q, and they’re given a role, they’re playing it their way. So, it’s like Elia Kazan said. He said, “once you cast your actors, the rest is up to them”. You make the decision to say, “I’m giving you this role. What are you going to do with it?” And then when you see the results, and I’ve seen it in the film festival, and now it’s going to be on TV, and I’m going to have a Don Q party here, like Sopranos. You see the end results, and you say, “I’m proud of this film”. I could have my family watch this and this is going to help my career again. I mean, not that I need it. I’m 78, but it’s definitely going to be a little boost to me.
Yeah. What do you think is the most rewarding aspect of the film for you?
Working with Armand again. Man, Armand, I love working with Armand. He’s a teacher. James Gandolfini was the same way. I had the privilege of working with some great, great actors who taught me. You had Armand, and you got Jimmy and they taught me. When we were doing Gotti, Armand said, “come up to Canada a little early. I want to work with Vinny”. And that’s the way he’s gone. And I do that now. I mean, I didn’t know so much back then when I was doing Gotti about preparation but now I know. The other day I was working on a show called Gravesend, and I had four scenes to shoot in one day. And I said, “how am I going to do this?” But you know what? I knew to work. So, it was just a matter of getting dressed up, becoming a character, and go shoot the stuff. You’ve got to sit home, and you’ve got to say, “I’m not going to watch the ball game. I’m not going to hang out with my friends. I’m going to lock myself in until I learn my lines”. And it’s whether you’re doing theater or film, you’ve got to learn your lines.
How would you like the film to resonate with audiences?
I want them to be happy. I want them to walk away saying, “I enjoyed myself for an hour and a half, two hours watching this film. I was able to escape”. I was talking to somebody else on an interview. When I was a kid, I used to deliver newspapers. I had two routes so I could make enough money on Saturdays to go to the movies. I lived in the movie theaters on Saturdays. So, when I was a little kid, I always wanted to be an actor. But being an Italian-American from a tough neighborhood, you’re not going to be an actor. You’re going to get in trouble so I joined the service. When I came out of the service, I was under GI Bill, and I started studying acting. I went against what people expected me. Although I did go into the club business for a while. But I eventually, in 1989, ended up doing a movie called True Love with Annabelle Sciorra and Aida Couturo. And it was a hit. And then years later, my launching pad again was Jerky Boys and then Gotti and then Sopranos. And now I’m hoping that Don Q blows up like crazy.
I think it will. It deserves to.
Yeah. I hope it does blow up. And watch out for the sequel because it’s coming.
Oh, excellent. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat. It’s been a pleasure. Best of luck with the film.
God bless. All right, bye.