Part of the gang. Ray Liotta, Robert De NiroThis was just a small part of the mob scene that came to life in Martin Scorsese‘s iconic crime drama Goodfellas.
The 1990 movie was adapted. Nicholas Pileggi‘s nonfiction book WiseguyThe film’s original title was titled “The Name of the Game”. Scorsese and the writer collaborated on the flick, helping actors to get into their gangster characters.
When GoodfellasScorsese was the first to debut at the Venice International Film Festival 47th. Scorsese won Silver Lion for Best Director. The film was a huge success with critics and viewers alike. It received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Director. Despite being entered into multiple categories, Joe PesciHe was the only nominee to walk away with an Academy Award in that year’s Best Supporting Actor category.
As the movie marked its 30th anniversary in 2020, Liotta, De Niro and more of the cast sat down for an in-depth look back at the film’s success. “I never played anything like this, that kind of a lethal character and three days before we were about to shoot, I called my manager and said ‘Get me out,’ I had no idea what to do,” Paul SorvinoRecalled during the Goodfellas: Behind Closed DoorwaysSpecial with host Natalie Morales.
A decade prior, Liotta told GQ, “For 20 years now, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t hear somebody mention Goodfellas. Unless I stay at home all night. It’s defined who I am, in a sense.”
Costar Michael ImperioliThe mob movie was the catalyst for his rise to stardom. “I don’t know if I would have had the same career had I not done Goodfellas,” he told the same outlet in 2010. “Probably not. “Probably not. The Sopranos? Who knows, maybe there would have been a Sopranos?”
Fans aren’t the only ones who return to Goodfellas again and again — even De Niro has rewatched the movie. During a 2013 press event, the Golden Globe winner revealed that the 1990 film helped him prepare to play the role. The FamilyHe was portrayed as a retired mobster by the Witness Protection Program in the film
“I rewatched it and looked at the DVD and there was a lot of stuff I had not seen, interviews with Henry Hill and other characters,” De Niro said at the time, per Collider, adding that he “wanted to make sure it was accurate” to real-life experiences.
The GodfatherStar continued to note that The Family earned praise from Scorsese, teasing, “Marty told me he liked the movie, he told me he liked it a lot. I don’t know if he saw it with an audience or not but I know him well enough to know he was telling me the truth.”
Scroll down to see the cast of GoodfellasToday: