He was known for performances in ‘The Wire’ and ‘Veep.’
Whitlock Jr. was also a regular collaborator with director Spike Lee.
Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. has died at the age of 71, his manager confirmed, following a brief illness.
Best known for his unforgettable portrayal of corrupt state senator Clay Davis on HBO’s ‘The Wire’ — and for co-starring in ‘Veep’ and several films by director Spike Lee — Whitlock’s career spanned more than four decades.
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Stars, collaborators, and fans around the world are paying tribute to the beloved actor.
Isiah Whitlock Jr as Judge Lomax in ‘I Care a Lot.’ Photo: Seacia Pavao/NETFLIX.
Born September 13, 1954 in South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock began his journey far from Hollywood’s red carpets. After studying theater on a scholarship, he trained at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, laying the groundwork for a career defined by versatility and depth.
Whitlock’s early work included guest appearances on television series throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He also had small roles in films such as ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Pieces of April,’ showcasing his ability to shine in any role, large or small.
Whitlock’s breakthrough came with HBO’s ‘The Wire,’ where his portrayal of the charismatic and corrupt State Senator Clay Davis became iconic.
He went on to captivate audiences in the political satire ‘Veep,’ playing Secretary of Defense George Maddox, and appeared in acclaimed series such as ‘Your Honor’ and ‘The Residence.’
On the big screen, Whitlock was a favorite of director Spike Lee, collaborating on multiple films including ’25th Hour,’‘Da 5 Bloods,’‘BlacKkKlansman,’‘Chi-Raq,’ and more — a creative partnership marked by mutual respect and deep friendship.
Across more than 120 film and television credits, Whitlock gave performances that were at once commanding, humorous, and deeply human.
Isiah Whitlock Jr.: Offscreen
(L to R): Isiah Whitlock Jr and Ayoola Smart in ‘Cocaine Bear.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
Though Whitlock kept much of his personal life private, those close to him remembered his warmth, generosity, and infectious spirit. In a heartfelt announcement, his manager Brian Liebman described him as “a brilliant actor and even better person,” noting that all who knew him were deeply affected by his loss.
Tributes have poured in from peers and collaborators, including Lee, who referred to Whitlock as “my dear beloved brother,” a testament to their long friendship both on and off set.
Isiah Whitlock Jr.’s legacy will endure in the memorable characters he brought to life and the joy he brought to audiences around the world. Whether delivering a sly smile, a sharp political jab, or his unforgettable vocal cadence, he was an actor who left an indelible mark on stage and screen alike.
He will be remembered not just for what he played, but how he made us feel: entertained, moved, and always, at times, saying — in his unforgettable way — “sheeeee-it.”
Selected Movies and TV Featuring Isiah Whitlock Jr.:
(L to R) Rebecca Miller and Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Rebecca Miller about her work on ‘Mr. Scorsese’, how she got involved in the project, interviewing Martin Scorsese, his working relationship Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, which interview surprised her the most, pacing the series over five episodes, what Scorsese had to say about ‘Taxi Driver’, and what she hopes people take away from watching the series.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about how you got involved with this project and when conducting the interviews with Martin Scorsese, what was it like essentially directing the greatest director of all time?
Rebecca Miller: Well, I got involved with it really by a formless hunch, a feeling. I had made another documentary, Damon Cardasis my producing partner said, “What would you like to do?” Because I said I’d like to make another one. He said, “What’s the subject?” I thought of Martin Scorsese first. You know, he made it so easy in a way to interview him. He almost makes fun of himself in the very beginning of the series where he’s making jokes about, “You need a slate” and stuff like that. But really, he was just so open, I think, is the word. Just very open. I wasn’t really directing him so much as just listening to him, you know, and then asking the next question. We led each other into some very unexpected places.
(L to R) Archival photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese on the set of “The Aviator” featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Mr. Scorsese has had many great collaborators over the years, but the three that stick out from the documentary were Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Can you talk about interviewing them and is there a through line between their collaborations that you can put your finger on?
RM: The first word that comes to mind is trust. In fact, he mentions that with regards to them. You know, he knew that De Niro, even though he was becoming a star after ‘Mean Streets’, he could trust him. That he wasn’t going to abandon him or allow anyone to take the work away from him, because that was still a possibility from Marty at that time. With Thelma, he knew that he could trust her to help him make the work that he needed to make and not be obstructionist or egotistical about it. The same thing with, I think with Leonardo, because that’s what Marty needs is to be able to trust people that he’s collaborating with. Then once that trust is there, you’re free to experiment and to really be wild because you trust each other.
(L to R) Archival photo of Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Of all the interviews you did with Mr. Scorsese’s friends, family and colleagues, was there one interview that really surprised you and was there anyone you wanted to speak with but were unable to?
RM: I got to talk to so many people, and people that I never expected to be able to speak to. His childhood friends were like a particular boon, it was just so amazing that I got to talk to them, especially because one of them died shortly after I interviewed him. But also, the model for Johnny Boy (from ‘Mean Streets’), you know, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn’t even know that I would necessarily have them.
(L to R) Robert De Niro, Frank “Butch” Piccirillo and Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Can you talk about pacing and the challenge of fitting in all aspects of Mr. Scorsese’s life and career into just five episodes?
RM: I mean, I didn’t want to rush, but on the other hand, I really wanted there to be a sense of pacing and of urgency, because his work has that, and his personality has that. I wanted it to reflect his personality. I wanted the film to feel like Marty himself. Maybe that’s why sometimes there are certain cuts that feel like his cuts, because they’re originating with him and his personality. Then, of course, his work is an outgrowth of his personality. But you know, the number of segments really, at first it was going to be one feature film. Then I quite quickly realized there was no way I could do it that way, because the childhood and early adulthood really needed time, so you could understand how deeply connected his work in general is to those early years. Once you do that, once you spend that first episode, then you need more time to get to the rest of it. Because essentially, the series is really the dance between the art and the life. They’re creating each other. Art’s creating life, life’s creating art, and at a certain point, we kind of ran out of life in a way. That’s the point where you’re like, “Okay, that’s the end”. So, it’s the dance between those two things.
Archival photo of Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘Gangs of New York’ featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Was there any movie that you asked Mr. Scorsese about where you were surprised by his answer?
RM: Well, I mean, I was very intrigued by his answers to ‘Taxi Driver’. I talked to him about it. I asked, “What is it about you at that time that’s in that film?” And you can see him close his eyes and sort of be resistant, but also want to give an answer. He gives this extraordinary answer but over throughout, there’s this thread of the deep connection between what he’s going through as a person, his own suffering, his obsessions, and the films that he’s making.
Archival photo of Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘The Departed’ featured in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: In the series, Mr. Scorsese talks says that in the stories he tells, the human struggle is what he is most interested in? Can you talk about his passion for that idea in terms of his filmography?
RM: I think overall, there’s a sort of sense of, as Nicholas Pileggi says, “Underdogs trying to score”, and very often, these people are struggling to become themselves. It’s like they want to become themselves, but in that process of trying to become themselves, like Jake LaMotta (in ‘Raging Bull’), for example, you can lose your soul, and that’s interesting too. The loss of the self, the loss of the soul, the kind of darkness that can come into sight of people. It’s not always good news in Scorsese’s universe.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
MF: Finally, what will you remember most about making this series and what do you hope fans learn about Mr. Scorsese and his work that they did not already know?
RM: I mean, just having him in my life and the friendship that I have with him is such an immense reward. The idea that I was able to maybe give him back to the people that love him in a form that they didn’t know or anticipate, and to shed something new on the films and maybe bring people back to the films or to the films when they haven’t seen them, that to me is a great reward.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
What is the story of ‘Mr. Scorsese’?
Explore the many lives of Martin Scorsese through intimate interviews with the man himself, access to his private archives, plus conversations with Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg, and more.
Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ tracks the suspicious murders of members of the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight after oil was discovered underneath their land.
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Who is in the cast of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’?
(L to R) Lily Gladstone and Martin Scorsese in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of attending a virtual press conference, along with other members of the press, for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ featuring Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese. The legendary filmmaker discussed his new movie, what attracted him to the story, shooting in Oklahoma, historical accuracy vs. emotional truthfulness, casting Lily Gladstone, reuniting with DiCaprio and De Niro, and the music of the late great Robbie Robertson.
You can read about the press conference below or click on the video player above to watch excerpts from the interview.
Scorsese on Accurately Representing the Osage Community
(L to R) JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
The iconic director began by discussing how he and his production team went about accurately representing the Osage community in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’
Martin Scorsese: Well at first, it was very important for me, as soon as I saw the book, and I said, “Well, if you want me to be involved with anything that has to do with indigenous people and Native Americans, I had an experience in the 70s where I began to become aware of the nature of what their situation was and still is.” I’d been blindly unaware of that, I was too young. It’s taken me years and I’m fascinated by how do you really deal with that culture in a way that is respectful? How truthful can we be and still have authenticity and respect, dignity and deal with the truth, honestly, as best we can. Having said that, that story, when I read it, indicated to me that this would probably be the one that we could deal with that way. Particularly by getting involved with the culture of the Osage and actually placing cultural elements, rituals, spiritual moments. People talk about mystical realism or something. Now this is real. You see the dream. The dream is real. The ancestors come. So for me, I wanted to know how, I wanted to play with that world in contrast with the white European world. I felt that this could have afforded us the possibility. Ultimately what happened was that we were dealing with the script on the basis of the David Grann’s book, which is excellent, but the book also has the subtitle, the ‘Birth of the FBI.’ For about a year and a half to two years, I was doing ‘The Irishmen’ and that sort of thing, and Eric Roth and I were working and we felt that we took the story of the birth of the FBI as far as we could take it, and I wanted to keep balancing with the Osage and it was getting bigger and bigger and more diffused. Ultimately this was supplemented by the times that we went out to Oklahoma and met with the Osage. My first meeting was with Chief Standing Bear and his group, Julie and Addie Roanhorse and Chad Renfro, and it was very different than what I expected. They were naturally cautious. I had to explain to them that I’m going to try and deal with them as honestly and truthfully as possible. We weren’t going to fall into the trap. We think of the cliche of victims or the drunken Indian, this sort of thing, and yet tell the story as straight as possible. What I didn’t really understand the first couple of meetings was that this is an ongoing situation, an ongoing story out in Oklahoma. In other words, these are things that really weren’t talked about in the generation I was talking to and in the generation before them. It was the generation before them that this happened to and so they didn’t talk about it much. The people involved are still there, meaning the families are still there, the descendants are still there. What I learned from meeting with them, having dinners with them, including Margie Burkhart, I think she was the relative of Ernest Burkhart. She pointed out, and a number of other people pointed out that you have to understand, a lot of the white guys there, a lot of the European Americans, particularly Bill Hale, they were good friends. One guy pointed out, he said Henry Roan was his best friend, and yet he killed him. People just didn’t believe at the time that Bill would be capable of such things. So, what is that about us as human beings that allows for us to be so compartmentalized in a way? After they saw ‘Silence,’ they sort of felt a little more comfortable with me doing this. Margie Burkhart said, one has to remember that Ernest, her ancestor loved Mollie and Mollie loved Ernest. It’s a love story. Ultimately what happened is that the script shifted that way, and that’s when Leo decided to play Ernest instead of Tom White. By that point, we started reworking the script and it became really, instead of from the outside in coming in and finding out who’d done it, when in reality it’s who didn’t do it. It’s a story of complicity. It’s a story of sin by omission, and silent complicity certain cases. That’s what afforded us the opportunity to open the picture up and start from the inside out.
Shooting in Oklahoma
(L to R) Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
Scorsese was determined to shoot the film in Oklahoma, where the story is based. He talked about the first time he visited Oklahoma and how he began to visualize shooting the movie there.
MS: Well, I think the first time was in 2019. It was a little confusing because of shooting ‘Irishman,’ doing the CGI, which was a longer post-production, four or five months, and then COVID hitting, but I know we were there before COVID. We at least had two trips there before COVID. For me, I am a New Yorker. I grew up in the lower East side of New York. I’m very urban. I don’t understand weather that much or where the sun is when you’re on the set. I was very surprised to learn that it’s set in the West. That’s because I was driving down Sunset Boulevard one time about 30 years ago, and I saw the sun setting and I said, it’s great. It’s “Sun-set Boulevard.” The sun sets in the West, I go, “oh, now I get it.” Anyway, when I got there, all I can tell you is those prairies are quite something and they open your mind and your heart. They are just beautiful. Especially driving on these roads, straight roads were prairie and on both sides, wild horses, bison and cows, but the wild horses just out to pasture for the rest of their lives and it was like idyllic. So I said, “Where do I put the camera at this point? How much of the sky? How much of the prairie?” Should it be 1.85 or should it be 235? We got to go 235. You’re going to want to see more of this land. Then I began to realize that the land itself could be sinister. In other words, you’re in a place like this and you don’t see people for miles. You could do anything. Particularly, it turns out a hundred years ago, for me, 1920 is like fifty years ago because I was born in 1942, so the 1920s are to me the way the 1990’s are now to younger people. So when they told me, “Marty, this is a hundred years ago,” I keep thinking, “why are we making a period piece? It’s like normal.” I mean, yes, they were old cars. So I said, “It’s not really a Western, it’s normal.” But when I saw that and I realized this is a place where you don’t need the law. I mean, you have the law, but the law isn’t working that way. You can make the law work for you if you’re smart enough, as we know now, many people do. What I mean by that is that it’s still a wide open territory. You have law, but it’s a wide open territory. So the place, as beautiful as it is, can shift to being very sinister. What I wanted to capture ultimately was the very nature of the virus or the cancer that creates this sense of an easygoing genocide. That’s why we went with the story with Mollie and Ernest because that’s the basis of the love. The love is the basis of trust. So when there’s betrayal that way, that deep, and we know that for a fact that it was that way. Here’s our story.
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ director Martin Scorsese.
Scorsese also talked about balancing historical accuracy with what he calls the “emotional resonance” of the movie.
MS: This was a constant, historically accurate, and I should say the word “truthful.” You can have a ritual and you shoot a ritual is the way it should be, but it may have been slightly different at the time. We had a lot of support from the Osage authority, the experts who were giving us the indication of how to go about these things, Johnny Williams, and a number of other people. So with them, we tested the accuracy of the rituals, the weddings, the funerals, everything that happened at the funerals, all of this sort of thing. In some cases there was wiggle room because quite honestly, I think the last two generations of Osage forgot about or was taken out of their experience because they had to become white European, they had to become Christians, Catholics, or whatever. So they forgot about all that. In fact, there’s a new resurgence of the learning of the language. We had language teachers there, and Lily Gladstone learned the language and so did Leo, and so did De Niro who really fell in love with it and wanted to do more scenes in Osage. But I suggested that maybe it’s too much for him, but he just liked the sound of it. They were all learning again to put their culture back together through this movie and we were going with them. So what actually happened was, we would ask, does this person put the blanket on this way, is that right? Well, one person would say yes, I would say maybe no. Another one would say, you have a little room here to play with it and have some creative license. So that’s the way we did it throughout every scene that way. That was done a lot in pre-production and during the shoot. So we had that as a basis. There are ways that were never insistent, but there were ways they got to me, certain information where it was Marianne Bower, for example, one of our producers and she’s like my archivist, and she was able to help keep it all together between myself and the Osage.
Casting Lily Gladstone
(L to R) Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
The director discussed casting actress Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart and why her casting was pivotal to the film’s success.
MS: Well, I believe Ellen Lewis showed her to me in ‘Certain Women,’ Kelly Reinhardt’s film. I thought she was terrific and then COVID hit and we weren’t able to meet. So after the pandemic was calming down, we met on Zoom. I was very impressed by her presence, the intelligence and the emotion that’s there in her face, but you see it. You feel it, but it’s all working behind the eyes. You could see it happening. Also, her activism, which wasn’t overtaking the art, in other words, the art was in the activism in a sense. So the art takes over and in a way which we think then would be more resonant later on after you see the movie, you may be thinking about it more rather than a person preaching at you. I think the first big scene we did was one of my favorite scenes where she has dinner with Earnest alone and she’s questioning him, a little bit of an interrogation. “What are you doing here? Are you afraid of him? What’s your religion?” All this sort of thing. Then you begin to see the connection between the two. When she says, “Ha, coyote wants money.” And surprisingly he said, “That’s right, I love money.” So she knows, this is the other thing, she knows what she’s getting into. Even her sisters later, which is also a scene that we put in with the Osage and the Native American actors. They said, “What if we’re talking about the guys while they’re playing that game and we’re talking about my husband and talking about that guy with the blue eyes likes you and, you know, I don’t think he just wants money. It doesn’t matter. He’s nice. He wants to settle down.” Why don’t we just show that that’s how it could happen? So that’s the way the script was ultimately created by these moments. So with Lily, there was that scene, and of course the scene where he’s driving her in the taxi and it’s only one shot. He says something about, “I want to see who’s going to be in this horse race.” And she says something in Osage and He goes, “What’d you say?” And she says it in Osage again. And he says, “Well, I don’t know what that was, but it must’ve been Indian for handsome Devil.” That’s an improv, and you see her laugh for real. So that moment you have the actual relationship between the two actors. These were the two moments. We felt very comfortable with her. Also we had a feeling that we needed her. We needed her to help us tell the story of the women there. We would always check with her and work with her on the script. There were scenes that were added and rewritten constantly.
Reuniting with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro
(L to R) Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
Martin Scorsese has made ten movies with Robert De Niro, and five with Leonardo DiCaprio, but ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ marks the first Scorsese movie to feature both actors. The director discussed his working relationship with both De Niro and DiCaprio.
MS: Well, in the case of Robert De Niro, we were teenagers together, and he’s the only one who really knows where I come from, people I knew and that sort of thing. Some of them are still alive. He knows them. I know his friends, his old friends, and we had a real testing ground in the 70’s where we tried everything and we found that we trusted each other. It was all about trust and love. That’s what it is. That’s a big deal because very often if an actor has a lot of power, and he had a lot of power at that time, an actor could take over your picture, the studio gets angry with you, and the actor comes in and takes it over. With him I never felt that. I never felt that. There was a freedom. There was experimenting and also, he’s not afraid of anything. He wasn’t afraid to do something. He just did it. Years later he told me he worked with this kid, Leo DiCaprio, a little boy in ‘This Boy’s Life.’ He said, “You should work with this kid sometime,” but it was just casual. With him, something like that, a recommendation at that time, I think in the early 90’s, is not casual. He says it casually, but he rarely said that. He rarely gave recommendations. So years go by and I’m presented with Leo with ‘Gangs of New York,’ and we worked together in ‘Gangs.’ He made ‘Gangs’ possible actually. He loved the pictures I’d made and he wanted to explore the same territory. So we developed more of a relationship when we did ‘The Aviator.’ Towards the end of it, there was something happening in maturity with him, not quite sure, but we really clicked in certain scenes and that led to ‘The Departed,’ and then we became much closer. That was a project where Bill Monaghan, me, and other people, we were writing all the time and recreating that character that he played of Billy. During that time, he really found out that even though it’s a thirty years difference, he has similar sensibilities. He’ll come to me and he’ll say, listen to this record. It’s Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald. I grew up with it. He’s not bringing me anything new, but he likes it. That’s interesting. He’ll call me and says, “I had a cold and I was looking at Criterion Films and I wanted to catch up on some of these classics, and I saw this incredible movie. It’s a Japanese picture. It’s called ‘Tokyo Story.’ Did you ever see it?” This was last year, I said, “yeah.” I mean, it took me a few years to catch up. I couldn’t even understand Ozu‘s style, seeing it for the first time in the early 70’s because we used Orson Welles’ cameras, and this guy got it from watching it on a big screen TV. That’s very interesting to me to be open that way to older parts of our culture, newer parts of our culture, of course, and the curiosity that he has about other people and other cultures. There’s a trust. Even if we can’t get it right away, we know we’ll come up with something. Maybe other people have relationships where they come up with it faster. Well, we don’t. We just work it through. For example, the scene between Leo and Bob in the jail at the end. That scene ultimately was finally written, I think a few days before we shot it, working with the two of them and working with Marianne and everybody because we had said so much, and it could have gone so many different ways, but what does the picture really need? How much more is there for them to say to each other after all that’s happened? So we went that way. It’s trust. Particularly doing ‘The Wolf for Wall Street,’ by the way he came up with wonderful stuff that was outrageous. So I pushed him, he pushed me, then I pushed him more than he pushed me, and suddenly everything was wild. It’s really quite something. He had a good energy too on the set. That was also important. Very important, because in the mornings, I’m not really good and I’d get on set and then I’d see him or Jonah Hill or Margot Robbie, or him and Lily, and suddenly they’re all like, “Hey.” I said, “Okay, let’s work.”
The importance of Music in his Movies
(L to R) Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson at a screening of ‘The Last Waltz’ at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019.
Finally, Scorsese discussed the importance of music in his movies, and how it influences the way he moves his camera. He also spoke about his longtime collaborator, the late musician Robbie Robertson, and his musical contributions to ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’
MS: The way I like to make pictures, for the most part I’ve learned, not intentionally, but I feel it is like the pacing of music. The boxing scenes in ‘Raging Bull’ are like the ballet scene in ‘The Red Shoes’ where everything is seen and felt from inside the ring, inside the fighter’s head. The way everything is felt and seen inside the dancer’s head of Moira Shearer in ‘Red Shoes.’ The covering of the band singing ‘The Weight’ in ‘The Last Waltz,’ doing it in a studio was very much according to the music, to the different bars of music and how a camera would move, et cetera. Sometimes I played the music back on the set in the case of ‘Goodfellas’, a number of times. The end of ‘Layla,’ for example, was played back as we were doing the camera moves. For me, ultimately a movie is more like, I’m trying to get to a movie being a piece of music. I think that’s why I do these music documentaries at the same time, I’m trying to get to the pacing and rhythm of something that can be played. For example, you play a symphony and you live with it. “I’ve heard the Beethoven Symphony so many times, I don’t want to hear it again.” No, you play it. “Well, I like the third movement. I want to hear the second movement again.” No, I mean, you live with it. Or Baroque music, anything by Bach or Philip Glass let’s say. In a case like this, very often if a film is playing on TCM, I take the sound off and I just watch. It’s living with me. I live with it. If it’s a Hitchcock or it’s a Ford or a newer one, whatever, I’m looking, and I can tell there’s a musical rhythm to the pacing of the camera and the edit. What I mean by the camera, it’s the size of the people in the frame, the editing and camera movement. I could feel it. So that’s how I exist in a sense. So for me, it’s really about getting the pace of music. That’s done very carefully on set, but also even more carefully in the editing. That’s why this picture is more like somebody pointed out recently, a Bolero, where it starts slower and moves slowly and encircles, and then suddenly gets more intense, and suddenly goes more and more until it explodes that way. So I felt it. I couldn’t verbalize the way I am now, but I felt it in the shoot and in the edit. A lot of the music that kept pushing me was what Robbie Robertson had put together, particularly that base note that he was playing. When Ernest drops her off for the first time at Mollie’s house, she looks at him, she turns, and all of a sudden you hear, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I said, “I wanted something dangerous and fleshy and sexy, but dangerous.” That beat took us all the way through. Then he sent me some hymn and I picked up music from Harry Smith’s Anthology of Folk Music, all this sort of thing. One particular piece called the ‘Indian War Whoop’ by Hoyt Ming and his Pep Steppers was very important. ‘Bulldoze Blues’ by Henry Thomas, which became ‘Going up the Country’ by Canned Heat. All of this, and ‘See See Rider Blues’ by Ma Rainey, and of course Emmett Miller singing ‘Lovesick Blues,’ which became the great ‘Lovesick Blues’ by Hank Williams later on, but this was the first. So it’s all that’s in there, but the drive of the movie is what Robbie put down, and we pulled it through that way.
(L to R) Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
Paul Sorvino as Paulie Cicero in 1990’s ‘Goodfellas.’
Paul Sorvino, a charismatic and characterful actor who brought to life many memorable roles, has died. He was 83.
Paul Anthony Sorvino born April 13, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York. While he got his start writing advertising copy, the acting bug bit relatively soon after, and he went on to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
From there, he began a career on the stage, and made his Broadway debut with the musical ‘Bajour’ in 1964. Even as he continued to work successfully in theatre (including a Tony nomination for Jason Miller’s 1972 play ‘That Championship Season’, he also began working in TV and movies.
‘That Championship Season’ proved to be one of his most fruitful roles – he reprised it when Miller adapted the play for the big screen in 1982, and Sorvino starred alongside Robert Mitchum, Bruce Dern, Stacy Keach and Martin Sheen in the story of a basketball team that comes together for a reunion where cracks in their seemingly close bond start to show. Sorvino went on to direct the 1999 TV adaptation that starred Vincent D’Onofrio.
Paul Sorvino as Henry Kissinger in 1995’s ‘Nixon.’
Yet it is Sorvino’s movie work that stands out to most people – and most notably, his ability to play mobsters and mafiosos. Martin Scorsese tapped him to play Paul Cicero, AKA Big Pauly in ‘Goodfellas’, one of his most iconic roles.
Outside of performing, he turned to sculpting to relax and even compared his acting career to the art. “Acting onstage is like doing sculpture,” he told the Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2005. “Acting in movies is like being an assistant to the sculptor.” He added that he preferred sculpting to stage or screen work because “no one tells you how to finish it.”
“My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed,” actor daughter Mira Sorvinowrote on social media. “My heart is rent asunder – a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.”
“Our hearts are broken,” said wife Dee Dee Sorvino in a statement. “There will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage.”
My father the great Paul Sorvino has passed. My heart is rent asunder- a life of love and joy and wisdom with him is over. He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love in the stars Dad as you ascend.
Actor Tony Sirico, who will forever be remembered as gangster Peter Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri on ‘The Sopranos’ has died. He was 79.
Sirico, born Gennaro Anthony Sirico in 1942 to an Italian family in New York City, almost seemed to be preparing for his future role early in his life. He fell in with the Colombo crime family and had many run-ins with the law, first arrested at the age of 7 for stealing nickels from a newsstand.
He ended being collared by the police more than 28 times and was sent to prison twice. In 1989, he took part in a documentary called ‘The Big Bang’, in which he discussed his past and how it informed he outlook on life.
On the TV side, he had a healthy line in guest roles, including the voice of temporary Griffin family dog Vinny on ‘Family Guy’ and Enzo Perotti on ‘American Dad’.
Originally auditioning to play Uncle Junior on ‘The Sopranos’ he landed the role of Paulie Walnuts and became a regular for all dix seasons of the show, quickly establishing himself as a fan favorite on a show that was full of memorable characters.
It was Sirico’s ‘Sopranos’ co-star Michael Imperioli who first broke the news of his colleague and friend’s passing on social media. “It pains me to say that my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime, the great Tony Sirico has passed away today,” Imperioli wrote on Instagram. “Tony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big hearted as anyone I’ve ever known. I was at his side through so much: through good times and bad. But mostly good. And we had a lot of laughs.”
“We found a groove as Christopher and Paulie and I am proud to say I did a lot of my best and most fun work with my dear pal Tony,” he continued. “I will miss him forever. He is truly irreplaceable. I send love to his family, friends and his many, many fans. He was beloved and will never be forgotten. Heartbroken today.”
Sirico is survived by his two children, Joanne Sirico Bello and Richard Sirico, as well as grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Ray Liotta, an actor known for playing tough guys and mobsters, but who proved through a long and varied career that he could turn his hand to all sorts of characters, has died. He was 67.
Liotta had been filming thriller ‘Dangerous Waters’ opposite Saffron Burrows and Eric Dane in the Dominican Republic when he reportedly died in his sleep.
The actor was born Raymond Allen Liotta on December 18, 1954, in Newark, New Jersey. The adoptive son of Alfred and Mary Liotta, he was a talented athlete, playing both basketball and soccer in high school.
After graduating from Union High School in 1973, Liotta attended the University of Miami, where he began studying acting. He moved to New York after college and was soon spotted by a casting agent. He started his performing career in TV commercials, until he scored a job playing Joey Perrini on the daytime drama ‘Another World’.
After moving to California to try and crack Hollywood, Liotta initially struggled to find work. He landed a breakthrough role as Melanie Griffith’s crazed ex-con husband in 1985’s ‘Something Wild’. Showing his versatility, the actor switched tracks for his next role, that of a medical student caring for his mentally challenged brother in 1988 drama ‘Dominick and Eugene’. After that came one of his most acclaimed turns, as baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson opposite Kevin Costner in ‘Field of Dreams’.
The best, though, was yet to come. ‘Goodfellas’ saw Liotta sharing the screen with the likes of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Liotta shone, bringing nuance and grit to the role of mobster Henry Hill, who rises through the ranks of a New York crime family but ends up struggling with his choices and how it affects both himself and his family. Martin Scorsese’s powerful, based-on-truth tale was nominated for several Oscars.
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Ray Liotta in ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ (2021)
Yet Liotta has always been more than just one role: he was a versatile character actor, able to be funny and dangerous and appearing in the big screen likes of ‘No Escape’, ‘Corrina, Corrina’, ‘Cop Land’, ‘Hannibal’, ‘Narc’, ‘Observe and Report’, ‘Date Night’, ‘Revolver’, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, ‘The Iceman’, ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’, ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’, ‘Sopranos’ prequel ‘The Many Saints of Newark, and Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’. Still to be released is Elizabeth Banks’ based-on-truth comedy thriller ‘Cocaine Bear’, due in theaters next year.
Though his career was primarily on the big screen, Liotta also carved a niche for himself on TV, in shows such as ‘Shades of Blue’, ‘Hanna’, ‘ER’, ‘St. Elsewhere’, and ‘Modern Family’. He most recently worked alongside Taron Egerton in Apple TV’s upcoming ‘Black Bird’.
The actor is survived by his daughter, Karsen. Before his death, he was engaged to be married to Jacy Nittolo.
Watch our Ray Liotta interview on his HBOMax mystery thriller ‘No Sudden Move’.
Frank Vincent, who memorably played mob boss Phil Leotardo on “The Sopranos,” died from heart surgery complications Wednesday. He was 78.
TMZ reports that Vincent suffered a heart attack last week and underwent open-heart surgery today in a New Jersey hospital.
Vincent was a veteran actor who began his career in gangster movies. He was spotted, along with Joe Pesci, by Robert De Niro, who recommended them to director Martin Scorsese. Both actors were cast in 1980’s “Raging Bull,” and they also appeared in Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and “Casino.” Vincent also acted in two Spike Lee films, “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.”
Vincent’s biggest role was as ruthless mafia boss Phil Leotardo in “The Sopranos,” the main antagonist of Tony Soprano (the late James Gandolfini) in the final season.
He extended his gangster persona to the “Grand Theft Auto” videogame series. His most recent role was as a bishop on “Law & Order: SVU” last year.
Somewhere in the world right now, there is a terrible actor delivering a monologue.
He wears a cheap suit with the polyester shirt collar over the jacket and affects a New York accent, even though he’s from a small suburb just outside of Des Moines. He’s going to tell you all about life on the streets, and you better believe there will be a prop cigarette involved. And if you’re lucky, maybe he’ll break out the rubber gun for “shock” value.
For this actor, you can thank Martin Scorsese. It’s not really Marty’s fault, though; it’s not that he forced struggling actors into bad De Niro impressions, it’s just that his films have had such an impact on what we think when we hear the word “movies” that we’re bound to dip into “too much of a good thing” territory sometimes. Be thankful that no matter how many Scorsese imitators the decades have spawned, you can always cleanse your palate with these bona-fide classics.
‘Mean Streets’ (1973)
By 1973, the 31-year-old Martin Scorsese’s vision had enough time in the oven to really nail down his signature Scorsese recipe — and that recipe was called “Mean Streets.” It had everything you want from a Scorsese flick: A complex antihero lead, more Italian crime drama than a Sicilian prison, impressively long takes, and even the unforgettable use of a Rolling Stones song. And with that song — “Tell Me,” for the record — entered one Robert De Niro. The combo worked so well, Marty and Bobby would go on to do eight more movies together.
Without “Mean Streets,” you wouldn’t have Scorsese as you know him. And without “Mean Streets,” you wouldn’t have “Goodfellas,” which itself topped Rolling Stone’s reader list of the best Martin Scorsese movies in 2015. Good thing Little Italy was so messed up in the ’70s.
‘Taxi Driver’ (1976)
If the world only has room for one Martin Scorsese movie in the vault when the zombie apocalypse hits, that movie should be “Taxi Driver.” A few years of mainstream success gave Scorsese the freedom to stretch out a bit for his fifth feature, so “Taxi Driver” gets a lot more meditative — in a psychotic sort of way — than its precursors. What it really likes to meditate on, though, is New York City. When you think of the gritty, neon porno-haven that was NYC in the ’70s — a place that seemed 90 percent made up of muggers, pimps, crooks, and cops — you think of “Taxi Driver.” And moviegoers haven’t stopped thinking of “Taxi Driver” for going on 40 years.
‘Raging Bull’ (1980)
Crime, New York, Italian-American culture, and Robert De Niro are Scorsese’s four food groups, but in 1980, “Raging Bull” taught us that Marty likes a heaping helping of real-world characters for dessert — he’d later prove that with reality-based tales like “Casino,” “The Aviator,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Though “Boxcar Bertha” waded in the biopic kiddie pool, “Bull” dove in head-first with the true story of brutal, dynamic, and ultimately tortured middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta. More than the fights, it’s the combo of brilliant character study and powerhouse performances that makes “Raging Bull” a movie for the ages — Scorsese added Joe Pesci to his cinematic stable, and De Niro’s 60-pound body transformation is so dramatic, gaining weight for a role became something between a cliche and a “serious actor” litmus test. Eat your heart out, Christian Bale.
Note: If you’re reading this, Christian Bale, that was joke. Don’t eat your heart out. Really not necessary this time.
‘The Departed’ (2006)
You’ve probably noticed a theme on this list, because you’re super smart. These films all sort of represent milestones for Scorsese, the birth of a new Scorsesian chapter in film. And on that note, though 2006’s “The Departed” didn’t exactly start a chapter, it encapsulates everything that makes 21st-century Scorsese great. It’s led by Leonardo DiCaprio — who’s creeping up on De Niro’s record with five collaborations under his belt — it swaps out the Rolling Stones for the Dropkick Murphys, and it heralded the era of Marty actually winning Oscars. That’s right: After decades of snubs, he finally took home Best Director in 2007. This is Scorsese 2.0.
%Slideshow-359207%Robert De Niro, who’s been called the greatest actor of his generation, can play dark and violent one minute, and “Meet the Parents” the next.
The two-time Oscar winner has played a variety of roles in his 70-odd movies over the past 40 years, but the films we remember best are the ones where he terrified the hell out of us — or made us laugh our asses off.
In honor of his newest comedy, “Dirty Grandpa,” we’ve ranked his 17 most (and least) intimidating roles.
%Slideshow-348030%One thing that the 35th anniversary of “Raging Bull” (released December 19, 1980) reminds us of is how vividly alive Martin Scorsese‘s movies are. You can watch them over and over and still enjoy the twists and turns of the ride. And your tour guide, for all his artistic pretensions, all his references to the movies and songs he’s catalogued in his encyclopedic brain since childhood, is a showman and entertainer first, bent on seducing and dazzling you before making you think.
From a remarkable career that’s lasted nearly half a century so far, it’s hard to pick just a handful of must-see movies. Even Scorsese’s misfires are more fascinating and watchable than many directors’ successes. Still, if you have to separate the essential from the merely great and pretty damn good, you should start with these 11 movies.
Somewhere in the world right now, there is a terrible actor delivering a monologue.
