Moviefone Editorial

Tag: sebastian-maniscalo

  • ‘About My Father’ – Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco

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    Opening in theaters on May 26th is the new comedy ‘About My Father,’ which was written by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and loosely based on his own life.

    What is the plot of ‘About My Father?’

    Directed by Laura Terruso (‘Work It‘), ‘About My Father’ centers around Sebastian Maniscalco (played by himself), who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant, hairdresser father, Salvo (Robert De Niro), to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, David Rasche, Anders Holm, and Brett Dier). The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.

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    Who is in the cast of ‘About My Father?’

    Directed by Laura Terruso (‘Work It‘), ‘About My Father’ stars Sebastian Maniscalco (‘The Irishman’) as himself, Robert De Niro (‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Meet the Parents’) as Salvo Maniscalco, Leslie Bibb (‘Iron Man’) as Ellie, Kim Cattrall (‘Sex and the City’) as Tigger Collins, David Rasche (‘Burn After Reading’) as Bill Collins, Anders Holm (‘The Muppets Mayhem’) as Lucky Collins, and Brett Dier (‘Fresh’) as Doug Collins.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of traveling to Chicago, Illinois to speak in-person with Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco about their work on ‘About My Father,’ Maniscalco’s process of writing the screenplay, why De Niro wanted to play Salvo, the Oscar winner’s process, and if Sebastian was nervous about De Niro meeting his real-life father.

    Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco star in 'About My Father.'
    (L to R) Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco star in ‘About My Father.’

    You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with De Niro, Maniscalco, Leslie Bibb, Kim Cattrall, David Rasche, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, and director Laura Terruso.

    Moviefone: To begin with, Sebastian, can you talk about writing the screenplay, the inspiration you took from own relationship with your father, and what the process was like for you bringing this story to the big screen?

    Sebastian Maniscalco: So Austin Earl, who’s the co-writer, who really wrote a lot of the dialogue, I gave him the characters, what they would do and how they would do it. He really put it together and wrote some really fantastic scenes. So the characters are inspired from a culmination of different people and then we gave them different characteristics in each character. Austin really came up with some fantastic scenes. I provided the character detail, what they would say and how they would say it, and he wrote the dialogue. Just extracting the relationship that I have with my father and then paralleling that into a film, that was kind of the inspiration of writing the script. I wanted to tell a story about my relationship with my dad and also meeting my wife’s side of the family, and I just thought that was a good playground for comedy.

    MF: Mr. De Niro, what was your first reaction to Sebastian’s screenplay and what were some of the aspects of the character that you were really excited to explore on screen?

    Robert De Niro: Paul Weitz sent me the script. Paul had directed me in two movies and he was producing this. I read it and then I said, “Can we have a reading of it?” Which I do a lot just to, as I like to say, see if it’s lifted off the page a little. So we get a bunch of actors, not the actors who would be in it, but just actors who would want to read for the sake of it and help us. I met (director) Laura Terruso, and I liked her and she’s from that world. Both her parents are from Italy. Sebastian, his father, meeting him and all that, it all had a good foundation. So after the reading, I pretty much said, “Yeah, it’s good for me. I’d like to do it.”

    Robert De Niro as Salvo in 'About My Father.'
    Robert De Niro as Salvo in ‘About My Father.’ Photo Credit: Dan Anderson.

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    MF: What was it like meeting with Sebastian’s father Salvo, and how did that help you prepare for this role?

    Robert De Niro: Well, Salvo, I saw through the script, through his eyes what he was, and then I met him. He was different with me, obviously but I still had questions for him about the script and so on. I liked him and I knew that there’s a lot of stuff we could do together, what’s written and also what’s not written. But there would be room since he knows the world, I know the world, and Laura does. There’s a way of having fun with this. So it was all good.

    MF: Finally, Sebastian, were you nervous about working with Mr. De Niro, starring in the film, or making such a personal movie?

    Sebastian Maniscalco: Yeah, I was nervous doing the movie. I was nervous during this whole process. A lot of anxiety, just questioning whether or not I could pull this off, memorizing lines, which I also found extremely difficult. I mean, I’m 50 this year and I’m like, man, it don’t come as fast as it used to. In my twenties, a script, give me the thing. Now I’m sitting there, okay, is this in there? I got to go over it, over and over again. So a lot of different new experiences for me in this whole process. But now that it’s over and I saw it, I was like, oh wow. Because during the thing, you don’t know what’s going on. Then when you see it all put together, you’re like, oh yeah. No, it’s good.

    Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro in 'About My Father.'
    (L to R) Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro in ‘About My Father.’ Photo Credit: Dan Anderson.

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    ‘About My Father’ was produced by Lionsgate, and Depth of Field, and opens in theaters on May 26th.

  • ‘Somewhere in Queens’ Interview: Ray Romano

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    Opening in theaters on April 21st is the new family comedy ‘Somewhere in Queens,’ which was co-written, directed by and stars Ray Romano (‘Ice Age,’ ‘The Irishman’).

    What is the plot of ‘Somewhere in Queens?’

    ‘Somewhere in Queens’ centers on Leo Russo (Ray Romano) who lives a simple life in Queens, New York with his wife Angela (Laurie Metcalf), their shy but talented son “Sticks” (Jacob Ward), and Leo’s close-knit network of Italian-American relatives and neighborhood friends. Happy enough working at the family construction business alongside his father (Tony Lo Bianco) and younger brother (Sebastian Maniscalco), Leo lives each week for Sticks’ high-school basketball games, never missing a chance to cheer on his only child as he rules the court as a star athlete.

    When the high-school senior gets a surprising and life-changing opportunity to play basketball in college, Leo jumps at the chance to provide a plan for his future, away from the family construction business. But when sudden heartbreak threatens to derail Sticks, Leo goes to unexpected lengths to keep his son on this new path.

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    Who is in the cast of ‘Somewhere in Queens?’

    ‘Somewhere in Queens’ stars Ray Romano as Leo Russo, Laurie Metcalf (‘Lady Bird‘) as Angela Russo, Tony Lo Bianco (‘The French Connection‘) as Dominic Russo, Sebastian Maniscalco (‘Green Book‘) as Frank Russo, Jennifer Esposito (‘Summer Of Sam‘) as Pamela Carmelo, Jacob Ward (‘Gutted‘) as Sticks, Sadie Stanley (‘Let Us In‘) as Dani Brooks, and Dierdre Friel (‘Here Today‘) as Rosa, and P.J. Byrne (‘Babylon‘) as Ben Parson.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer, director and actor Ray Romano about his work on ‘Somewhere in Queens,’ his writing process, how he ended up directing for the first time, his character’s marriage, and working with legendary actress Laurie Metcalf.

    Writer and director Ray Romano stars in 'Somewhere in Queens.'
    Writer and director Ray Romano stars in ‘Somewhere in Queens.’

    You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Romano, as well as Dani Brook and Jacob Ward.

    Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about what the process of writing and directing this film has been like for you, and what were some of the themes you were excited to explore with this project?

    Ray Romano: So that process, it’s rewarding, but it’s also torture in a good way. When we took on the idea of writing a screenplay, my writing partner and I, neither one of us had done it. I had written TV episodes and he had written TV episodes before, but here we were having to write a whole film, a whole story from beginning to end, and it took a long time. Now he went and got work, and I got work. We put it down, we picked it up again, but it took years and the process was laborious. But also at the end of the day, when we came up with a great little scene, you get a little high from it also. Now, when we finally had a script, it was 186 pages long, and they need to be 120. So we still had a lot of work to do, and we did it, and we finally got it into shape. Then when we decided to make a movie, that’s when the talk of me directing came up. That was a whole other beast for me to try to tackle, because I had never done that either. That ended up being nerve wracking, but very enjoyable, after it was said and done. Leading up to it was so stressful, but when we started doing it, it became something that I was very excited that I made that decision to do. The second part of your question was the themes we wanted. I just wanted to write about this world that I grew up in. It’s always been about family, and it’s always been about writing what you know. I took elements of things that I was going through in my life or I have gone through. We knew we wanted to write a dramedy, but we did not concentrate on the comedy. We concentrated on the drama of it because we knew coming from a world of writing comedy, we were going to put in joke every other two pages anyway, so just worry about the drama and our natural instincts. We can’t finish a scene without putting a little zing in there, a little bit of humor in there. So the humor came pretty effortlessly. The writing, the dramatic part was a new experience for both of us, and it took years, but we slowly found a way to do it.

    Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf in 'Somewhere in Queens.'
    (L to R) Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf in ‘Somewhere in Queens.’ Photo Credit: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

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    Finally, can you talk about Leo and Angela’s marriage and what it was like working on that relationship with Laurie Metcalf?

    RR: Well, again, I drew on my real life. I’ve been married for 35 years, and I married a woman from Queens. That’s my recommendation by the way, if you want to know what makes a marriage last, especially if you’re in show business, marry a woman from Queens because they keep it real, as the kids say. But I knew we didn’t need to show so much of the love because just like in ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ which was again, broader and bigger, and there’s a lot of yelling and screaming underneath it, but you know there’s a love there. There’s a strong relationship there. With Laurie Metcalf, my directing job became very easy when she was in the scene because she was such a pro. It became very easy to do a scene with her, and she fell right into it. But I think one of the best things I ever did, to quote Martin Scorsese, “The most important thing you do as a director is casting.” I got a great cast, so they brought the writing to life, and they made every relationship believable.

    The cast of 'Somewhere in Queens.'
    The cast of ‘Somewhere in Queens.’ Photo Credit: Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

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  • ‘Spinning Gold’ Interview: Jeremy Jordan

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    Opening in theaters on March 31st is the new movie ‘Spinning Gold,’ which tells the story of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart and was written and directed by his son, Timothy Scott Bogart.

    What is the plot of ‘Spinning Gold?’

    ‘Spinning Gold’ depicts the life and career of record producer and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, who was credited with discovering many iconic musical acts such as Donna Summer, Kiss, and the Village People. Along with a rag tag team of young music lovers, Neil and Casablanca Records would rewrite history and change the music industry forever. The movie also examines Bogart’s own personal love triangle with wife Beth Bogart (Michelle Monaghan) and manager Joyce Biawitz (Lyndsy Fonseca).

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    Who is in the cast of ‘Spinning Gold?’

    ‘Spinning Gold’ stars Jeremy Jordan (‘Supergirl’) as Neil Bogart, Michelle Monaghan (‘Mission: Impossible III’) as Beth Bogart, Jay Pharoah (‘Top Five’) as Cecil Holmes, Dan Fogler (‘The Offer’) as Buck Reingold, Jason Isaacs (‘Mass’) as Al Bogart, Lyndsy Fonseca (‘Kick-Ass’) as Joyce Biawitz, Chris Redd (‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’) as Frankie Crocker, and Sebastian Maniscalco (‘The Irishman’) as Giorgio Moroder.

    The movie also stars musicians Wiz Khalifa as George Clinton, Jason Derulo as Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers, Pink Sweat$ as Bill Withers, Tayla Parx as Donna Summer, and Ledisi as Gladys Knight.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jeremy Jordan about his work on ‘Spinning Gold,’ playing Neil Bogart, being directed by his son, the artists Casablanca Records discovered, and why Neil believed in them.

    Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart in 'Spinning Gold.'
    Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart in ‘Spinning Gold.’

    You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Jordan, Jay Pharoah, Tayla Parx, and director Timothy Scott Bogart.

    Moviefone: To begin with, how much did you know about Neil Bogart and the history of Casablanca Records before joining this project, and what did you learn about him that really helped you play this role?

    Jeremy Jordan: I knew absolutely nothing about it, to be honest with you. I knew some of the music that came out of the recording studio that they’d formed, and that was pretty much it. I really approached it from the perspective that I’m working with this guy’s family. Tim Bogart wrote and directed it, and he gave me so much incredible insight, and really allowed me to find my own way into my version of his dad without trying to be a carbon copy of this guy. It was nice because he’s not a really widely known figure, and there’s not a whole lot of video that people can be like, “Oh, you’re not doing exactly the thing.” But even so, we didn’t really focus on that in the film, even with the more famous characters. We really just got to figure out who these people are and then go from there. That was a really liberating experience. I didn’t feel like I had to do exactly this perfect impression, you know what I’m saying?

    Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart and Michelle Monaghan as Beth Bogart in 'Spinning Gold.'
    (L to R) Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart and Michelle Monaghan as Beth Bogart in ‘Spinning Gold.’

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    MF: Was it weird being directed by the son of the person you were playing?

    JJ: It was weird in my head, but in execution, it really wasn’t, except for every once in a while when Tim would be like, “Hey dad.” I was like, “That’s weird. Don’t do that.” But no, I really felt supported a hundred percent all the way through it. If there was ever any guidance, it was done with a really loving hand. One of the things that I was really lucky about is that Tim said one of the reasons that he chose me to play the role was that I had a lot of the essence of his father, and he allowed me to find that version of it within myself. So I never really felt like I was under a microscope or anything, so it was liberating in that way, and I didn’t have to be self-conscious.

    Tayla Parx as Donna Summer and Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart in 'Spinning Gold.'
    (L to R) Tayla Parx as Donna Summer and Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart in ‘Spinning Gold.’

    MF: Finally, can you talk about the relationships Neil had with musical artists like Donna Summer and Kiss, and the way he discovered them and really believed in them when no one else would?

    JJ: He saw things before everybody else. So he saw Kiss and saw Donna Summer as this incredible thing that was going to change music. He was so far ahead that everybody just kind of thought he was crazy and nothing hit for years with both of them. But he continued to believe in them, almost to a fault. Just tenaciously throwing money at it until some people finally figured it out, or he actually figured out the best way to present them to the world. But he never gave up on them and he never faltered in his belief in them, or never really second guessed any of those decisions. He knew that he was right, and he 99% of the time was. It’s tough to find people like that, especially nowadays. Nothing like this story could ever happen today. I’ve recently tried to join the music business. I started a band and they’re like, start your own TikTok, release your first couple albums and then talk to us. There’s no sending your record tape or your demo and someone saying, “if I believe in you and I think I can make you into something, let’s do it.” If there is, then I don’t know. It’s rare. It’s cutthroat nowadays much more.

    Casey Likes as Gene Simmons, Sam Harris as Paul Stanley and Alex Gaskarth as Peter Criss performing as Kiss in 'Spinning Gold.'
    (L to R) Casey Likes as Gene Simmons, Sam Harris as Paul Stanley and Alex Gaskarth as Peter Criss performing as Kiss in ‘Spinning Gold.’

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    ‘Spinning Gold’ is produced by Knightsbridge Entertainment, Boardwalk Films, and Foresight Unlimited, and scheduled for release on March 31st.