The Death of Ray Liotta: 5 Things You Need to Know About a Goodfellas Actor

To say that Ray Liotta’s death is as cruel as it is unexpected. Filming in the Dominican Republic was supposed to be about his next film, “Dangerous Waters”, he slept in a hotel room so as not to wake up. The actor was 67 years old.

His death is an opportunity to go back to five anecdotes around this great actor.

He fought for the role of Henry Hill

If Ray Liotta has not had a career worthy of his talent, he still remains in some strong roles; And among them, of course, the role that moviegoers around the world justly respect, first and foremost: the role of Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas.”

The filmmaker really chose to entrust this character to a lesser-known actor; This role is all the more difficult for him as he still risks being shattered by the big names, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesch. The reason for this choice? According to Liota, Scorsese portrayed him as a scout in a comedy drama, Dangerous in All Sides (1986) and the End of a Dream (1989) for the “explosive energy” he released on screen. The actor then went into detail and explained that he had had a large audience for the role and had been doing so for more than a year.

But at the 1988 Venice Film Festival, things finally worked out: Scorsese was there for the presentation of “The Last Temptation of Christ” and was constantly surrounded by guards because he was around the film and against Scorsese. .

When Liota tried to talk to the director on the way to him, his bodyguards kicked him out so that the actress did not lose her composure. Seeing this scene, Scorsese was surprised that Liota did not get angry in this situation (which might have angered some) and thought it perfectly matched what he was looking for in Hill’s character: a man who quietly observes things and who does not lose his ability, even the most In delicate situations. It was after this small incident that Liota finally convinced the famous director to play this long-awaited character …

His completed improvisation with Joe Pesch on the most famous scene in France

“You’re funny, I do not know, it’s your stories, it’s all …” Who does not mind this legendary scene with a tandem Joe Pesh And Ray Liotta entered Free ? Scorsese gave Pesch to Cart Blanc to make it as he saw fit. The actor told him how while he was working in a restaurant, he made a funny address to his boss, which made the interested person angry.

In this scene only Ray Liotta was involved in the secret of improvising the dialogues, the rest do not know to make the reactions as authentic as possible. When you arrive, what will you get? One of the craziest scenes in movie history and an Oscar for Pesch.

I’ll be happy to see this scene again, in French, with a brilliant dub by Jean Benguig …

He casts doubt on the GTA main character: VICE CITY

The fact that Hollywood talent is delivering a voice for a video game character is nothing new, as examples abound. Yes, but this is it: Ray Liotta also allowed a rehearsal but cult game that was released in 2002, the sixth video game franchise from Rockstar Studio: GTA Vice City.

In this case, he embodied the game’s protagonist, Tommy Verchett, a former commander and the trust of one of Liberty City’s mafia experts, as well as a desire to find a place in the sun. If the game world, which developed in 1986 and, above all, was largely influenced by Scarface, Rockstar Studios liked Liota’s composition. FreeUntil they were offered to do a tribal duplication.

Rockstar also recalled his fondest memories with the actor on his Twitter account when the comedian’s death was announced…

Below, a small tribute to some of his character lines. Note also that he was surrounded by an incredible list of Hollywood talents who voted for the game: Tom Seismore, Danny Trejo, William Fichtner, Dennis Hopper, Bert Reynolds, Louis Guzman, Robert Devi …

He has never seen one of his most famous films

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson in 1989, Dream’s End (often better known by its original title, The realm of dreams) Is undoubtedly one of the most famous feature films Ray Liotta.

He shares a poster with Kevin Costner and portrays the ghost of professional player Shovel Joe, revived by a farmer who decides to build a baseball field on his cornfield after hearing strange noises. However, due to the unfortunate situation, Ray Liotta never had the opportunity to watch this cult film in full and especially since he was not going to do so:

“It was mainly because of a personal problem I had then”He handed the microphone QG. “When I went to see him, my mother was sick and we could not stay, no, I did not see him.”

The actor also explained that unlike his character in the film, he was right-handed in the bat while left-handed on the pitch, but the director eventually allowed him to play right-handed.

He observed actual brain surgery

It’s hard to forget Hannibal’s traumatic scene during which a psychopathic killer, played by Anthony Hopkins, trained Officer Paul Crendler in a brain while the latter was still alive (and more or less conscious)!

At first he was concerned about the scene and hesitated about how to explain this special role, Ray Liotta explained in an interview. QG That at last he imagined that his character had taken painkillers and thus found himself in a trance. Moreover, he also said that he had already had the opportunity to observe the actual brain surgery before making the film:

Before long I was playing the role of a cardiac surgeon in a movie. And I was fascinated by heart surgeries. I was also looking at someone’s brain, their heads were open and they were awake as they were doing surgery on his brain. At the Los Angeles Veterans Hospital. “

Liota did not specify whether he watched the operation on video or was on the spot.

As for the piece of brain that Hannibal gives him during a famous scene to eat, the actor explained that it was actually a piece of dark chicken meat. The food he chose for himself because of the rubbery texture and hard to chew.

As a bonus: he had a big laugh at imitating Jose Garcia

That was in 1994, on the set of the show არსNowhere else Presented by Philip Gildas! In a science-fiction film directed by Martin Campbell for the review of Absolom 2022, Ray Liotta came face to face with Jose Garcia and Antoine de Caune in a sketch prepared by two actors specifically for him.

In tribute FreeGarcia really embodied a somewhat special Robert De Niro in his relationship with Bridget Bardot’s parody. Extremely jealous and angry he continued to be famous “You’re talking to me” And “You are my wife”With reference to the taxi driver and the raging bull. What causes the anthology to laugh at Ray Liotta!