Gilbert Flores/Getty Images; BI
If you work with John Turturro, there's one thing you should never ask him to do: repeat himself.
The seasoned actor's collaborations with legendary directors like Spike Lee and the Coen brothers helped him become one of the most respected performers of his generation. But any director who leans too hard on that prestige and asks Turturro to do a take "like how you did that scene for Spike" or "similar to what you did for the Coens" will quickly be shot down. (And yes, that really happens.)
"When I get that, I tell them, 'Come up with your own idea. That doesn't help me,'" Turturro told Business Insider. "That's someone who hasn't done their homework."
Studying up on Turturro's career is a big assignment of its own. With over 100 acting credits in film and television, he has plenty of standout roles: A playwright with writer's block in "Barton Fink," a racist pizzamaker in "Do the Right Thing," an honorable hustler in "Rounders," and a flamboyant bowler in "The Big Lebowski," to name a few.
Sony Pictures Classics
His latest movie, "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York," in theaters now, features another already iconic Turturro performance. Turturro brings a tender charisma to the aging pickpocket Harry, a man trying to make sense of his profession in a cash-free world.
As with many of his roles over the decades, Turturro crafted the character by paying close attention to his environment.
Business Insider's "Role Play" series features interviews where acting legends revisit their most memorable roles. See more here.
"This guy is carrying a whole world on his back," Turturro said. "The coat he wears — a lot of pickpockets have a nice appearance, but it's armor. There's a samurai element to him. He's a person who has lived a certain amount and is surrounded by a lot of ghosts."
You could say he did his homework.
For the latest installment in Business Insider's "Role Play" series, Turturro discusses working for a Murderers' Row of famous directors, wearing matching cowboy hats with Dennis Hopper, and the type of role he instantly passes on.
On working with 'abusive' directors and watching Bob Dylan argue with Dennis Hopper
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Business Insider: When you started in film in the 1980s, you got to work with amazing directors right away: William Friedkin ("To Live and Die in L.A."), Woody Allen ("Hannah and Her Sisters"), Martin Scorsese ("The Color of Money"), and Michael Cimino ("The Sicilian"). Were you content at that point in your career, or did you have higher aspirations?
John Turturro: I had great aspirations. And a few of the people you mentioned — not Marty — were really rough. They were borderline beyond abusive sometimes. There was a lot of violence done to the actors in those movies.
I mean, you got jacked up against a wall in "To Live and Die in L.A."
Oh, I got jacked up for real.
My father was a builder, so where I came from, if someone did something to someone, even if it was the boss, it got physical. On a movie set, you don't think you have to take it there. But I learned some things from some of those movies, and I realized I wanted to be as free on film as I was on stage.
When I did "Five Corners," which John Patrick Shanley wrote and fought for me to be in, Tony Bill directed it. For me, that was the first time that I really asserted myself, speaking out and saying I'm not going to do certain things. That was the first time, at that stage in my life, that I gave a full performance that really landed the way I wanted it to.
The attention you got in "Five Corners" led to amazing opportunities, like getting cast in the 1990 Dennis Hopper movie "Backtrack" (also known as "Catchfire"). On that movie, you worked with Joe Pesci, Dean Stockwell, and Jodie Foster. But you did a lot of scenes with Hopper. What was that like?
Not many people have seen this one! I didn't know what I got myself into. I changed my character. I made him a nerd hitman, a guy who shouldn't have been in this situation. I would ask Dennis if that was okay, and he would rebel against himself, and go completely against what was on the page.
If you told him what you'd like to do in a scene, he would say [speaks in a Dennis Hopper impersonation], "Man, you want to do it, man? You want to do it? Fuck it, man! Just fuck it!"
So I asked him if I could wear a cowboy hat, because he was wearing one in the scene we were doing together. He said, "Fuck it, you want to wear it? Just wear it, man! Just do it!" He basically said those two words, "Fuck it," all the time. Joe Pesci, he would go, "What a director; he uses two words to get his whole point across."
I never laughed so much in my life. And Bob Dylan is in the movie. He had this welder's helmet on so you couldn't see his face. Dennis didn't want him to wear the helmet. Bob Dylan told him in the makeup trailer, right in front of me [speaks in a Dylan impersonation], "Well, that's my choice, man. That's my choice." And Dennis goes, "Man, these rock and rollers, man, fucking crazy."
I have hundreds of stories from that movie. I liked Dennis a lot.
On finding lifelong collaborators in Spike Lee and the Coen brothers
Universal Pictures
"Do the Right Thing" marked the first time you worked with Spike Lee. You have since starred in eight of his other movies. How did you contribute to the authenticity of "Do the Right Thing"?
Spike also saw me in "Five Corners." I grew up in a Black neighborhood; Spike grew up in an Italian neighborhood. I knew these kinds of guys, so that's why I wanted to play the role of Pino. Once I got comfortable, I added a bunch of things to the role.
Give me an example.
Expressions that people used that Spike maybe hadn't heard. I wanted him to be one of these guys who was frustrated with his life. He had to put down someone who is beneath him. I did a lot of improvisation in the movie — Spike would let me go off. It was a real collaboration.
We rehearsed for three weeks; we were there every day on set for over 10 weeks. We really formed a group. It cemented my friendship with Spike. And what was great is I did the other side of that role in "Jungle Fever." That character was closer to how I grew up.
In 1990, you did your first Coen brothers movie with "Miller's Crossing." You would go on to star in three more.
The Coens knew me already from way back. I went to school with Frances McDormand. They saw me do a lot of plays. They wrote the Bernie character for me, and then they wrote Barton Fink for me.
In one of the most memorable scenes in "Miller's Crossing," your character, Bernie, begs Tom Reagan, played by Gabriel Byrne, not to kill him. Is it true some of that performance came from the personal experience of having a gun pulled on you?
Yeah, that happened. Now, I didn't have to beg for my life like Bernie did, but I had that experience. I felt I could use that. In real life, fortunately, it was a policeman. I was with some friends, and we were in this schoolyard late at night playing basketball, and the policeman got scared and pulled his weapon on us.
As an actor, you draw from everything, and sometimes it works for one take but not for the next take. You have to put your attention on the situation.
20th Century Fox
You brought up "Barton Fink." Do you think you'll ever make the long-rumored sequel, "Old Fink," with the Coens?
I have no idea.
Do you check in with them?
I do, but I don't ask about that, no. I'm sure they are trying to do other things. To survive in this business, I don't care who you are, it's an accomplishment to go on, to get money to do things.
For example, the people who would give us money to do that, those people are not in the business anymore, so it's different. But if Joel and Ethan wrote something, I would do whatever they wanted me to do. They are people that I care about.
On gambling in his career choices and building a character from scratch for Adam Sandler
Sony
I think Knish in "Rounders" is one of your best roles.
A lot of people on the street bring up that role to me. They say, "Knish!"
Listen, it was a good script. I did it, honestly, because I was bartering with Miramax to release another movie they had of mine. Like "Rounders," it was a gamble. But I liked the director, and I thought the script was good. I was editing my second movie, "Illuminata," at the time. I told them I had limited time. But I worked with this guy who was a gambler, a real grinder, and he was helpful for the role. It wasn't a successful movie when it came out; it became successful later on.
I'm not a gambler; I gamble in my work.
A whole generation was introduced to you through the movies you did with Adam Sandler. How did you meet him?
Hosting "Saturday Night Live." He was on the show. He played my brother in one skit. A couple years later, he asked me if I wanted to be in "Mr. Deeds." He offered me the bad guy role, and I said I didn't want to do that. But I said I liked the little roles of the gardener and the butler he had at the time in the script. I told him, "If you combine those roles, maybe."
I also told him I wanted to design the way I look and sound. I want to do it all on my own. And he jumped at that. He said, "I trust you." So in "Mr. Deeds," I designed my costume, my accent, the whole thing. I had a really good time doing it.
In the last decade, has TV brought more interesting roles than movies?
"Severance" has been really fun, but doing "The Night Of," I felt that was one of the best things I've been in. But I still like the two-hour structure of a movie. Sometimes with TV, I always have the fear that they are going to stretch it too far. It makes me nervous, because you don't know what you're committing to. That's the fear. What I'm always looking for is to do something that doesn't repeat what I've done before.
What's an instant no? In your life right now, what are you instantly passing on?
Something that's just violent for violence's sake. I feel like the world has enough of that, and I'm really not interested in that.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
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