"Yeah, I did, I didn't know that was going to happen, actually, til I got to New York and I was sitting in my room, phone rings, like, "Hello?", "Hey, is this Mike?", and I'm like, "Who wants to know?" ya know what I mean, a voice like that..., "Listen just be at so-and-so place." and I'm like, "Who is this?" and they hang up, and it's like, well, shoot, I guess I better go, ya know? So we go, and I go to this place and suddenly I see Johnny [Depp] coming around the corner, and I say "What the hell are you doing here?" and he goes, "What the hell are you doing here?" and so I guess he got the same call, right? They'd pick us up and they'd drive us around and they'd take us in Brooklyn and bring us around to different social clubs and we'd sit around with them and talk about all kinds of stuff. Some of them used to know Sonny and some of them used to know Donnie and they were as fascinated by us as we were by them. I think we all just liked to hang around and talk about stuff and they liked to...we had a lot of questions, they were pretty free with their information, but they would only go so far, you know, they're not gonna start giving away trade secrets, but it was interesting to hear a lot of things they had to say, it helped me quite a bit with my character, and I've been invited to become a member of the mafia if I ever give up acting, which I thought was kinda fun."
2.ram-Mafia pictures
3.ram-His role in Pretty Boy Floyd
4.ram-The Dark roles he plays
5.ram-Why he might want to get away from the darker roles
6.ram-The Reservoir Dogs phenomenon
Killit.wav-From Species
Fndrat.wav-From Donnie Brasco
"I think it's a funny thing, ya know, you think about movies like The Godfather and different gangster pictures I think they kinda glorify the whole lifestyle and in one way it's very true and very colorful and it's like that and in another way it's really not like that at all. And I think they like the films that have been made about them because it glamourizes everything and in another way I think that they would like to be understood as maybe deserving a little bit more respect than they... I mean, because they're really not a bad bunch, you know, I'm not suggesting that selling narcotics or uh, these kind of activities... but their code of ethics with each other is compelling, kind of admirable even.
"Well, not really, it's been kinda, I don't think it's been done correctly, I don't think it's ever been done right, I've got a couple of books, and I've got a lot of information on him and I've also been in contact with Charlie's son, Jack, and he has personally said that he wants me to play his Dad, and I thought that was kind of a good endorsement. And there is a lot of things about Charlie that people don't know and the way that he died and his story, and you think about the Dillinger movie that ? made with ?, I mean it's a total fabrication, you've got Dillinger and Floyd and Bonnie and Clyde, they're all running around together, I mean those guys never hung around with each other, they were in different parts of the country, robbing banks, they weren't together, it's all, they got their machine guns and they're shooting everybody, you know, there's a lot more to Charlie, it's a lot bigger story and a lot more interesting than it's ever been done before. Because if it had been done well and right before I wouldn't want to do it, the only reason I'm trying to do it is because I want to do it right, once and for all. And it's kind of a fascinating character, and I'm drawn to it for some reason."
"I don't know if I'm drawn to them or they're drawn to me, I don't know, I don't seek them out, I just think the times that I've played more darker people seem to be more remembered and thought of than the times that I've played some one that was not. And cuz I've done plenty of guys who aren't dark or threatening. But nobody seems to care much about those performances, so, it's strange, I don't know, I think I'd make a great Batman to be honest with you."
"Well sometimes there is a residual effect that you're not immediately aware of until you finish the picture, I mean it's not like you're walking down the street and all of a sudden you're going to smack somebody because you just got done doing a movie, I mean, it's just like a psychological thing that kinda hangs with you a little bit sometimes when you play somebody like that, a twelve or fourteen week shoot, and it's impossible for it not to happen to you if you take what you do seriously, and it's also, you know, I have three sons, you know, I've got a seven year old son, a three year old son, and a two year old son, and it's like, you know, what kind of pictures do I want my boys to be looking at, and you know, "That's Daddy," you know what I'm saying, I mean, you know, what I mean by not wanting to go there, is like, why should I? I've done it, there's not a lot of good product out there."
"It was very surprising to me, certainly, I didn't ever... the whole Reservoir Dogs phenomenon is kinda bizarre. When we were making the picture I certainly didn't know, and neither did anybody else that that was going to happen. And in a way it's kinda interesting and it's kind of, I guess I'm some kind of cult figure or something, I see myself on key chains and T-shirts and if you go and see Reservoir Dogs at the Beverly Theater, it plays like every midnight, every Saturday or something for the past couple of years... You go in there and the people watching the movie, they know the dialogue, they say the dialogue back to the screen, and no matter how many films I make, no matter what kind of character I play people always recognize me, remember me, or want to talk to me about Reservoir Dogs, and it's very curious to me, because I didn't really think that the film was that violent, I thought it was a lot more psychologically violent and it makes you wonder what's going on in people's minds because you don't really see that much in the picture, it's a lot of implied things, and so, I think, it's an interesting picture, there's no doubt about it, and it blew the door open for independent film makers, that's for sure, and I think in that way I'm proud of it because it had that effect and if somebody wants to do an homage to me or the film, that's fine."
"You made her...The damn thing got away...Now you want us to kill it."
"You know what to do when you find that rat, right Left?"
