The Many Roles of Joe Mantegna- a special Season Finale

Inside Show Business With Joe Mantegna

Speaker 1 0:04

Welcome to the heart of show business . I am your host , alexia Melocchi . I believe in great storytelling and that every successful artist has a deep desire to express something from the heart to create a ripple effect in our society . Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together . Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together . My guests and I want to give you insider access to how the film , television and music industry works . We will cover dreams come true , the road less traveled journey beginnings and a lot of insight and inspiration in between . I am a successful film and television entrepreneur who came to America as a teenager to pursue my show business dreams . Are you ready for some unfiltered , real talk with entertainment visionaries from all over the world ? Then let's roll sound and action . Well , hello everyone Into the heart of show business .

Speaker 1 1:06

I had to have a very special guest for this season . I can't believe it . I think it's season six of my podcast and my season finale had to be a true , real , multi-hyphenate artist , including also the fact that , hey , I'm playing a little favoritism . Is including also the fact that , hey , I'm playing a little favoritism . He's a little bit Italian like me , so I had to bring a little bit of Italian in the show with me is the amazing , the incredible , the one and only Joe Mantegna . I don't even need to go into his bio , people , you can go on IMDb . I mean I could probably take a whole show just like reading all of his credits .

Speaker 1 1:44

I mean he has , I think , more than 100 , if not 200 by now . I mean he's been a Tony nominee , an Emmy nominee , a Golden Globe winner . I mean he's done it all . He worked with David Mamet , he's been in the theater , is basically the person behind the Criminal Minds franchise which is currently running on Paramount Plus into this new incarnation , and he's from Chicago and I have so much to talk to him about . I mean , I don't know , he has a whole new business which we'll talk about . But I'm going to say two things . Two of my favorite things of Joe is A his restaurant that does true Italian Chicago food . I hope it's still there because I ate there in Burbank , if I'm not mistaken . And then my personal work of his in the movies was searching for Bobby Fischer . But that's you know . I know he's done like the Godfather and the whole thing , but searching for Bobby Fischer was one of my favorites . So welcome to my show , joe .

Speaker 2 2:48

Oh , thank you . Great to see you again , Alexia .

Speaker 1 2:52

It's so good to see you , and you know for all of those that , like they're always curious to know , how the hell do you know Joe ? Or how do you know this person ? True , joe and I have not worked together yet Yet . Yet is a big , defined word but we actually met on a project by an Italian director that we were going to do I don't know if you remember Joe called International Departures .

Speaker 1 3:13

And we met on that and we were so close to making it happen . We were immediately simpatico . And then , of course , as it happens in Hollywood , projects fall apart every day of the week . Hopefully it will happen . I haven't given up yet , and that's how he and I met . And then , of course , the whole Italian thing I ate at his restaurant . And so , joe , you are a real immigrant . You are first generation or second generation ?

Speaker 2 3:43

No , no , actually all my grandparents came from Italy , so my parents were born in America , just barely , but they were . So , in other words , and I've been to the I'm very close to my family in Italy still , so I especially on my mother's side . There's a pretty extensive group there in Puglia , and so I've been there many times . They've come here , and my father's side was from Sicily . There's still some relatives there , but many of them left . It was a very small town and many of the young people you know they moved on to other places you know , out of out of Sicily . But I still have some family there as well . So , well , yeah , my parents . So anyway , I still have very strong connections to the old country , as we call it .

Speaker 1 4:28

I know , and I think I saw somewhere on social media , that your daughter just recently went there to visit .

Speaker 2 4:35

Yeah , my youngest daughter , gia , was there just a little over a year ago , visiting a lot of the family there as well . So , yes , especially , like I said , my mother's side , we're very close to my cousins over there . My one cousin owns an agriturismo in a town called Acqua Viva Della Fonte . That's why even my company is called Acqua Viva Productions , which I named after the city that my grandparents came from .

Speaker 1 4:58

Wow , I was wondering about that . And again , you know , when you come from an Italian family , usually people want you to be something and most of the time it's not going to be an artist . So my very important question is what was the moment where you woke up one day and say I have to be on stage , I have to act , I have to pursue this career ?

Speaker 2 5:22

Yeah , well , you know it happened really kind of suddenly , in other words , that there was nothing pointing me toward doing this as a career , being an actor no one in my family , there was no background to it . But it all happened when I auditioned for a play in high school . I was a junior in high school , my third year of high school , and they were doing the play called West Side Story , which was and it was the movie was very popular at the time and I remember seeing the movie and loving the movie and I didn't even realize it was based on a play . I just thought it was a movie . So all of a sudden at my high school they had big signs up saying come audition for the play West Side Story and I was like the play , what play ? It's a movie . And some of the other kids who understood theater said no , no , no , it's a play , it's based on a play . I said wow , they're going to do a play . I mean , maybe I could be in it and play one of those guys . You know , I thought it was such an exciting music the dancing .

Speaker 2 6:13

So I tried out just on a whim and I didn't get cast . I got up on stage , I sang the song , but the moment I sang the song . But the moment I sang the song and I heard this applause coming from the kids that were there auditioning I guess I sounded okay they gave me applause and at that second I guess nobody had ever applauded anything I had done in my life before I was like , oh my God , I really want this , I really want to do this . And then when I found out I wasn't cast , I was devastated and I found out later the only reason I wasn't cast I was kind of too small , but that's a whole other story . My parents put me in school a year before I was supposed to . They changed my birth certificate because my mother had to go back to work . So I was a junior in high school I should have been a sophomore in high school and all the other kids trying out for the play . It was open to the whole district . They had college kids auditioning so I was like 95 pounds and small and they just didn't have a role for me .

Speaker 2 7:11

But I think the director was impressed that I sang the song and my desire to be part of it . So he said please come into my drama class . I want to put you right in my advanced drama class . I said I've never taken a beginner's class . He said come into my drama class . I want to put you right in my advanced drama class . I said I've never taken a beginner's class . He said no , no , no , no . I said I like your enthusiasm and from that moment on I never looked back . I started working in plays in high school and college , junior college and then , professionally and ironically , those two teachers that were so instrumental in my life one just passed away and the other one is in hospice care to teachers at the two high schools in the college in that area to honor them , because there's no way I would have been an actor had it not been for their support , enthusiasm and , you know , over the years , and that's really how I got started .

Speaker 1 8:16

Oh , wow . That is so beautiful and you know what shout out to teachers out there , because it's so true a kind word from a teacher believes in you and believes in your potential .

Speaker 2 8:26

No question .

Speaker 1 8:28

Oh , no question . And I know , of course you became friends with David Mamet , who you know , amazing legend in the world of theater , and I think after that you got to do Glenn Gary , glenn Ross , glenn Gary , Glenn Ross . What is wrong with me today ? Glenn Gary , glenn Ross , in the theater which got you nominated for a Tony , if I'm not mistaken . Glenn Ross . What is wrong with me today , Glengarry Glenn Ross , in the theater with him which got you nominated for a Tony , if I'm not mistaken .

Speaker 1 8:50

Actually , I won the Tony Award for that . Oh well , hello .

Speaker 2 8:52

Which was even better . Yeah , yeah , I did win the Tony Award for that , which certainly helped change my life that much . I've been an actor professionally for about 15 years at that point and I've been doing different things theater , very little film work and TV and a little bit parts . But doing that , not only did I win the Tony Award , the play won the Pulitzer Prize that year , so it really was a perfect . You know , nothing could have been better . Everything came together that 1984 . And that really propelled me to the next level of my career .

Speaker 1 9:26

Wow , and I think it's fascinating when you just mentioned that you auditioned for West Side Story and you were singing , because now I understand your fascination with the Rat Pack , I understand why you got to play Dean Martin , which of course is a Golden Globe and I don't think you're developing also .

Speaker 1 9:44

I read somewhere of course IMDB Pro is your best friend . Think you're developing also right somewhere . Of course imdb pro is your best friend when you're in our business , but I think you're developing something that has to do with the rat pack and the whole history . I don't know if you want to say too much on this well , there's nothing really .

Speaker 2 9:56

The thing is I became very close to dina martin , who is dean martin's daughter , and we've been trying to get something done for a while now , based on a book she wrote about her father . So that would be something . If it's possible , I could perhaps revisit that and play her father again , but of course , in later years you know not now I've got the right hair color that Dean got later on in his life as well . So but anyway , yeah , and also I was in a band for about during the 60s . You know like when I didn't get cast in that play , I did get involved in music and I had a pretty successful band in the Midwest for about five years , which led right up until my first professional job , which was to play hair in 1969 .

Speaker 2 10:42

And so actually my career started doing musicals . I did hair . I did that for about a year and a half . I did Godspell for about a year and a half . I did the musical Working on Broadway and I have two songs on that album that James Taylor wrote . So the show wasn't a huge success , but we did cut the cast album and if you get that cast album you can find it . I have two of the songs on there that James Taylor wrote . So I kind of thought my career was going to go that direction . I kind of thought maybe I would be a musical comedy actor but it was working , actually with David Mamet that for the most part that experience with Glenn Gary turned my career to another direction and I kind of really never really did another musical .

Speaker 1 11:27

Yeah , it's so fascinating because here I hear about you and your love for music and then I read about you also that you're a huge baseball fan as well . So there goes the sports thing . Funny story , and I don't know if you had read about it we were developing the biopic of Joe Pepitone , without yeah , of course he was quite a character , I don't know yeah , I got to know him a little bit too because he played for the Chicago Cubs for a while , which was my favorite team . Yeah that's right . That's right .

Speaker 1 11:58

You know he was a train wreck , but but he also had like an incredible life story and we had a magazine that wrote about it and you know he just passed away and we're still trying to get over the hurdles of you know , those licenses with the baseball league and all of those things , Because that's usually the things that hold up is illegal on any project . When you're dealing with life rights and you're putting people like you know , mickey Mantle and Frank Sinatra , and then you have to deal with all of the trust and everything is quite an adventure . Good thing you're friends with Dean Martin's daughter . That's a good thing .

Speaker 2 12:32

Right .

Honoring Veterans and Supporting Charities

Speaker 1 12:33

Going also to your charitable and volunteerism and philanthropic work . Of course you are very passionate about veterans and honoring them . You are very passionate about veterans and honoring them . I know you just were once again a presenter at the show that we do every year honoring our veterans . What is your connection to honoring all of those that serve our country ?

Speaker 2 13:00

Well , as it turned out I mean , a lot of my family was involved in the military . My mother , all four of her brothers , fought in World War II . My father's brother fought in World War II , the only reason my father didn't . He was hospitalized all during World War II with tuberculosis , which is something that plagued him all his life and he actually died fairly young from it . But they all came back . In other words , they all came back and then I was born after World War II , not long after . So it wasn't like Memorial Day , wasn't that special a holiday for me , because I knew my family . Many of them had been involved in the military , but no one died in the wars . But it was later .

Speaker 2 13:39

It was 2002 , when my dear friend , charles Durning the actor who was a military , had been a Silver Star recipient himself in World War II asked me to do this Memorial Day concert in Washington DC with him . That year and it was Memorial Day I thought , well , this will be interesting , go to Washington , do this concert . I had to read this part of the you know , do this dramatic reading on stage . He said there's a big crowd shows up . He didn't tell me something like 200,000 people show up for this concert . Wow , I did it that year of 2002 , that concert and it really it affected me greatly because there , here , it was Memorial day 9-11 had just happened prior to that . So my job , that at that concert , was to read the words of four New York firemen who had lost their sons in 9-11 . And I'm on stage with 200,000 people in front of me and on these movie screens they're showing planes flying into the World Trade Center and behind me the Washington Symphony Orchestra is playing Mozart's Requiem and I'm having to read words of like it's a good day when they find piece of your son's uniform in the rubble and the music's playing . And it was all I could do to get through it . And I'm thinking to myself . I'm not being an actor today , I'm recounting history . You know they asked me to do this to tell the story , but it was like this happened . This is life , this is truth . So that got me .

Speaker 2 15:06

From that point on , I knew this was something very special . So when they asked me to come back the next year , I said , of course I will . And then the third year , the host had been Ozzie Davis , the wonderful actor Ozzie Davis . He passed away . They asked me if I would take over as host . I agreed . I asked I wanted to bring in my dear friend Gary Sinise , who was another actor who was very involved with the military . I've now been .

Speaker 2 15:30

This was my 23rd year now doing it this past concert . Gary has been hosting it with me for like 19 of the 23 years once I brought him in . So it's it's , it's really the most important thing I do every year , because it's it's as I say every year . I say Memorial Day is the most important holiday we have in this country . A lot of people may not think that , but it is because without it we couldn't have any other holiday . In other words , if this country didn't exist , if we didn't have the independence , we had the constitution , if we wouldn't have fought for our freedom back in the 1776 , there would be no United States of America .

Speaker 2 16:06

And the only thing that defends it is our military every year . I mean , we're not perfect , you know , we're still a young country based on the rest of this planet , but I still think you read our constitution and the fact that every four years we try to , you know , get out there and vote and we do things that a lot of other countries wish they could do . They wish they had freedom of the press , they wish they had freedom of speech . You know we try to . You know that's pretty sacred to us and sometimes we have problems , but we overcome them . So , anyway , that's why I'm so enthusiastic about supporting our military .

Speaker 2 16:42

And then you say the thing about philanthropic . I mean , my oldest daughter has autism . She's 37 years old . She lives with us , she's a beautiful , wonderful young woman , but and I have the capability you know being , you know , in the work I've done in my life that I can support her , take care of her . Many people can't do that . So , again , I also support , you know , charitable foundations and groups that help . You know , special needs . You know , people , young people and adults . So that's all . I feel very lucky and blessed to be able to do that and that's all . Why wouldn't I ? So that's all .

Speaker 1 17:21

Well , I love what you said because you know I think beyond the fact , obviously , how wonderful our country is . I'm a huge said because you know I think beyond the fact , obviously , how wonderful our country is . I'm a huge patriot , even though I'm a , you know , a total immigrant . You know I was born in Italy . But I mean , if you tell me , jump ship for Italy and just like , go for us , like always , I always choose us first but at the same time , I'm very true to my roots , as you are , I mean you a sister and for that reason , with your wife .

Speaker 1 17:46

And what I found fascinating is this country was made of immigrants , was created by immigrants , and I was recently at the Italian America Museum downtown , as I'm sure you have visited , and I'm finding out that the Italians were the second most lynched population after the African-Americans . I'm finding out the great struggles that Italians have had coming . I found out that you know a lot of the contribution of what makes America great are done by Italians . And I was wondering , growing up in Chicago , which has a huge Italian community , were you ever stereotyped because of your last name , were you ?

Speaker 2 18:29

ever lead yeah , not so much only because we grew . I grew up in a pretty strong italian american neighborhood . So in other words , we , we as people , did more back then . I mean , you know , people would congregate , tend to be , but yet it was pretty mixed too . I mean we had the ir , we had the Mexican , we had Spanish , we had Polish . You know a lot of a lot of . Especially , chicago has a huge Polish population Lithuanian , bohemian , czechoslovak . My wife's Czechoslovakian , she's from there . So so that's so much .

Speaker 2 19:01

But that stereotype , of course , has always existed for every nationality and for every religious group or whatever it may be . And we just like to think . As we go along , we become more educated , people start to understand and realize , you know , it is what that is . And so I mean , look , as an actor , you know I've played roles where , of course , I've played . You know , talk about Godfather III , the Last

From Acting to Tequila

Speaker 2 19:27

Don . I played Fat Tony on the Simpsons .

Speaker 2 19:29

I played mafia characters , but they existed . These are real , it's not pretend . Many of them were Italian Americans , that's okay . But also , on the other hand , 18 years now , criminal Minds has been on the air . I played an Italian American FBI person In Woody Allen's film . He asked me what kind of character I made him an Italian-American FBI person In Woody Allen's film . He asked me what kind of character I made him an Italian-American .

Speaker 2 19:50

When I did the series Joan of Arcadia , I made that character Italian-American . When I played a character who was on the Supreme Court in the series First Monday with James Garner , I made that character Italian-American . So my point being this I wanted to always balance the scales yes , I'll play characters of a guy who was in the mafia because , yeah , those people existed and I'm Italian-American . If I'm not going to play the role , why should I have an Irish guy play an Italian-American in the role I said ? But , on the other hand , when given the opportunity to play positive role models , positive characters , I'm also going to make them Italian-American . To show we're all just people doesn't have nothing to do with our personality or our religion as to what kind of person we are , you know , and so that that's what's important .

Speaker 1 20:34

I absolutely love what you just said , that we're all just people , as you know and I think I had sent you an email about that and we'll talk about this off the podcast but I'm producing the series called America , which is all about the first Italian American , I mean Italian families , coming into America , and one of the things that the author of the book had said to me which impressed me from day one is he said people think that Italians are people who are either mobsters or own restaurants , and we are so much more than that , not to say anything .

Speaker 2 21:03

Also , let me just add this , just to clear this up we , unfortunately we don't own the restaurant anymore . We did finally after 16 years , but only because my we were done . In other words , it's a very tough business and my wife you know it was her business he worked very hard , it was fabulous . We have wonderful memories and , as it turned out , when she decided to said you know what , it's just becoming so much work and and we loved it , but but let's , it's time to move on , I said fine , we'll just , we'll close . As it turned out , we closed it about six months before COVID happened . Oh wow , and so it really would have been pretty difficult to continue anyway . So it was called Taste Chicago , was in Burbank . We did it for 16 years . Yeah , it was . It was a wonderful experience , but it was time to move on . You know , it wasn't a restaurant business was great , but it's not my day job .

Speaker 1 21:50

And so it was a wonderful memory . Lasagna , though , and you had like the real .

Speaker 2 21:54

Oh yeah , well , she's still we still make the food , but it's all it's . Yeah , it's all , it's all at home .

Speaker 1 22:01

I'm coming over and Joe , so of course you know it brings me of course to Senor Rio , because you are a multi-hyphenate and you know it's evident that you love to do lots of things . You are primarily an artist . So what again , I don't want to stereotype , but what somebody Italian-American do you think that would get involved in the wine business ?

Speaker 2 22:25

But here you are with tequila so well , yeah , this is well , it's . It was really no , nothing more than this . What had happened is I have a , we have , I have a mutual friend with this woman , uh , who owned the company and his name was jack maxwell . He had a tv series called the booze traveler and he would travel around the world and like he'd be like , let's say , he'd go to portugal and say this is where they make port , and he would travel around the world and like he'd be like , let's say he'd go to Portugal and say this is where they make port , and he would tell talk about it , go visit a place where they make . But that was his show . It's a very interesting show . He traveled all around the world but he knew this woman named Debbie Medina who owned this tequila company called Señor Rio , with her husband in Arizona right .

Speaker 2 23:03

Yeah , she lives in Arizona , but her father was Mexican . But she never knew her father when she was born . Her father basically left when she was a baby . She never knew who he was . And then , when she was an adult now she meets this young man . They're about to get married , they're engaged . He gets a phone call from Mexico saying I'm your father , I tracked you down , I want to see you . Her attitude was it's too late . I'm you know . I'm like . Whatever she was , she was in her 20s at the time , middle 20s , I'm not interested . But her husband-to-be said look , this is a chance to meet your birth father . Let's go down there , I'll go with you , we'll go to Mexico , I'll go with you , we'll go to Mexico , let's hear his story . So they go , they go to Mexico , they meet him .

Speaker 2 23:48

He's a simple man . He tells his whatever and , as he's explaining kind of what's happened in his life , they're drinking this tequila that he makes . You know he personally makes it . It's been in his family for three generations . They're drinking it out of , like you know , coke bottles . It was homemade . When they finished this , her and the boyfriend and her fiance they say well , look , we kind of understand . Now I've made kind of amends with my father Maybe we can do something with this tequila and of course the father was pleased . The least I could do was help you with that . Let me teach you how this is done . It's the real stuff , made from the pure agave , no additives , no sugar , no . Da da da , sugar , no . And and his name was rodrigo , so they named it senor rio and that's it , and on the cover he would have a bottle back here . I got one back here .

Speaker 1 24:34

I'm like oh yeah , I love that this is his .

Speaker 2 24:36

Uh , this is his logo . That's on the front . You see , that's , that's , that's rodrigo , and this is the tequila , anyway . So she , she , she , she starts the company with her husband . They , they , they started . For 15 years it was going there . They started selling it out of their back , the trunk of their car . Then , all of a sudden , the total , the total wine stores throughout the United States pick it up . They're selling it .

Speaker 2 25:02

Well , of course , rodrigo passes away her father , but unexpectedly her husband passes away , debbie's husband passes , and now they had a daughter . They've had a daughter , an adult daughter who had two children of her own . Both her children are handicapped , they're twins and they have autism , they have a thing called angel something syndrome . I mean , it's terrible . They don't have speech , they're in wheelchairs . So here's Debbie now running this tequila company , all by herself , with these handicapped grandchildren , not knowing what to do . And so she meets , runs into her friend , jack Maxwell , and she says Jack , do you know anybody in Hollywood that might want to go into business with me to help bring the company maybe to the next level ? Because he so believed in the product too . Well , jack , god bless him . He suggested me and so I said well , let me go meet with this woman .

Speaker 2 26:00

And I met with Debbie down in Arizona and I loved everything about her and what she was about , and tequila itself , the fact that it was from this family recipe of three generations . It was pure , it wasn't at , you know , it was , it was you know . She explained to me the whole thing . I said let's give it a shot , why not ? I mean , you know , let's see what we can do . And this was just a little over a year ago and I've been visiting stores all around the country signing bottles and it's just . It's been a wonderful experience .

Speaker 2 26:25

And , as I told her at the time , I said the only person that I need the final approval of is my wife . I've been with my wife for over 50 years . I said she's got to embrace this as much as I do . But once my wife met Debbie and heard her story , she felt the same way . So now we're my daughter .

Speaker 2 26:44

In fact does a lot of the publicity for it . We , we . It's become a you know another side to my , my life in a way , and we're just trying to do our best to build a brand up to help Debbie and her family , and let's just see what happens . For me it's , yes , it's , it's . It's not my day job , but I'm something I'm proud of . I'm now part of the owner of the company and we'll see what happens . You know , I mean because I believe in the product . Again , I really feel that anybody who understands tequila and also we make this thing called Cafe Elegancia . It's a coffee liqueur which is kind of like a . It's like a , it's like a Kahlua , it's like but it's . But it's so much better because it's got a tequila base to it . But when people taste that , they go oh , my god give me two bottles of that too .

Speaker 2 27:30

You know kind of thing but anyway , well , that's my , that's my life . Is a , is a , is a , is a tequila owner now as an entrepreneur and a multi-hyphenate .

Speaker 1 27:38

No , I can see the synergy because I read about this lady and I saw that she's also very active in her community and she's trying to help within her community .

Speaker 2 27:47

She does . Every time we sell a bottle , one dollar goes to her foundation and helps against special needs , which is again with the military is my hot button as well .

Speaker 1 27:57

Wow , that's amazing . That's beautiful . Well , I'm going to giving some good advice to all those aspiring artists , those people that they want to make it as filmmakers , writers , producers , actors . So , first thing is , what has been your biggest challenge in the business ?

Speaker 2 28:17

You know , that's difficult to say because I really have to say to myself there's no big challenge that I can , because I believe in this . I didn't have a plan B , this is all I knew what to do . In other words , if it hadn't worked out , I was a photographer . I made a living as taking photos of other actors and stuff for a while because somebody taught me how to do that and I enjoyed it because I made my own hours . It was like it was an art form and if I had to keep doing that and still pursue an acting career , my guess is I would have been okay . I was paying the bills , it was okay , but I never felt . You know , life is tough anyway . So I mean , I don't think anybody gets . I live by the motto everybody has a story and nobody gets a free ride . So in other words , I don't care who you are , you can be the most powerful , important , you know popular person in the world . You dig deep enough . They're going to tell you a story that makes you go . Oh , maybe I don't want to trade places with you . So my feeling feeling is I can't . Anything that was a difficulty was just . It's just an . There's going to be obstacles in your life , no matter what you do , no matter what your profession is , no matter what it is , but long as you love what you do and keep pursuing it , yes , it's okay . And that's why I tell people like I'll talk to you know , young groups of young people , especially aspiring people in show business I say and this is the truth I say I don't enjoy what I do now any more than I did when I did it in high school . In other words , yes , I get paid , I get paid very well , I've made a very successful career out of it , but I don't enjoy it one bit more , but I also don't enjoy it one bit less . In other words , the joy I get from it now is the same as I got back in high school , when you could see me do a play for 25 cents , you know , in high school . But the way I loved it then I love it now . That didn't change . It wasn't like , oh , I make more money now , so I like it better . No , I like it the same . And I think if you could look at athletes even I think if you talk to like , let's say , a Michael Jordan in basketball say what was , was it the best time when you won all those championships with the Chicago Bulls . I think he would probably say it was wonderful , but no better than when I won college or when I played it in high school or when I played it with my friends . You know , and I think it's the same thing .

Speaker 2 30:41

It's a long answer to your question , but there's . You say what is the most difficult obstacle ? I don't know . You know there's been . We all have obstacles in our lives . So it's like that old saying I don't care how many times you fall , it's . What's important is do you get up , do you stand up ?

The Actor's Art and Philosophy

Speaker 1 30:59

and keep going . You , I love what you just said , joe , because I was just at the produced by conference of the pga last saturday at fox studios and you know we had a panel with charles rovan , who of course did oppenheimer , and he said 20 years it took me to make oppenheimers . And he said just now I've had a project for 40 years , four zero , and I just got the green light for it now . And I think because everybody has to love what they're doing , whether you are sewing a skirt , whether you're making coffee , whether you have a pizza place , whether you're playing basketball or you're being exactly it's you gotta love what you do and it's it's the best answer .

Speaker 1 31:39

And I always say to those filmmakers you're gonna get rejected even when you are those filmmakers . You're going to get rejected even when you are a movie star , you're an Oscar winning producer or director .

Speaker 2 31:46

Rejection is part of it you know , right , you have to have a thick skin , but you just keep going . You know , because , as I said , I had no other alternative . I mean , I still enjoyed what I was doing , you know , and , like I said , it didn't matter what level I was doing it , I enjoyed the process . And if I ever stopped that I think I was hopefully I would say to myself I hope I'm smart enough to say this isn't working out , I don't , I'm not enjoying this anymore , I have to do something else . But that never quite happened . There were times it got like , oh , this isn't difficult , but I , you know , it worked out . So you keep keep going .

Speaker 1 32:22

I love it . I love it . And for those that are always pursuing you know the name actors , the name directors , the name writers is there something for you , as an actor , whenever you're getting a project that comes either through friends , agents , managers , or you read about it ? Is there some special formula that makes you say yes to something ? Is it something gut instinct ? It's what on the page ? What is it ? What is that ?

Speaker 2 32:51

Yeah , you know it is all those things , though to tell you the truth , I mean , in other words , you know , you do things early on . I always tell young people too , I say , early on in your career , you can almost do everything because you get the experience . In other words , if you're given the opportunity and it's not going to embarrass you or it's not going to be dangerous , if you're given the opportunity to do something , go ahead and do it , because you may learn something from you never know . I mean , look , I did plays back in Chicago with David Mamet when he was nobody and you know , because I liked him and I liked kind of what he wrote , we would do this stuff together . We didn't know that the both of us together would kind of go on to you know other things .

Speaker 2 33:32

So the point is you just you know you do the work , you do the work and then hope for the best , and I know there have been times I remember you mentioned Searching for Bobby Fisher when I read that script . When my agent sent me the script , I read it . I went oh my God , unless I'm kidding myself , this is one of the best scripts I've ever written or ever read . And I remember I was at a party for , I think , the movie Bugsy that I had also done with Ben Kingsley .

Speaker 1 33:59

Oh Bugsy .

Speaker 2 34:00

Bugsy with Warren Beatty . So I was at a party for it because the movie was just coming out and I remember Ben Kingsley . I had heard that Ben Kingsley had been offered a role in searching for Bobby Fisher as well . So I was sitting next to him at this event and I said Ben , did you get the script searching for Bobby Fisher ? He goes , yes . I said what did you think of it ? He goes . I think it was one of the finest scripts I've ever read . I said okay , I guess I'm not kidding myself . I said I thought so too . I said of course I'm accepting the role because he said so am I ? And so of course we both made the movie together .

Speaker 2 34:34

So after , sometimes even later on , you start to not that you doubt yourself . But you wonder god , am I ? This is yeah , I think this is great . Of course I'll do this . But sometimes you , you know , you even question yourself . But it's like reading a book , though you read a good book if you can keep reading it and you say , boy , I really like this , you know it . If after the sixth page , you just say to yourself I just can't , I just it's just , it's not doing it for me to lay it down . It's it no different with a script . Yeah .

Speaker 1 35:01

I love what you said and I always say to the writers write for the characters , not for the story , because ultimately the story can be great , but if the characters are not there , the actors are going to say no , but you could have a semi-mediocre story .

Speaker 1 35:16

But if the roles are popping and they're original and they're something that acts is going to oh , I can , it's clay into a beautiful David , that's when somebody is going to say yes . I always tell everybody he wants to do this because it's going to make a hundred . When I act , I just want to act . Yes , if you've got a Marvel movie , you get paid a million dollars .

Speaker 1 35:42

You're probably going to say yes because of course it's good , it helps pay the bills it helps right do everything that you want to be able to say , but actors , ultimately they want to work with good quality projects . So , whether they're small films or big films , it doesn't . They have to like the what's on the page . They have to like the vision of the filmmaker , which I'm sure you also have a say into . Whether it's , even if it's an unknown director , you have to have a bit of connection with what he's right and , and it's very simple , you know , oh gosh , this , we could do this forever .

Speaker 1 36:15

honestly , I will keep you here for another hour , but I do know your time is precious , so I'm going to go straight to what I warned you .

Speaker 2 36:23

Okay .

Speaker 1 36:24

You can choose both windows , okay , you ? Know some people want to do both , but I would say how do ? You define yourself in three words . And then , what is a life mantra that you use in life , not just as an actor ? To you know , have you enjoy the time that we have on this planet ?

Speaker 2 36:42

Yeah , well , that's true . Okay , well , I'll answer that one first . The second one the time on the planet , I mean , I think it's I'm 76 years old , so I mean , I'm not kidding myself . I figure , if I'm lucky I'm in my last quarter . You know Now my mother lived to be 101 , so thank god , hopefully I have some good genes that way .

Speaker 2 37:05

Uh , and she didn't die sick , she just stopped . You know , that was that . But she had a and she had a wonderful philosophy of life and I think maybe that helped , and maybe that's part of this answer as well , because I think of my mother . My mother , she lived her life , but anything that was of not too much importance , in other words too much , that wasn't going to be catastrophic . She just kind of let you know .

Speaker 2 37:32

And , like it's funny , when she passed away my brother got up and spoke first at the funeral and said my brother Joey talking about me , my brother Joey doesn't even know this , but when he got the series Criminal Minds , our mother called him and she was probably in her , you know , late 80s , at the time 90 . She called my brother and said Ronnie , I'm worried about Joey , and my brother said why ? And my my mother said he's only working an hour a week and it's because people would tell her if they wanted . She wanted to see me to go every Wednesday , go to television , put on channel CBS , and she could see me because she knew I'd been an actor all these years but she never quite understood it and so she always would go to the movies because sometimes she'd be in the plays . But she figured I was always working all the time and making money . But now she figures he's on there every wednesday . How good she could see you . Maybe I send him twenty dollars .

Speaker 2 38:28

You know , I'm thinking that attitude . I'm thinking how could I feel so serious about my , my , my life and my career when my own mother isn't even sure what I do ? For you know , and doesn't ? She just cares about my children , her grandchildren and stuff like that , and God bless her . So to me that's the right attitude of life to have in a way . You know , she was a wonderful woman , hardworking . My father was sick most of his life , but you know , but she was there . They created a life for my brother and I . My brother's a wonderful human being . He's got his daughter and his grandchild are actually visiting me here this week , in fact , here in California .

Speaker 2 39:10

And so now to get to the three words , then I would say this when I was growing up , there was always people used to make the phrase tall , dark and handsome . Have you heard that You're always looking for somebody who's tall , dark and handsome ? I always used to say to them they say because I was asked this once before , if you could define yourself in three words , what would it be ? And I said tall , dark and happy Because I mean , not that I'm that tall , I'm six foot , but I mean in show business you find out a lot of people are actually a little shorter than that anyway .

Speaker 2 39:39

Uh , so I said tall , dark and happy because I am a little , you know I am . I do have a somewhat of a , I would say an olive complexion being , uh , my heritage . So I can't think of three better words maybe to hopefully describe myself because I am happy . I really try to think look , we all have , like I said , we , I . I feel that you play the cards you're dealt in life and I feel I've been dealt a very , very good hand and I'm very happy with that and I feel very blessed . I got nothing to complain about .

Speaker 1 40:08

You are a very special human being and I love what you said about your mom . That's such an inspiring story . It reminds me of Dino De Laurentiis , who I was great friends with , and you know he passed away peacefully , he wasn't sick . He saw the soccer game of Lazio in the afternoon , and then he says I'm going to go upstairs and take a nap , and he never came back down .

Speaker 2 40:31

God bless him . I know him a little bit . I did two movies with him . I did a movie called Weeds that he did , and I did the movie called weeds that he did , and I did the one with Madonna a body of evidence . And so Dino , I got to know him a little bit and he was always great . It throws on around me . I think this movie is going to be very good . God bless him .

Speaker 1 40:55

God bless him , but I'm going . What a way to go , you know .

Speaker 2 40:58

Exactly , that's the way to go , exactly .

Speaker 1 41:01

And I love also what your mom . Your mom said is my grandfather used to say the saying in greek because you know , I'm half greek and he'll say the body . I say the body . Yes , it means don't get bored , which means don't get bored with your own drama you know exactly right the same old , same old and it almost exactly right even to ourselves . So he's's like nobody wants it . It's like almost like you know who cares .

Speaker 1 41:23

Right , right , love that . What a great conversation , joe . It's been so fabulous to have you on my show . Thank , you .

Speaker 2 41:29

It's been my pleasure , my pleasure .

Speaker 1 41:31

We'll have to do it again sometime , okay , yes , yes , please , and anybody who wants to look Joe's amazing body of work of course tune in to see criminal minds on paramount .

Speaker 2 41:45

But you know , check out the tequila , it's I haven't , yes , but do check it out yeah , yeah , yeah . Go out total wines in us , all the total wine stores throughout the united states .

Speaker 1 41:51

They have it yeah , support , because you know the money is going to a good cause as well . Exactly , and follow his career . Go to his website . He's even got a gun show I saw on yeah the outdoor channel it's called gun stories .

Speaker 2 42:05

We trace historical firearms . I've been doing that for 14 years and it's like a niche kind of show for people , but it's it's just historical . It's very interesting because every country in the world has history about it and we've done the guns of annie oakley , we've done the stuff about the blunderbuss that the pirates used to use . Anyway , I've enjoyed doing that as well .

Speaker 1 42:25

See the true mother hyphenate , joe Mantegna , the heart of show business . He's all heart , as I am . For those of you who enjoyed listening to me ramble on , as I usually do , italian style , or my amazing guests , please do subscribe . Rate review . I always say I make zero money on this , but I do love to give back to the community , so please make sure to follow us , continue to listen to these incredible words of wisdom and inspiration from amazing Hollywood legends like Joe and ciao a tutti , ciao .

Speaker 2 42:59

Bella .

Speaker 1 43:00

Ciao . Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Heart of Show Business . If you enjoyed it , please share it with a friend . You can also subscribe , rate and review the show on your favorite podcast player . If you have any questions or comments or feedback for us , you can reach me directly at theheartofshowbusinesscom .