INTERVIEW WITH JOE MANTEGNA
SOAK October 2005
y: Vince Burgio and Sunny Bredice
SOAK MAGAZINE October 2005
After spending some time with Chicago native, Joe Mantegna, you come away realizing he is proud to be an American, proud to be of Italian heritage, proud to be a productive working actor and proud to be a family
man. It strikes us he would happily embrace whatever his lot in life.
When asked about his many major accomplishments, including an impressive list of Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and awards, Mantegna shrugs it off as just doing his job and having fun as he does it.
As you read his answers to our questions, you will probably come away, as we did, very moved by his simplistic, honest approach.
We asked Joe about his love for baseball and, modestly, he admits his love was mostly one-way, in that, he was a good ballplayer, but never major-league material. It was a twist of fate which turned Mantegna’s
attention in a new direction and led him to a successful career in show business.
When we caught up with Mantegna at his family-owned restaurant, Taste Chicago, in Burbank, CA, he had just returned from this year’s annual National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., where more than
300,000 people gathered to honor the sacrifices of America's veterans – an event which Mantegna now has the distinct honor of hosting as successor to the late Ossie Davis.
SOAK: Joe, you’re from Chicago, do you still have family there?
JM: I have quite a bit of family there.
SOAK: If we saw you in Chicago, in which restaurant would you most likely be eating?
JM: Mr. Beef would be one of them.
SOAK: Do you own part of it?
JM: No, but that’s part of the reason we own a beef stand because I love that kind of food, I grew up with that.
SOAK: I know you’re a big Cub fan; did you get invited to the clubhouse at Wrigley?
JM: Yeah, I know them all pretty well. Rod Santo, the old player, I co-produced a documentary on his life called “This Old Cub” that’s just recently been out.
SOAK: How about your favorite cubby, would it be Rod Santo?
JM: I was younger when I first got hooked into Ernie Banks, so he’ll always be my hero, but Santo would be close second.
SOAK: When [Tommy] Lasorda was the manager [of the Dodgers] were you always invited to the clubhouse?
JM: I did a movie about baseball called “Comrades of Summer,” I played and ex-major league ball player. Lasorda acted as my technical advisor so I would spend time at Dodger Stadium with him, and he was great.
I love Tommy.
SOAK: Tell us about your own experience as a baseball player?
JM: I played up till I was about 19, then I got into a collision with another outfielder and I was hospitalized for three days, I was knocked silly and I had partial amnesia. I lost three months of my life. It happened in June
of that year, and when I came to, I thought it was February, and it never came back. I wasn’t seriously hurt, but that was really the last game I played because the writing was on the wall, I wasn’t really that good, but I got
clocked and that took care of that season.
Mantegna eventually regained his memory; what he did not regain, however, was the notion that he should continue to pursue a career in baseball. Instead, almost as if a greater power, with bigger things in store, had
knocked some sense into his head, Joe began to become more serious about a career in acting.
SOAK: Do you have a favorite past or present project, character, role?
JM: Doing the role in “Glengarry, Glen Ross” of Richard Roma really changed my life. I originated the role on Broadway and won the Tony Award. The show won the Pulitzer Prize and, after 15 years of banging
around as an actor, that role really kind of launched the 2nd half of my career to the present day. So that role will always be very special to me. Playing Dean Martin in “The Rat Pack” turned out to be such a great thrill
and a wonderful experience. I loved doing that. All the movies with David Mamet I enjoyed doing. I feel fortunate working with some great directors like Woody Allen, Barry Levinson, Coppola, so all those experiences
are special, but, you know, but I like it all. I feel real lucky to do what I do.
SOAK: As far as the mediums, stage, television, movies, do you have a preference?
JM: I came from the theater and I would tend to think anybody that’s done it all probably has a fondness for the theater because there’s nothing to replace that live performance. Fortunately, I’ve done a good cross-
section of it all, from T.V. to feature films, I do books-on-tape. I’m not afraid to try anything.
SOAK: You’ve avoided being typecast as an Italian-American, has that required any effort on your part?
JM: Somewhat. I’ve certainly played my share of the specific kinds of roles that Italian-Americans often get into. I mean, I was in Godfather III, I did “The Last Don,” I play “Fat Tony” on the “Simpsons,” and I love that.
On the other hand, I’ve always thought of myself as a character actor so, if I’m offered really good and interesting other roles, I’m going to jump at it.
And there have been instances where I’ve changed the character and made him an Italian-American character for no other reason than to help balance out the kind of negative Italian-American characters that are played
in certain things. It’s no accident than when I did the series “First Monday” I played a member of the Supreme Court, I named him after my grandfather – the character’s name was [Justice] Joseph Novelli – it wasn’t
written that way, but I asked that it be made that way. “Joan of Arcadia,” it wasn’t written that it was an Italian-American family. I asked that it be changed, and they did. Not that I want every other role I got to play as an
Italian-American, but when it’s a positive role model, and I have the opportunity, I sometimes do that, partly out of selfishness too because it’s easier to fall back on who I am as an actor. Unless the role specifically
demands because of the background of the character. I’ve played many ethnic groups.
SOAK: You use [talk with] your hands.
JM: Exactly, I’m not kidding anybody; I’d be a bad Swedish sea captain. That would be going way outside for me, so why do it? Unless, like I said, I’m not afraid to bounce around and do everything in-between.
SOAK: What do your daughters think of your success?
JM: It’s different. First of all, my youngest daughter, Gina, is an actress herself. She was in the movie with me, “Uncle Nino” where she played my daughter and it was great. Me being an actor is an oddity. Like I said,
I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, it was a fluke. It wasn’t a common thing from where I grew up; I had no role models for it. For them, it’s almost like, who isn’t an actor?
SOAK: What kind of advice have you given them in terms of your acting philosophy?
JM: My advice is to just enjoy yourself, have a good time, work hard at it, but have a good time and then the second you realize, if you realize you don’t like it, don’t do it.
SOAK: Do you think there’s a point at which, if somebody is not succeeding, they should just give up?
JM: Everybody has their own time span on their dreams. I’ve got a lot of friends who are talented, who can act, with very limited success, but it’s not all about talent, it’s an art form. Sometimes it’s an intangible thing
that makes a person go, “Wow, that person’s got it” and I don’t even know if you can define it, but if you got, you got it.
SOAK: What do you think the “it” has been for you?
JM: I don’t know, I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I can only be what I am and who I am. Obviously, at least going on 40 years now, it has been enough to keep me occupied, keep me employed. So it’s too late for
me to alter that. I’m not about to say “I think I’ll reinvent myself.”
When we asked Mantegna if he ever dreamed he would end up as successful as he is, he answered us with a smile, “Sure, I dreamed it. You gotta dream it because if you don’t dream you’re unlikely to get it, but I’m
happy it happened.”
SOAK October 2005
y: Vince Burgio and Sunny Bredice
SOAK MAGAZINE October 2005
After spending some time with Chicago native, Joe Mantegna, you come away realizing he is proud to be an American, proud to be of Italian heritage, proud to be a productive working actor and proud to be a family
man. It strikes us he would happily embrace whatever his lot in life.
When asked about his many major accomplishments, including an impressive list of Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and awards, Mantegna shrugs it off as just doing his job and having fun as he does it.
As you read his answers to our questions, you will probably come away, as we did, very moved by his simplistic, honest approach.
We asked Joe about his love for baseball and, modestly, he admits his love was mostly one-way, in that, he was a good ballplayer, but never major-league material. It was a twist of fate which turned Mantegna’s
attention in a new direction and led him to a successful career in show business.
When we caught up with Mantegna at his family-owned restaurant, Taste Chicago, in Burbank, CA, he had just returned from this year’s annual National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., where more than
300,000 people gathered to honor the sacrifices of America's veterans – an event which Mantegna now has the distinct honor of hosting as successor to the late Ossie Davis.
SOAK: Joe, you’re from Chicago, do you still have family there?
JM: I have quite a bit of family there.
SOAK: If we saw you in Chicago, in which restaurant would you most likely be eating?
JM: Mr. Beef would be one of them.
SOAK: Do you own part of it?
JM: No, but that’s part of the reason we own a beef stand because I love that kind of food, I grew up with that.
SOAK: I know you’re a big Cub fan; did you get invited to the clubhouse at Wrigley?
JM: Yeah, I know them all pretty well. Rod Santo, the old player, I co-produced a documentary on his life called “This Old Cub” that’s just recently been out.
SOAK: How about your favorite cubby, would it be Rod Santo?
JM: I was younger when I first got hooked into Ernie Banks, so he’ll always be my hero, but Santo would be close second.
SOAK: When [Tommy] Lasorda was the manager [of the Dodgers] were you always invited to the clubhouse?
JM: I did a movie about baseball called “Comrades of Summer,” I played and ex-major league ball player. Lasorda acted as my technical advisor so I would spend time at Dodger Stadium with him, and he was great.
I love Tommy.
SOAK: Tell us about your own experience as a baseball player?
JM: I played up till I was about 19, then I got into a collision with another outfielder and I was hospitalized for three days, I was knocked silly and I had partial amnesia. I lost three months of my life. It happened in June
of that year, and when I came to, I thought it was February, and it never came back. I wasn’t seriously hurt, but that was really the last game I played because the writing was on the wall, I wasn’t really that good, but I got
clocked and that took care of that season.
Mantegna eventually regained his memory; what he did not regain, however, was the notion that he should continue to pursue a career in baseball. Instead, almost as if a greater power, with bigger things in store, had
knocked some sense into his head, Joe began to become more serious about a career in acting.
SOAK: Do you have a favorite past or present project, character, role?
JM: Doing the role in “Glengarry, Glen Ross” of Richard Roma really changed my life. I originated the role on Broadway and won the Tony Award. The show won the Pulitzer Prize and, after 15 years of banging
around as an actor, that role really kind of launched the 2nd half of my career to the present day. So that role will always be very special to me. Playing Dean Martin in “The Rat Pack” turned out to be such a great thrill
and a wonderful experience. I loved doing that. All the movies with David Mamet I enjoyed doing. I feel fortunate working with some great directors like Woody Allen, Barry Levinson, Coppola, so all those experiences
are special, but, you know, but I like it all. I feel real lucky to do what I do.
SOAK: As far as the mediums, stage, television, movies, do you have a preference?
JM: I came from the theater and I would tend to think anybody that’s done it all probably has a fondness for the theater because there’s nothing to replace that live performance. Fortunately, I’ve done a good cross-
section of it all, from T.V. to feature films, I do books-on-tape. I’m not afraid to try anything.
SOAK: You’ve avoided being typecast as an Italian-American, has that required any effort on your part?
JM: Somewhat. I’ve certainly played my share of the specific kinds of roles that Italian-Americans often get into. I mean, I was in Godfather III, I did “The Last Don,” I play “Fat Tony” on the “Simpsons,” and I love that.
On the other hand, I’ve always thought of myself as a character actor so, if I’m offered really good and interesting other roles, I’m going to jump at it.
And there have been instances where I’ve changed the character and made him an Italian-American character for no other reason than to help balance out the kind of negative Italian-American characters that are played
in certain things. It’s no accident than when I did the series “First Monday” I played a member of the Supreme Court, I named him after my grandfather – the character’s name was [Justice] Joseph Novelli – it wasn’t
written that way, but I asked that it be made that way. “Joan of Arcadia,” it wasn’t written that it was an Italian-American family. I asked that it be changed, and they did. Not that I want every other role I got to play as an
Italian-American, but when it’s a positive role model, and I have the opportunity, I sometimes do that, partly out of selfishness too because it’s easier to fall back on who I am as an actor. Unless the role specifically
demands because of the background of the character. I’ve played many ethnic groups.
SOAK: You use [talk with] your hands.
JM: Exactly, I’m not kidding anybody; I’d be a bad Swedish sea captain. That would be going way outside for me, so why do it? Unless, like I said, I’m not afraid to bounce around and do everything in-between.
SOAK: What do your daughters think of your success?
JM: It’s different. First of all, my youngest daughter, Gina, is an actress herself. She was in the movie with me, “Uncle Nino” where she played my daughter and it was great. Me being an actor is an oddity. Like I said,
I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, it was a fluke. It wasn’t a common thing from where I grew up; I had no role models for it. For them, it’s almost like, who isn’t an actor?
SOAK: What kind of advice have you given them in terms of your acting philosophy?
JM: My advice is to just enjoy yourself, have a good time, work hard at it, but have a good time and then the second you realize, if you realize you don’t like it, don’t do it.
SOAK: Do you think there’s a point at which, if somebody is not succeeding, they should just give up?
JM: Everybody has their own time span on their dreams. I’ve got a lot of friends who are talented, who can act, with very limited success, but it’s not all about talent, it’s an art form. Sometimes it’s an intangible thing
that makes a person go, “Wow, that person’s got it” and I don’t even know if you can define it, but if you got, you got it.
SOAK: What do you think the “it” has been for you?
JM: I don’t know, I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I can only be what I am and who I am. Obviously, at least going on 40 years now, it has been enough to keep me occupied, keep me employed. So it’s too late for
me to alter that. I’m not about to say “I think I’ll reinvent myself.”
When we asked Mantegna if he ever dreamed he would end up as successful as he is, he answered us with a smile, “Sure, I dreamed it. You gotta dream it because if you don’t dream you’re unlikely to get it, but I’m
happy it happened.”