Actor Dennis Farina. DENNIS FARINA FINDS BIG TROUBLE ON THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
By
Alex Simon
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2001 issue of Venice Magazine.
Part tough guy, part comic foil, and 100% Chicago through-and-through, Dennis Farina is one of those rare and enviable souls who has made the transition from one wildly divergent career to another with the greatest of aplomb. Born in the windy city on February 22, 1944, Farina, the son of a doctor and one of seven children, was an active duty Chicago police officer for 20 years, before discovering the theater and becoming a full time, working actor.
Initially hired by director Michael Mann for bit part in his feature directing debut, Thief, in 1981, Farina went on to steadily build himself a niche in the acting world as one of the most distinctive character actors of his generation, delivering memorable turns in diverse films such as Andrew Davis' Chuck Norris thriller Code of Silence (1985), Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986) which was notable for being the first film to introduce the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox), Martin Brest's Midnight Run (1988), Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty (1995), Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998), Steven Spielberg's sublime Saving Private Ryan (1998), and John Frankenheimer's Reindeer Games (1999).
Farina has also made a distinctive mark on television, as well, playing the lead on the now-legendary NBC series "Crime Story," as Chicago police detective Mike Torello. The series, executive produced and created by Michael Mann, was a stylish blend of 1960's period flavor and hard-boiled noir drama. It still has a strong cult following, and can now be seen on the A&E network. Farnia proved his acting chops in spades with his chilling portrait of serial killer Angelo Buono in the TV movie "The Hillside Stranglers," co-starring Richard Crenna. In 1998, Farina executive produced and played the title role of "Buddy Faro," a critically well-received, albeit short-lived series about a hip, rat pack-era detective doing his thing in the 1990's.
2001 sees Farnia featured in three very different films. Earlier in the year, he gave a deft comic portrait in Guy Ritchie's Snatch as Avi, a conniving Jewish diamond merchant. In Ed Burns' upcoming Sidewalks of New York, he plays a renowned ladies' man and father confessor to Burns' confused protagonist. In Barry Sonnenfeld's riotous new comedy Big Trouble, Farina gives one of his best recent performances as a world-weary hitman attempting to execute what he hoped would be a simple contract in Miami, only to have it plagued by a series of comic disasters.
Dennis Farina, who has seasonal homes in both Chicago and Phoenix (you guess which seasons), sat down with Venice recently at his favorite Beverly Hills hotel, looking ever the dapper gent in a double breasted blue blazer and crisp white shirt. A model of old school charm and pizzazz, Farina held court like the mayor of a major metropolis, greeting hotel employees and guests alike with patented Chicago pleasantries such as "How ya doin', palie?" Consider it an invitation to read on...
You're in two very different movies right now: Big Trouble and Sidewalks of New York.
Dennis Farina: Yeah, they are very different but I had a lot of fun on both. I like Ed Burns a lot. We met on Saving Private Ryan, and I'd enjoyed his work before we'd met: The Brothers McMullen, She's the One. That's a case where Ed just called me up one day and sent it to me. I thought it was a great part, even thought it's not a huge part. Ed's a guy who's very easy to get along with, knows what he wants. There's a time to play and a time to be serious about things. The nice thing about Ed, and Guy Ritchie as well, is that they're also the writers, so if you have a question about your character, they're right there to work with you.
Big Trouble reunites you with director Barry Sonnenfeld.
Yeah, I love working with Barry. He's a terrific director and also a great cinematographer. He shot a lot of the Coen brothers' films. Barry's just one of those guys that if he calls you, you go to work for him. I love his sense of humor. I like and admire him as a person and as a director.
It looked like you guys were having a lot of fun.
Yeah, Jack, the guy who plays my partner, and I did. I call Jack the Walter Brennan of our generation because he's been in every movie that's ever been made. (laughs) It was funny because we never really saw a lot of the other cast members since most of our scenes just involved the two of us, which is too bad, because I always like seeing Renee (Russo) and Stanley (Tucci). Like all of Barry's movies, it's really smart and really funny and really inventive the way it's shot. When you have a director who's also a cinematographer, that's someone who really knows his way around a set and knows exactly what he wants. Andy Davis (Under Siege) started as a D.P. too, and he's the same way.
You've almost become synonymous with the city of your birth: Chicago. What part of the city did you grow up in?
The near north side. We just call it "the old neighborhood," but the new term for it is "near north side." If you met someone from Chicago who asked where you're from and you said "The old neighborhood," my neighborhood is the one you'd be talking about.
Mostly Italian?
Yeah, mostly. Some Jewish people. Our landlords were Jewish. A few Irish. Mainly Italian.
You were a Chicago police officer for 20 years before becoming an actor. Are there any other cops in the family?
Just one: my uncle, my mother's brother, but that was years before I joined. Most of my family became lawyers, actually.
What did your dad do?
He was the neighborhood doctor. I have three brothers and three sisters, also. There were a bunch of us running around.
What division of the police did you work in?
I worked in burglary, which we called "the burglary room." In New York they call it "B & E." The more I know people from New York, it's almost like the United States versus England, how they have different terms for the same things. "Lifts" are elevators, for example. In New York they say "macaroni," we say "spaghetti." We say "sauce," they say "gravy," that sort of thing. Little things like that are interesting.
Did being a cop help in developing your acting skills?
No not at all. In fact, it gets in the way sometimes. As Michael Mann told me once, we're in the business of entertainment, not reality. I'm sure doctors cringe every time they see medical shows. You can't let reality seep into what you're doing as entertainment.
When you were a Chicago police officer, were on duty during the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention?
Yes, I was.
I've never heard a cop's point of view of what really happened there.
Honestly, to us, it was just another day's work. I was never political in my life, and I'm still not. Nothing remarkable happened to me during that incident that didn't happen to everyone else. From my point of view, as a guy who was there, it was we have to go there and do what we have to do, and then go home when we're done. It's kind of like the way a soldier would look at things. Not in the combat sense of the word, necessarily, but police departments are semi-military organizations and that's the way they do business.
When did you start getting interested in acting?
With Michael Mann. When he came to Chicago, he put me in Thief. Then pretty soon, I started meeting people from the Steppenwolf Theater: Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, John Mahoney, Terry Kinney, people like that. They kind of took me under their wing and took a nice chance with me, put me in plays, and I started doing some theater around town. Then eventually, I made the move to acting full-time.
What's it like working like Michael Mann, with whom you've worked several times.
I'll always have a soft spot for Michael. He's a moviemaker and a storyteller and knows what he wants to do. He has a vision and doesn't let anything stand in his way of doing it. He does nothing haphazardly. Everything is very well thought-out and planned. He doesn't do anything that he himself wouldn't do as far as hours and doing hard work. I think in the final analysis all of that comes out as natural as anybody can get. Michael's a pretty sharp cookie.
Manhunter is an overlooked masterpiece, in my opinion, every bit as good as Silence of the Lambs.
I thought so, too, but then again, I'll always like that film a little bit more because I was involved in it. But what I think is a little more scary about it is that you don't know much about Dr. Lecter. I think in the other one the mystery isn't quite there as much. In Manhunter, Lecter (played by Brian Cox) is a very normal-looking and even to an extent, normally-behaving person. That's what's so scary. He could be anybody.
William Petersen, your co-star in that, is another amazing actor. How was he to work with?
Billy's a great guy. We did a couple plays together in Chicago, and we both did our first film together, which was Thief. I got to know Billy well doing theater at the Steppenwolf. Billy was another one who really looked after me during my salad days in the theater.
What were some of the plays you did that helped you develop your craft?
The first play I ever did was at the Steppenwolf called "A Prayer for My Daughter," directed by Malkovich. It was me and John Mahoney, Jeff Perry and Terry Kinney. Then I did "Streamers" that Terry Kinney directed. We did that for a while, all over, including the Kennedy Center. Then Billy and I did a play called "A Class C Trial at Yokohama," which was a look into the Japanese war crimes trials. Then we went to the Goodman Theater to do "The Time of Your Life," with Don Moffat and Billy and Amy Morton, Natalie West, John Pankow. Then I did a play called "Some Men Need Help," about a young guy who's an alcoholic. There's a knock on his door and there stands this guy who just starts talking to him. You don't know if the guy's an angel, or what. It a two person play with these two men just talking. I think it would make a great movie. If I ever get enough juice, I'd love to do it.
Ever thought about directing yourself?
No, I haven't. I don't know if I'd want to make that kind of commitment. That's a pretty tough road unless you're ready to really commit a year, or more, of your life. As an actor, you're there for two or three months, and then it's over, and you can move on. As the director, the easy part is the filming. The hard part is the post-production, the editing, the pleasing all kinds of producers and studios.
You've worked a lot with Stanley Tucci, as well.
(laughs) You know, it's funny. Stanley and I were just talking the other day about how we've done about five movies together, and never had a scene together! The only time we actually had a scene was when he was in an episode of Crime Story years ago.
Let's talk about Crime Story. It was such an inventive, innovative show, but probably wound up being too offbeat for it's own good.
Thanks, and I think you're right. It was great fun, and really grueling work at the same time. Again, it was Michael and he demanded perfection. I think we worked harder on that show than anything I've ever done. I'm not complaining, because I think the hard work paid off with the final result. We were really making a movie every week, as opposed to a TV show. I learned a lot. It was a great way to learn a lot about what goes on with filmmaking and with television. I'm still learning, and will always be learning, but that was great basic training.
After Manhunter, you did Midnight Run, which was your first stab at comedy, which you do really well.
I'm actually not sure if I have an affinity for comedy, or not. In that case, it was just a very good script. I would've been a fool not to do it. I was just fortunate enough to be there. The more I know about this business, the more I realize you can only bring so much to the project. You have to have a great script, director, cameraman, everything. It's a real collaborative business where no man's an island. If anyone is good, I think it's due to the sum total of what everybody else does.
Does working with an actor like De Niro raise the level of your performance?
I found out that when you work with guys like Robert de Niro, or any number of people that I've worked with, is that those guys are there to work. They come prepared to work. They have nothing to prove. They are the most helpful, generous, understanding people that you could meet. It's actually easier to work with someone like Bob de Niro than someone who's trying to become what guys like Bob already are. Bob just sets you at ease, right away. He did that the first time I met him.
Get Shorty was a terrific movie where you gave another wonderful comic performance. Since you seem equally adept at comedy and drama, is one more difficult than the other for you?
Well, my character in that thought he was very serious, but again, it was in the writing. The book was written that way. The script adaptation was written that way. Again, with Barry Sonnenfeld, who's a great collaborator, it was really a pretty easy process. It's hard to screw up a good hamburger when the ingredients are all there, right? I had a great time on that one and really enjoyed being in the make-up chair putting that nose on everyday! (laughs) Actually doing that "broken nose voice" came pretty easily with that make-up because everything got kind of stuffed up and, well...some things just naturally evolve. (laughs)
In Out of Sight you worked with Steven Soderbergh. What was that like?
Steven's another guy who comes to the set totally prepared, knowing exactly what he wants, a great collaborator. Plus, it was an Elmore Leonard story again, so the ingredients were there. Steven's a pretty low key guy, sort of the calm in the storm.
Do you like to be directed as little as possible, so you have room to spread your wings?
Well, I think you try things all the time. You add or remove a word, or a look, and pretty much when they hire you, it's for what they think you're going to bring to the game. Sometimes you can surprise yourself with what you do when you just sort of go with the flow, so to speak. I remember one time Michael Mann told me "Nobody is gonna know a character better than you are, even more than the writer. You are gonna know that character better than anybody. If I don't like what you're doing, I'll tell you and bring you back."
You have the distinction of co-starring in the one good Chuck Norris movie ever made, Code of Silence, directed by the great Andrew Davis (The Fugitive). What were Chuck and Andy like?
I knew Andy Davis' dad (actor Nate Davis) because I'd worked with him before, so I felt very comfortable with Andy. There was that Chicago connection where I knew he wasn't gonna lead me astray. He treated me so kindly, because he knew I was a novice, and kind of watched after me. And Chuck Norris was just a delight to work with, a hell of a nice guy. That film was a nice break for me. Andy Davis is, I think, a really good director. I wish he'd work more.
"The Hillside Strangler" was probably the first film where people realized what a really terrific actor you were. What was it like getting inside the mind of a psychopath?
I was still on the force in Chicago when that case was happening (in L.A.), so I was very familiar with the particulars going into it. When I did the movie, I had a little bit of an idea of the kind of guy he was, although I didn't have any first-hand knowledge of him. I didn't meet or talk with him for research, and didn't want to. I didn't like the guy, for obvious reasons, so if you were to psychoanalyze it, you could say that it was a portrayal born out of dislike. I really can't comment intelligently on it beyond that.
A lot of actors have trouble shedding the skin of a character who's that dark, but I'm assuming you didn't have that experience.
Not at all! In fact, when the scenes were over, I wouldn't stay in character, or any of that crap. I mean, who would? If you're playing some happy-go-lucky guy, that's one thing. But with a guy like that, what would be the point? The thing I remember most about that experience is that I got to work with Richard Crenna, who's become a very good friend over the years.
Tell us about Saving Private Ryan.
Well, that's another no-brainer! (laughs) I remember when I read the script, it was like reading a great novel. I remember I had gone to meet with someone about it, never heard anything. Then a year later, I got a call, asking if I'd like to come in and work with Steven Spielberg. So I said "Oh, okay. I guess I can do that." (laughs) Not a big dilemma, right? I think everybody involved in that knew that it was going to be an important film. It was an event, even more than a movie. That was obvious just from reading the script. Then you added the talents of Spielberg, Tom Hanks and the rest of those guys. Tom Sizemore, I thought, should have been nominated for something. He was terrific. They filmed a couple of different endings, one of which I appeared in. My character is with a column of tanks that went through the town and we find Hanks and his men, and just keep moving. I thought the ending they used was far superior.
What was Spielberg like as a director?
Well, again, sort of like the calm in the storm. There were tanks going here, and people marching here and cameras moving here, and all these explosions in the middle of all this chaos was Steven, who very calmly would say what he wanted and get it done. He also had a wonderful D.P. who was very easygoing, as well.
You worked with another legendary director, John Frankenheimer, on Reindeer Games.
Yeah, there's another instance. I got a call "Wanna work with John Frankenheimer?" No-brainer! He was terrific, a very old-school director, and I mean that in the best sense of the word. Like Spielberg, and the other people we've talked about, he knows exactly what he wants and he gets it done. He's got this wealth of knowledge and experience and you just let John show you the way. He's a real movie director. A no-nonsense guy, but he's also got a terrific sense of humor. I have a vision of John as what we think of movie directors from the 30's and 40's being: bigger-than-life. I also got to work with my old pal Gary Sinise on that movie, which was fun. Let's face it, it's all fun! Acting is fun. It's a lot more fun than about a hundred other things I could be doing.
Like dodging bullets, for example?
Yeah, or running into a burning building. Now I'm not sophisticated enough to think those things aren't important, because they are. In fact, they're a lot more important than what I do now, but I'm just very fortunate that I get to make a living having fun, and doing something that I love. I'm very blessed. I think if you have a sense of proportion in life that's a very healthy way to be.
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