Posted on Monday, 07.21.08
CELEBRITY Q&A
Life goes on nicely after the hit on `Sopranos'
It would be easy to assume that everyone who visits South Florida does so for sun and sights. But Joe Gannascoli would disagree. You might know him better as Vito Spatafore, lieutenant to Tony Soprano on the long-running HBO mob drama The Sopranos, the lieutenant who, to his own detriment, came out of the closet as gay on the show's next-to-last season. Whatever you call him, Gannascoli loves South Florida, but not for the usual reasons. He loves that it is the home to his latest charity, Bright Steps Forward. And after spending time in Broward County recently to see the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Miami-based group's work up close, Gannascoli compared notes with Miami Herald feature writer and fellow cigar aficionado James H. Burnett III.
Q:Joe, you're pretty much bursting at the seams to talk Bright Steps Forward. So tell me about it and your involvement.
Q: Jimmy James, as you know I am the new national spokesperson for Bright Steps Forward. You may know it's a nonprofit organization. You may not know that Bright Steps Forward raises money for therapy for kids with neurological conditions, like cerebral palsy, autism, kids who've suffered severe brain trauma. I'm trying to get them exposure, through fundraisers, spreading the word to other people I know who have the means and ability to help the organization in different ways.
Q:You have a lot on your plate, if you don't mind my saying. And we'll get to that, but why did you make time for this particular group?
Q: You know, I get approached by a lot of groups, a lot of charities. And I have a lot I work with . . . But you don't often get to see what goes on with a charity, like getting a look at the actual work they do. Take a breast cancer charity, or a junior diabetes charity. You help raise money for them, and you can't actually sit in on a surgery or something like that. With Bright Steps Forward you can get up close and personal with the kids who are being helped and with the doctors and therapists who are helping them and you can even be there when they're undergoing therapy, and talk to them. That appealed to me.
Q:What other charity work do you have time for these days?
A: Well, I'm working with this one charity for sled hockey, kids who are wheelchair-bound. They're able to play hockey by skating on these sleds.
It's really neat. And I love hockey. Way back when, I played hockey in the old neighborhood. I have a golf outing next Monday with a former New York Rangers player, and hopefully that will generate more interest.
Q:Let's talk work. What are you up to? The last couple of times we crossed signals you were darting back and forth between movie sets.
A: I had a movie out earlier this year, a comedy with Martin Lawrence called College Road Trip. That was a lot of fun. And I just finished a movie with Tom Sizemore, set in L.A., called Corrado. I'm also working on something with Armand Assante and Joe Montegna.
Q:That's a lot of screen time.
A: I got that Brooklyn in me, you know? After being on the greatest television show ever it would be nice to have that kind of gig forever. But I don't believe in sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.
I don't care what anybody says. I'm no Brad Pitt. More like his brother Doug. So I have to go find the work to keep it comin'.
Q:Here's the thing, though. I know you wear lots of hats, including a chef's hat. So what's going on on the food front?
A: Jimmy James, you know I used to be a chef, had my own restaurant before I started acting. So I have a passion for quality food. I have a cookbook novel out right now that has done well, and I'm talking to folks now about possibly making it a movie. It's called A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime. Check it out. Then there's my pasta sauce -- a real Italian pasta sauce, and a few other food products.
And I also have a line of cigars coming out.
Q:Hey, don't tease me with the cigars. What are we talking, light wrap, dark wrap, mild, bold, what?
A: The cigars are called Cugine, and they were designed for me by Arganese. They'll be in a Connecticut wrapper, mild to medium, with a Dominican filler.
Q:So let's talk Sopranos for a minute. How did you develop your character, and for that matter, the other mobbish characters you've done in the past?
A: I've done a lot of characters based on characters I used to see in the old neighborhood, in pool halls and OTB parlors.
But honestly, I mostly developed my characters through old-fashioned people-watching. I watched people a lot on the subways.
Q:What's something about you that might surprise folks?
A: That I'm not gay, that Vito was a character I played on The Sopranos, nothing more.
Q:That's interesting, because it was your suggestion to the show's producers to throw a twist in there by making Vito gay. Do people actually give you grief because you played a gay man on TV?
A: A couple of [expletive] idiots have had a few words for me, but that's what they are, [expletive] idiots. Even a few made guys, you know? I've had a few of them giving me dirty looks like I offended them or something, but they're idiots. I'm an actor. I took on a challenging role. That's all.
Q: Mets or Yankees?
A:Yankees. I mean I like the Mets, too, but I'm a Yankees fan all the way.
Q:What's a non-busy day for Joe G?
A: I'm up at 4:30 every morning, and I play racquetball every day. If I'm trying to relax, I watch the ballgame on television. And I enjoy gardening. But I guess the gardening could be considered work.
Q:So you're married now. How's that working out for you?
A: Three years now. Worst thing . . . I'm just kidding. Best thing I ever did. We're doing great. I love married life.
Q:You have any pet peeves?
A: Right now I'd say crooked baseball hats on kids and droopy pants. I hate that look! But in general, I'd say my pet peeve is stupid people.
Q:What's the dream role you haven't had yet?
A: I'd love to make the Wilt Chamberlain story. I could play the title role, no? Twenty-thousand women. Hmmmm. I'm kidding. There are a couple of documentaries I'm interested in making, and I'd love to be in a great baseball movie like Eight Men Out.
Q:But Joe, not even you can be all work and no play. And I know play involves good food. So where do you dine in South Florida?
A: Cafe Martorano in Fort Lauderdale, and Cafe Bella Sera in Winter Park.
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