Ray Liotta flew out to New York to ask for a role in 'The Many Saints of Newark'.
Ray Liotta
The 66-year-old actor plays Aldo 'Hollywood Dick' Moltisanti in the prequel to 'The Sopranos' and revealed that he was so desperate to land the part that he paid for his own flights and accommodation to meet David Chase, who created the acclaimed TV series and co-wrote the new movie - even if he wasn't sure why he did it.
Ray told The Guardian newspaper: "I’m really not sure what made me so determined,
"But I was and luckily it all worked out."
The 'Field of Dreams' star also rejected rumours that he turned down the chance to play Tony Soprano in the TV series, a part that went to the late James Gandolfini, but did reveal that Chase approached him over the role of Ralph Cifaretto – although he rejected it as he didn't want to play another gangster.
Ray said: "No! I don’t know where that story came from. David [Chase] once talked to me about playing Ralphie. But never Tony.
"I didn’t want to do another mafia thing, and I was shooting Hannibal. It just didn’t feel right at the time."
Ray played the role of Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's iconic crime flick 'Goodfellas' but regrets that he has not worked with the filmmaker since he appeared in the 1990 movie.
When asked why, Liotta said: "I don’t know, you’d have to ask him. But I’d love to."
Tagged in James Gandolfini Ray Liotta David Chase