Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor and producer. An Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominee, he has appeared in films such as Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma & Louise, Peter Yates' Mother, Jugs & Speed, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The Piano, Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk till Dawn, James Mangold's Cop Land, Paolo Sorrentino's Youth. Along with actors Al Pacino and Ellen Burstyn, he...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth13 May 1939
CityBrooklyn, NY
CountryUnited States of America
You didn't hear the angels singing. It was brought down to Mother Earth, which is where it should be. And that led me to a lot of other reading.
Well, it's such an intricate, beautiful script about eight professional robbers pulling a heist, and it deals with elements of betrayal, trust, instinct, and need for relationships.
What fascinated me mostly about Mickey Cohen was that he, in his later years, hired someone to help him to comprehend literature, to help him to read better, to understand words better.
Hardly any actor objects to press. It's a question of it being done in the way they like to see it done, meaning to get down to the serious interview what the profession is so we can reach out to the people to help them get along.
So there's no such thing as one too many this, one too many that. I remember, you're reminding me of early in my career, somebody said to me: why are you taking so many roles as a policeman.
That's like asking a cobbler if he's made too many pairs of shoes.
I grew up with a lot of guys, some of them are dead, some of them are this and some of them that, and some of them very, very powerful, bright young men, who became this instead of that simply because of a lack of guidance - that's all.
You're working on being a father, so that is something that when you experience it you'll understand the profundity of wanting to protect something dear to you.
They have equal weight and you do the same work you'd do if you were playing a dramatic role.
She had said one time, make a choice and do it like Hercules. So if that is all of what is being offered, the idea is to always do it like Hercules and I always followed her advise and now I'm here talking to you.
It's always a pleasure to see John. I'm fond of telling people that when I was a young actor in NY and had no work ,no money, you know the story because you're heard it before.
My advice to any actor who's playing, quote, unquote, "extra" to think of it more like Stanislavski did. It's not a small part. You are the lead in the movie, in your own movie.
I've always found it not only easy, but enjoyable. It's necessary for us to reach out and I'm speaking for myself here. I certainly have a sense of responsibility to reach out to these people in the theatre who might look to someone like me for some guidance.
I was out to have a good time and have some fun. It's a fun script and fun people are in the movie.