“I’m artistically brokenhearted. I wanted to be a screen actor. I wanted to change the world through my sensitivity. But it was a very closed system in Italy. There are only like five movies per year. And there aren’t exactly auditions. You must be friends with the director to get a role. So I tried going to Britain. And that almost destroyed me. I was always cast as a foreigner. Usually I was a Mafioso, but I played all types of foreigners. I’ve been a Spanish waiter, a Turkish waiter, and a French waiter. And they were always making me wear a mustache. So I tried for America. I applied for an ‘extraordinary talent visa.’ It cost me $6,000. The application was the size of a book. I had to submit ten letters of recommendation to prove that I was extraordinary. What a scam that was. Nobody cares that I’m extraordinary. None of the television stations will audition people with this visa. Everyone wants to see a green card. I can only work on small productions. But things have gotten a little better. I’m getting some minor roles. I’m still playing gangsters. But sometimes I’m the funny gangster. Or the gangster with some sense. My next role is a scientist who turns into a zombie. In the movie, every stranger appears to be a zombie. But nobody is really a zombie. Strangers just seem like zombies. So, hey, there’s a moral message there.”
