Joe the Boss Masseria ate off too many plates.
He attacked a plate of spaghetti as if he were a drooling mastiff.
Masseria was born in Marsala, Sicily in 1886.
He came to America to duck a murder charge in the homeland.
Masseria was part of their crew.
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Masserias reputation for ducking bullets started on Aug. 9, 1922.
Two gunmen tried to take out Masseria right outside his 2nd Avenue apartment as payback from a rival mobster.
One bullet passed through his hat.
Sicilian father Don Vito Cascio Ferro sent Salvatore Maranzano to America to take over Masserias turf.
Masseria pulled in the Broadway Mob from fellow Sicilian Charles Lucky Luciano.
Lucky didnt swear his oath over a burning saint, but he was a loyal, if ambitious soldier.
They played some cards when they finished eating.
Luciano went to bathroom.
While Luciano was washing his hands, twenty bullets sprayed the place.
When it was over Joe the Boss was dead with an Ace of Spades in his hand.
From that day forward, the Ace of Spades was known as the death card.
Stelio Savante plays Joe the Boss onThe Making of The Mob: New York.
Den of Geek: You are from South Africa, is there a big following of gangster movies there?
The characters and their lifestyles were simultaneously chilling and seductive to me.
Do you have any favorites?
Le Samouraithe Meville film with Alain Delon.
I love its subtlety.The Godfatherof course, for the reasons mentioned.
GoddardsBreathlessis an absolute masterpiece.
And the obvious ones:Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Millers Crossing, Infernal Affairs.
I loveHeatas well, a very contemporary gangster film.
Actually I lived in New York for 16 years but now I live in Los Angeles.
I lived in Manhattan for about 12 years and in Queens for the last four.
I did spend a lot of time in various ethnic neighborhoods.
Im an immigrant, so I found them fascinating: Astoria, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Sheepshead Bay.
Its just a natural extension of me.
I had prepped the role forBoardwalk Empireand got very close to booking it (according to my reps).
So I already knew who Masseria was psychologically and emotionally.
He was an only child, didnt play well with others, didnt trust anyone.
What did you do physically?
How do you go about gaining weight for a role and how long is it fun?
Physically, I wanted to gain weight because he was a glutton.
He was sloppy, horribly impulsive, never comfortable.
Eating was his vice.
I look to give all my characters a vice that feels natural.
For weeks on end, I had enjoyed third and fourth helpings at every meal.
But losing it once the shoot was over was going to be a major uphill climb.
I enjoy food, so it was good until I started to feel the impact of the weight gain.
I was out of breath easily, I was always tired.
I saw Joe as uptight, never comfortable, always second guessing.
It truly helped me.
I felt like he always set himself, there was no unnecessary movement with him.
Whats your take on Joe the Boss, historically and as a character?
Masseria was literally one of the last true real Dons.
He was old school, very easily threatened, didnt have much foresight or Lucianos wisdom.
So he was a dying breed.
As a character, I hope Ive done him justice.
But I was the least experienced person in my episode.
On this set ofMob,I was easily the most experienced actor.
Im over 60 projects in now.
So onSopranos,I was friendly, I spent my time observing and soaking things up like a sponge.
We filmed at Silvercup Studios, which was literally five minutes from where I lived.
On theMobset, I went out of my way to not interact with any of the actors personally.
Shooting on location in West Virginia was truly like taking a step back in time.
The buildings, the locations, the locals were all so welcoming.
Very different than shooting at Silvercup where people are still cool but productions have been ongoing for years.
Outside of that the professionalism of the crew, the production company, etc.
was not that different.
Film, television, etc.
But I think that theater is by far the most unique for all the obvious reasons.
A live audience, one take, a physical presence of broader delivery catered in playing to the audience.
You perform everything in chronological order, which is far more natural.
Films and series are hardly ever shot that way.
Im not quite sure what you mean by different styles of acting.
I always commit to the truth of the character.
My process all starts with one question: What drives the character at their core?
Everything stems from that.
I seek my truth and pursue conflict, and I hopefully become it.
It carries me into my scenes, which again means that I dont like to rehearse a lot.
Tell me aboutEisenstein In Guanajuato.
Rich with culture, timeless architecture, the museum of mummies, the subterranean tunnels.
The city used to be made up of silver mines.
It was a thrill-ride because its exactly where this all happened all those years ago.
Peter is very unconventional.
He directs unlike anybody else, which means that wonderful discoveries were made.
My fellow cast was unbelievably brave and all good people, true artists.
Eisensteins greatest contribution was obviously as the pioneer of montage.
That was a fascinating time in film, because it was a renaissance of sorts.
There were no rules and he still broke them.
Back in Russia they were afraid that he would bolt and not return.
But he did, and I cant wait for the world to discover this film.
Im so happy for Peter.
Hes wanted to tell this story for many years.
Do period pieces interest you specifically?
Is it freeing to play in other times?
I, like most of the public, am very drawn to real stories about real people.
Not just period pieces, but true stories.
The most impactful that Ive been a part of was the play110 Stories[by playwright Sarah Tuft].
First person accounts of 9/11 from photographers, homeless people, preachers, firemen, etc.
I portray Bolivar Arellano, one of the leads, and spent a lot of time with him.
so that understand what drove him, what made him tick.
I last produced it in N.Y. in 2011 for the ten-year commemoration.
Do you have favorite directors?
Well here are some favorites that Ive not yet worked with.