I haven't seen the movie yet and I have nothing against Michael Shannon but if I were to cast an actor to portray Richard Kuklinski, I would have chosen James Gandolfini for the role. He looks like him and we all know he can be a bad ass in his movies.
Any thoughts?
It was probably because James is much shorter than Richard Kuklinski, but who knows.
shareYou know...you're right about that. Kuklinski was 6' 5" and Gandolfini is 6' 0"... I never thought of that. For the record, Shannon is 6' 3"
Thanks for pointing this out koodalak!! Good job!
i cant wait to see the movie when it comes out...reviews havent been great but when are they...they are just one of many opinions
share"All I know is that he never had the makings of a varsity athlete"..
Naw, but seriously, I think Gandolfini would've been perfect for the Iceman role, or even as Roy Demeo.
Aside from everything, I seriously doubt they would be able to get Gandolfini to play the lead with $20M budget. Michael Shannon is way, way, way more reachable.
shareHe would be well cast but due to The Sopranos and similar works I think the audience would find it hard to unassociate themselves with those characters.
shareKuklinski was not fat when he was younger and this movie is set mainly during that time. So Michael Shannon looks more like him. Also, Michael Shannon is a much better actor than Gandolfini.
Gandolfini is more of a character actor, he isn't really the type who can carry a movie on his own. I don't think he's ever wanted to be a leading man himself. The Sopranos was a TV, that's different and it also had an ensemble cast it wasn't really all about Tony.
Anyway, the movie has already been made so what's the point of trying to recast it? In my opinion Michael Shannon is the only actor working today who could pull this role off properly. I have watched the documentary about Kuklinski several times.
Just be glad they didn't go through with the Mickey Rourke version of this. That would have been pure *beep* Mickey Rourke just plays himself in every movie. He hasn't been good since Rumble Fish.
Absolutely!
When I first saw photos of Kuklinski, I thought "James Gandolfini!" right off the bat.
Thank you!!
shareAs a matter of fact, when I first read the general facts about Kuklinski's "career", I thought that Tony Soprano may have been very loosely based on this guy.
shareWas Tony Soprano a mafia hitman for hire? Was Tony Soprano a cold blooded murderer? Was Tony Soprano so hot tempered that he'd slit a man's throat, or toss a molotov cockatil into a man's car...? I can't recall Tony Soprano doing anything that Kuklinski did. Soprano conducted the mob he was part of. Kuklinski was a hired hand.
Get it right, people. Gandolfini looks like the later day Kuklinski does in the interviews, not the man whom killed so many people. I have doubts that Tony Soprano could have killed someone like Kuklinski did in his youth without having a heart attack whilst murdering someone whom could fight back, lethally speaking.
...trust me... Shannon is perfect!
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Years ago I remember thinking that Gandolfini would have been great for this role and I still think it possibly could have worked. If you've seen True Romance where Gandolfini plays the extremely sociopathic mob hitman Virgil, then you'll probably agree that he could tackle the role of Kuklinski.
Though, portraying Kuklinski as a younger man would have been a bit of a stretch for Gandolfini now that he's much older. In the trailer it looked like Shannon in some scenes was bulkier and burlier more along the lines of Kuklinski's frame. Maybe he gained weight for the role or was using something along the lines of a fat suit. I do have to say he does look a bit like Kuklinski with that horseshoe mustache and the glasses and his dark eyes. It also helps that he's 6'3". I'm not really familiar with Shannon as an actor so I don't know how suited to the role he is but as others have said resemblance to the real life person is not necessarily crucial to pulling the role off in a film.
Personally, I think a movie should be made about the radio host, author, ex naval intelligence officer and conspiracy theorist Bill Cooper and Gandolfini should play him because he bears somewhat of a resemblance and somewhat of a similar temperament. We haven't really seen movies that portray real life people in the military trying to expose the government's cover up of alien life, secret/UFO technology, etc. If you want to talk about the true, ultimate, organized criminal elements in the world, one should look there.
When I first heard about them making this movie the only actor that came to mind was James Gandolfini because they look so similar. Now that I have seen the trailer I am itching to see how well Micheal Shannon does.
shareI'm glad you said that. I still defend my initial comment to this thread. Gandolfini would have been perfect.
Thank you!
I'm sure he was considered and sent a script.... and probably thought it was a piece of crap! It's almost a hint as to how bad a movie will be by seeing what big name actors turned it down.
I doubt it had anything to do with Gandolfini being about 4' shorter than the real Kuklinski, because that wouldn't be noticeable on screen, but then again who knows.