Debra Messing on Becoming Robert De Niro's Mob Wife

Parade

Parade sat down with Debra Messing to discuss her latest role in 'The Alto Knights' alongside Robert De Niro's mob boss character.

Transcript

00:00we're sort of titillated to go and see Mafia movies.

00:03We sort of get to go and see, like, what life would be

00:07if we just didn't follow any rules at all.

00:11And then we get to walk out of the theater

00:13and just sort of say how great a human being we are,

00:16given that we're not in the Mafia.

00:24If you had told me at any point in my life

00:28that I would be playing a mob wife boss

00:31opposite Robert De Niro,

00:33I don't think I would have believed you.

00:36It's a dream come true.

00:37He was a gentleman.

00:39He made me feel welcome immediately.

00:42He was playful and funny.

00:45We improv'd, which blew my mind.

00:49He just started going off script,

00:51and I thought, oh my God,

00:52I am improv-ing with Robert De Niro.

00:55And it made the work more fun and more free.

01:00The whole experience was better

01:02than I ever could have imagined it being.

01:05I mean, he is the greatest of all time.

01:07I will absolutely be approaching my work differently

01:11now that I've had the opportunity to watch him

01:16and to act opposite him.

01:18You know, there is an effortlessness

01:21and a self-trust that he has

01:23that was so inspiring,

01:26and I hope that I can endow my work

01:30with just a little bit of that going forward.

01:33Oh, she's unlike anything I've ever been given

01:35the opportunity to sink my teeth into,

01:39and I will forever be grateful to Bob and Barry

01:43for choosing me to play his wife.

01:46The world of the Mafia is intriguing to everybody.

01:51These stories are very rich and colorful,

01:54and the characters are extreme.

01:56And what I loved about this was it's a true story.

01:59She was a real person,

02:01and there was a lot of source material.

02:03And she was unlike any other mob boss's wife

02:08of any of them.

02:09Most mob wives are home,

02:12taking care of the children

02:13and just keeping their mouths shut.

02:16And Bob and Frank couldn't have children.

02:20And so all of her attention was on Frank.

02:22He married her because she was so educated and intelligent,

02:26and he respected her.

02:28And so she was his consigliere.

02:31She guided him and gave him advice.

02:33He didn't always take it.

02:34She created a world where there was an uptown world

02:40that she loved to live in,

02:41where it was legitimate.

02:43They were part of society.

02:45They went to the Copacabana,

02:47and then he would go off to work downtown,

02:49and she would stay away.

02:51Because Frank never really resorted to violence,

02:56her concern for his safety was never an issue

03:00until, of course, Vito comes back to town.

03:02And that's the first time that they have to contend

03:07with how to keep them both safe.

03:10I did just think about the concept of loyalty

03:15and what it meant.

03:17Because the mafia world,

03:19they have very strict rules

03:21that dictate what loyalty means.

03:25And there are consequences if you don't follow those rules.

03:29It's very different than the civilized world

03:32and the rules that we have to follow.

03:35And in both cases, it's about just following the rules.

03:41I think that we're sort of titillated

03:43to go and see mafia movies

03:45because it is so extreme and so immoral

03:51and so outside the realm of what is acceptable behavior

03:59that we sort of get to go and see what life would be

04:03if we just didn't follow any rules at all.

04:07And then we get to walk out of the theater

04:09and just sort of say how great a human being we are,

04:12given that we're not in the mafia.

04:15She was older than me in this movie

04:18and she was a chronic smoker nonstop.

04:21So in order to age me,

04:24I really worked on sort of having that cigarette voice,

04:30and then bringing it down.

04:31That's what cigarettes do.

04:33And worked with the dialect coach.

04:36She was from Jewish Harlem

04:37and it had a very distinct dialect.

04:41And then of course,

04:42all of the most extraordinary costumes from that time.

04:47They gave me nails, red nails that were this long.

04:51I couldn't even open a banana.

04:52Stepping on that set really felt like

04:55I was stepping outside of myself and into a whole new world.

05:00And it's the most thrilling way

05:03to be able to experience telling a story.

05:08I'd like to say yes.

05:10I mean, she's loyal.

05:13She's trustworthy.

05:14She loves dogs.

05:16She's loving and playful.

05:18She's educated.

05:20And she is reasonable.

05:26She is good at looking at situations and analyzing things.

05:32And so I relate to those parts of her.

05:37Bobby was the only Jewish mob boss wife in history.

05:41It was foreboding for them to,

05:44for interfaith marriage at the time.

05:46And the fact that they got married anyway

05:49showed me how deep their love was

05:52and how strong their characters were

05:56because they were willing to push against the tide

05:59in order to be together.

06:01You know, I am Jewish.

06:02And it was very important to me

06:04that a Jew was able to play this Jewish character.

06:08There are not a lot of great Jewish women characters

06:13that are really rich.

06:16You know, it's usually comic relief.

06:19And so to see this opportunity,

06:22I felt that she had a dignity and a strength

06:27and an intellect and a softness

06:30that I really, I just really loved.

06:36And I loved showing this particular Jewish woman.

06:40At first I was going to say the wedding date,

06:44but I actually think it was a movie, Mothman Prophecy.

06:48It was a drama and I played Richard Gere's wife.

06:52And it was based on a true story and Laura Linney was in it.

06:55And it was a very, very dark drama.

06:59And that was the very, very first time

07:02while doing Will & Grace

07:04and being in this raucous, funny world

07:08that I stepped into something very, very, very dark

07:12and realized that there were challenges there

07:16that I wanted to work on

07:19that were different than the challenges of comedy.

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