Martin Scorsese Recalls the Moment He Knew Ray Liotta Was Perfect to Play Henry Hill in ‘Goodfellas’
variety.comTodd Gilchrist editor On Feb. 24, Ray Liotta will receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring almost 50 years of amazing work in TV and on film.
Following his turn in Jonathan Demme’s 1986 film “Something Wild,” playing Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” was the moment that many moviegoers first discovered his complex, sometimes contradictory charms.
When asked about the moment he knew that Liotta was the perfect choice for Hill — a character that was slick, confident, effortlessly charming, but with an edge of danger that made him fearsome and attractive at the same time — Scorsese says it wasn’t during casting, or even on set, but when the two crossed paths ahead of the beginning of production. “We were thinking about just a few actors to play Henry Hill, and Ray was one of them,” Scorsese tells Variety. “I had one concern.
I knew that he could handle a role like the one he had in ‘Something Wild,’ but here he would have to carry the whole picture.
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