Anthony LaPaglia, in a new memoir, reveals he was nearly cast as Tony Soprano but insists he never dwells on roles he didn't get. He also discusses his love for the film Lantana, the grueling workload of Without a Trace, and his plan to move to Mexico to 'ride out Trump'.
Pragmatic About Lost Roles
LaPaglia, who was almost Tony Soprano, says there is no role he didn't get that he gave more than four hours of grievance to. 'When I don't get something, I move on. Because there's no point. I'm very pragmatic that way. It's for your own mental health. Once it's gone, it's gone.'
He explains that not getting a part is never personal. 'It can be as simple as the director has already got three brunettes or three male actors and they don't need a fourth. It's never personally about you.' He also criticizes the practice of waiting for another actor to accept a role, calling it a 'waste of my time'.
Dream Team and Career Highlights
For a dream project, LaPaglia would choose Allison Janney, Kerry Armstrong, and Alison Whyte, plus a new face. He was particularly impressed by Brad Pitt in Moneyball, saying, 'I don't think I ever took Brad Pitt that seriously but that guy is phenomenal.'
He describes acting opposite Janney in A View from the Bridge on Broadway as a transcendental experience, praising Arthur Miller's plays for their strong female characters. 'The women are the glue. The women make the plays work.'
The Toll of Network Television
Reflecting on Without a Trace, LaPaglia admits the workload of 24-26 episodes a season was 'counterproductive to doing good work'. He found himself acting on autopilot and realized the show would have been successful regardless of his extra efforts. 'So annoying. I wish I'd known that when I started.'
Writing an episode transformed his relationship with writers, as he realized how difficult it was to craft a story broken into segments around commercial breaks. 'When I wrote the first one, I went, "Oh god, I need to go and apologise to some of these guys!"'
Personal Fulfillment and Future Plans
His most personally fulfilling role was in Lantana. 'There wasn't a single word in that script that I wanted to change, which is so unusual for me.' He praises Andrew Bovell's script and the preparation he did with Sydney detectives who were themselves under investigation.
On ageing, he's not a 'big wishlist guy' and prefers to be 'a gun for hire'. He jokes that Channing Tatum would play him in a biopic. He also plans to move to Mexico 'to ride out Trump', expressing concerns about the former president's impact on future elections and potential civil unrest.
