SUDBURY, Ont. 鈥� Most visitors to Sudbury make a point of getting their picture taken with the Big Nickel, the city鈥檚 iconic nine-metre monument honouring its mining history. Veteran actor and director Paul Sorvino was no exception.
鈥淚t was blowing out, 20-below, we were driving by and my wife said, 鈥楾ake a picture!鈥� 鈥� the 78-year-old film veteran recalled recently.
It was December, not exactly prime tourist time in Sudbury. But Sorvino made a point of seeing the sights while he was there shooting City鈥檚 upcoming six-part series Bad Blood, a project he says won him over with its great script.
Based on the true crime bestseller Business or Blood: Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto鈥檚 Last War by Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso, Bad Blood is a ruthless story of vengeance and corruption on the streets of Montreal, where the authors spent years interviewing members of the notorious Rizzuto crime family and other main players. Kim Coates, Anthony LaPaglia, Enrico Colantoni, Maxim Roy and Tony Nappo also star in the show.
Sorvino had some initial reservations about the project.
鈥淚鈥檓 a little wary about doing anything Mafia because, boy, I鈥檓 nailed down as a Mafioso,鈥� said Sorvino, who has played several mob bosses in his career, including Paulie Cicero in Goodfellas.
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 think I act Mafioso, they think I am Mafioso.鈥�
Ultimately, he was won over by the strong script and his role as Nicolo Rizzuto, patriarch of the crime family.
The six-part drama, based on a screenplay by Simon Barry and Michael Konyves, premi猫res Thursday at 8 p.m.
LaPaglia plays notorious crime boss Vito Rizzuto, who watches his grip on the city he once owned slip away while he鈥檚 in prison. A rash of murders precede and follow his release, including lethal hits on both his father and eldest son.
Edwards, a longtime crime reporter with the Toronto Star, had no fear the producers would sensationalize the story.
鈥淚t would be impossible to sensationalize what really happened,鈥� said Edwards. 鈥淎 guy got murdered the night before we started filming this, one of the Rizzuto people. When we were doing the book, people were getting shot. So how do you sensationalize a guy getting shot in front of his daughter?鈥�
LaPaglia had little knowledge of Rizzuto before taking the part, but immersed himself in the character by watching film and listening to wiretap evidence.
鈥淗is voice was twice as gravelly as mine, sometimes hard to understand,鈥� the 58-year-old actor said.
LaPaglia was also drawn by the script but also connected creatively to how Rizzuto was fully fleshed out and noted his skill as somebody who could read others quickly and 鈥渇igure out what needed to be done with them.鈥�
Bad Blood also portrays him as a murderous crime boss.
鈥淚s it going to show him in the best light according to his family?鈥� LaPaglia asks. 鈥淧robably not.鈥�
Taking advantage of tax credits and financial incentives, producers chose to base most of the production in Sudbury. Care was taken to cloak locations during the initial shooting days there, with signage indicating the cast and crew were working on something called 鈥淔ood Market Inc.鈥�
The other draw for LaPaglia was the chance to work again with Coates. The two had previously shot three projects together, including the 1992 John Landis directed vampire-mafia feature Innocent Blood.
Coates plays the fictitious character Declan Gardiner, an amalgam of several people in the book who acted as Rizzuto鈥檚 right-hand men.
The character is Irish rather than Italian.
鈥淰ito brings me into the family like Robert Duvall in The Godfather, 鈥� said Coates.
The first hire on the project, Coates brought LaPaglia in the same way,
鈥淭he big thing was, 鈥榃ho鈥檚 Vito?鈥� 鈥� Coates said of the casting process. A list was drawn up and 鈥淚 put Anthony right at the top,鈥� he said.
That Coates was already signed 鈥渨as a deciding factor, yes,鈥� said LaPaglia.
Like LaPaglia, Sorvino is a fan of Coates. He also gave equal praise to Colantoni and director Alain DesRochers.
鈥淎lain creates an atmosphere of trust, in which you can make a mistake if you want to,鈥� said Sorvino. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 always a very good thing.鈥�
Sorvino, who could often be heard launching into full-volume opera between takes, gave Sudbury a thumbs-up too.
鈥淭here are some surprisingly great restaurants,鈥� he said, rhyming off a number of Italian dishes. 鈥淥ne or two are world class.鈥�
