Marisa Tomei on Brooklyn beginnings, ‘Vinny’ through ‘Wrestler,’ and her third date with Oscar

Feb 12, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: Celebrity News

Marisa Tomei recently turned 44, but in "The Wrestler" she hardly looks a day older than she did when she first stomped into our hearts 16 years ago as a brash Brooklyner in "My Cousin Vinny" (1992) and surprised everyone — including herself — by winning the best supporting actress Oscar. Over the years since, she has quietly but consistently proved to those who thought that was a fluke — or worse — that she is the real deal. And I’ve got news for you: In less than two weeks, she could well win her second Oscar, in the same wide-open category, as a result.

I had a chance to chat with Tomei about all this and more earlier this week, and found especially interesting her comments about what went into making Cassidy not your cliche screen stripper, but rather a multi-layered, fully-humanized character….

Tomei on going to the movies as a kid

"I started really loving musicals and wanting to be in musicals, actually — I think that’s where the seeds got planted. And I joke around that this role in ‘The Wrestler’ — the dancing is the closest that I’ve gotten to my Gene Kelly dream so far."

Tomei on becoming an actor
"I was quite shy, and in third grade we had a class play … and that was kind of a little out-of-body experience for me at that young age because I found myself — I can even see it and picture it now — like, raising my hand and going to the front of the class to sing my little song — ‘Country Road,’ by the way — to audition. And it’s something that I just never would have done because I was so, so, so shy. So it was such an extraordinary moment in that way, to find myself floating forward, to be willing to put myself out there like that."

Tomei on breaking through as an actor, making "My Cousin Vinny" and her first trip to the Oscars 16 years ago
"My mother did send me on the plane with a lasagna to Alabama."

Tomei on what drew her to "The Wrestler," despite reservations about nudity
"I thought there was maybe something there with a connection to women, and their creative expression, and their sexuality, and their bodies, and being in their bodies. That was a piece of it to me."

Tomei on the markedly different ways in which Cassidy and Randy view their relationship
"We talked a bit about, How does she really feel about him? And what’s this back-and-forth that she does? And is that part of the mask that she’s had on for so long because those are the muscles that get exercised with her line of work and her own personal history? Or is it really more of a comradeship that she has with this person? We really had to talk that through."

Tomei on the carefully chosen, distinct look of Cassidy
"I got to go to all the stores on Hollywood Boulevard and kind of just be like Cassidy shopping for her own stuff."

Tomei on what she imagines Cassidy’s life was like before — and will be like after — the period covered in "The Wrestler"
"I thought that she was kind of a wild girl, and I thought that she did it for fun, at first — like on a dare, like she was that kind of a person — and didn’t really hate it, at first. And I think there’s still a part of her that has creative expression through it — maybe not the lifestyle and the things around it. But the actual expression, I think, is something that’s another parallel with Randy the Ram’s character because it’s something that’s important to his identity, and to hers."

The path Tomei has taken to this point has been surprising to many. Some suspected she would go the route of a Julia Roberts and become a romantic leading lady in studio films; instead, her filmography is more like that of a Catherine Keener, an indie specialist whose contributions have helped to elevate many low-budget indies into must-see films. Among them: Nick Cassavetes‘ "Unhook the Stars" (1996), which garnered her a SAG Award nomination for best supporting actress; Tamara Jenkins‘ "The Slums of Beverly Hills" (1998), which brought her an American Comedy Award nomination for funniest supporting actress; Todd Field’s "In the Bedroom" (2001), for which she received her second career supporting actress Oscar nod; and Sidney Lumet’s "Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead" (2007), which showcased her beauty and feistiness as well as any film since "Vinny."
Now, in "The Wrestler," Tomei is arguably better than ever. She portrays Cassidy, a stripper/single mother who sees her life in black (inside the strip club) and white (outside of the strip club), and dares not mix the two. Her beliefs are challenged, though, when professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson (best actor nominee Mickey Rourke), her longtime lap dance client, falls upon hard times and shares his pain, hopes and dreams with her. Oddly enough, they prove to be kindred spirits, of sorts — both are really wounded animals, both saw their happiest times in the bygone ’80s, both are now using their body to survive tough times, and as conflicted as they are about doing so, both can’t help but revel in the affection generated for them by their performances, which they can’t necessarily find elsewhere.

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