Tobin Bell

Born: August 7, 1942 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA

I always thought I was going to play romantic leads. I honestly did. I still don’t think I’ve played the role I’m destined to play, one that shows a wholeness. I’ve appreciated all the roles I’ve played, but I mean a role that shows the fullness of my personality, not just that power guy. I was doing a scene at the Actor’s Studio in New York [in the early ’80s], 150 people sitting in the audience. It was about Thomas Jefferson-very sensible, very intelligent, very classical kind of scene. I finish the scene, the director says to me, “Tobin, how’s your career coming?” And I said, “Well, you know, I’ve been doing some plays, I’m doing one downtown.” And she said, “No, but I mean, are you making money?” and I said, “Well, I’m plugging away, and I have since the mid-’70s. It took Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman 15 years before they worked.” So she said, “You should go to Hollywood and play bad guys, that’s what you should do.” I was like, “What?”

Goodfellas
1990
dir. Scorsese
starring
Ray Liotta
Robert DeNiro
Joe Pesci