Michael Imperioli plays another tough guy on Life on Mars. In the show, a modern day cop finds himself in 1973. Imperioli plays one of New York's finest of the day, not too happy about this new guy.
Crave Online: When you come off the Sopranos, do you have to think about what your next show will be? Or do you just throw your hands in the air and say whatever I do, I'll do?
Michael Imperioli: You see what comes your way. I did a couple of movies between, just kept going on but I saw a couple of things I didn't think were right but when this finally came, I think it had enough ingredients to jump in.
Crave Online: How do you make sure he's not just a cop version Christopher?
Michael Imperioli: I'm trying to just take him for who he is and really talk to people who actually did it at the time and just find out what were the ingredients that went into being a detective at that time. I think just be true to the job and true to the time and try to find something specific to him and then leave it up to the writers.
Crave Online: Are you ready for another show to go 6-7 years?
Michael Imperioli: Yeah. Why not? That would be the jackpot, twice.
Crave Online: Were you bored and stir crazy since The Sopranos ended?
Michael Imperioli: No, I was working a lot actually. I did a couple of movies and plays.
Crave Online: When people hear you're associated with something, people assume it's going to be good. Do you like that or is that pressure?
Michael Imperioli: Well, there is a pressure but then I think it's a good kind of pressure because it's about choosing something that is of a certain quality and then executing it in a certain quality and dedication. I really think the team they've assembled and based on what I've seen in the pilot, I think this has a fantastic shot.
Crave Online: What were your thoughts on the Sopranos finale when you got the script, and then there was reaction after it aired?
Michael Imperioli: I knew what he was planning for a long time and before he told me, like a while back. When I finally saw it, I thought it was much better than I had thought. I thought it was a great ending. Brilliant.
Crave Online: HBO wants to do a Sopranos movie. What are your thoughts on that prospect?
Michael Imperioli: I haven't heard anything about it. I've heard a lot of rumors but apparently, the last thing I heard David say was that it wasn't happening. I'd be very surprised if it did because David is not someone who just did stuff for the sake of it. I think he found a way to close the story and I'd be surprised. He seems like someone who just kind of goes his own way.
Crave Online: What was better about '70s New York and what has improved since then?
Michael Imperioli: What was better? I mean, I didn't spend much time in the city. I lived in Mount Vernon as a kid. When I first got to Manhattan it was like 1983. It was just a lot more diverse than it is now. It was a lot more artistic than it is now. Artists really can't, young artists can't really afford to live in Manhattan and stuff like that. I guess it's a safer place now. I just think artistically, it was a very interesting time. The '70s, the punk scene in New York, the music that came out of New York in the '70s, the CB Jeebies, that was really cool. The art scene that eventually happened in the '80s I think was very cool and it's all stuff that I kind of respond to.
Crave Online: Even though you've done other things, do you think everything will still be compared to The Sopranos? Would that be okay or have you had enough?
Michael Imperioli: No, I'm very proud of that show and I'm proud of what I did on the show. If that's the thing I'll be most known for, I'd be fine with that.
Crave Online: Has it been a problem with auditioning?
Michael Imperioli: No, it hasn't been. I did two movies last year, one was for ABC, the Mitch Albolm movie that I did. Peter Jackson's last movie that hasn't come out yet.
Crave Online: Do you get recognized at all now that you look like a '70s dude?
Michael Imperioli: A little bit. Much less.
Crave Online: Is it nice to look so different?
Michael Imperioli: Yeah, it's good for me. It's just kind of more what I normally look like.
Crave Online: What were your favorite shows in the '70s?
Michael Imperioli: You know, I don't remember exactly what was on the air in '73, but I liked Batman and Happy Days. Happy Days was one of my favorite shows.
Crave Online: What was your summer like?
Michael Imperioli: The highlight of my summer, I'm always happy when I'm with my family. My kids, my wife, so as long as I get to spend time with them I'm happy. I just directed a movie that I wrote and my wife produced the movie and did the production design. Steve Schirippa was the star. It was like 18 actors from my theater that worked in it and it was a very family kind of project. We did it independently. I'm editing it now and that was kind of a dream come true so I was really, really happy. But that's work.
Crave Online: Any other news from the theater?
Michael Imperioli: The theater's closing. We're moving into film production. The theater was not for profit and it just got harder and harder to fund.
Crave Online: So now you're going to profit?
Michael Imperioli: Well, it was kind of almost easier raising money to make a film. The two investors from the film were two of our biggest supporters of the theater. I'm not disappointed. We did 12 amazing new plays. Like I said, 18 actors from the theater are in the movie so the movie was a direct birth that came out of the theater. My wife became a designer at the theater. She never did sets before. She did all the sets in all the plays and learned how to do movies. So creatively we kinda learned how to do what we're doing through the theater company. We may produce plays in the future at a different venue that we might rent if we find a play that we really want to do. You know, the theater's closing but we may go on as a producing entity.
Crave Online: What character from the '70s first got you thinking you'd like to be that guy?
Michael Imperioli: The Fonz. Fonzie.
Crave Online: He's from the '60s.
Michael Imperioli: No, but that show was on in the '70s.
Crave Online: How's the wardrobe on the show?
Michael Imperioli: It's pretty cool. I was lookin' at a lotta suits that were pretty cool. They had a lot of flair. A lot of variations.
Crave Online: What's your role in The Lovely Bones?
Michael Imperioli: It's a detective. Cops and robbers, let's face it. I play a detective in a small town in Pennsylvania who's in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of the girl. I wind up having an affair with the girl's mother, played by Rachel Weisz.
Crave Online: Was it intense as a dad playing that role?
Michael Imperioli: It was intense as a dad but it's a great cast.
Crave Online: Were you in any of the New Zealand stuff?
Michael Imperioli: I was there for a month. Studio and special effects. I didn't do the special effect stuff but there were some interiors that they built in the studios there that were pretty cool.
Crave Online: Is it close to the book?
Michael Imperioli: I think so. I think so. I mean, I don't know, my stuff was mostly reality based that I shot so there's a whole other aspect of the movie that I'm not aware of yet, but I'm sure, knowing Peter, it's going to be brilliant.
Crave Online: What would you like to play other than a cop or a robber?
Michael Imperioli: I don't know. That's a good question. Painter?
Crave Online: What's your take on the Life on Mars character?
Michael Imperioli: He's kind of a hard boiled detective. He's got a competitive nature. He's a bit suspicious of this new guy. Jason's character is, to us, a transfer from upstate New York or something. So automatically, we're a close knit group of guys, we're a little bit suspicious of this guy and what's his deal going to be. Then he says these odd things because he's trying to figure out what the hell his deal is. So he kind of seems a little bit of a flake and then he's trying to introduce these new ways. He thinks he knows how to do everything because he knows what modern technology has brought to policing. He tries to introduce some of this stuff so I think it even gives me more of a problem with him because I think my character was kind of the next in line to move up the ladder. Now there's a little bit of competition.
Crave Online: Do you have the sense that this is the start of something big?
Michael Imperioli: I do. To be honest, yeah, I do. I know some of the people they're talking to and it's looking very good.
Crave Online: Why is now a great time to live in New York?
Michael Imperioli: I still just get a kick out of the city. Sometimes I'll walk down the street and I'm like this is so beautiful. New York, a lot of it's protected by landmark laws so a lot of it still looks the way it looked back then. If you look at downtown and the village, it's beautiful. To me it's still a very accessible city. You can just walk that city and get a sense of what's going on and meet a lot of different people. You can do 20 things in one day: museum, movies, sit in a café.
Crave Online: You've lived there your whole life?
Michael Imperioli: I grew up in Mt. Vernon which is right next to the Bronx but I've been in Manhattan for 25 years. I still love it a lot.
Crave Online: How did Manchester look to you in the original show?
Michael Imperioli: It looked pretty grim actually. Great music came out of Manchester, that's for sure.
Crave Online: Is your character an idiot like the one in the original show?
Michael Imperioli: I don't know. I can't say he's an idiot. As an actor, that's a bad way to look at your character. I've got to find out where he's coming from and what makes him who he is.
Crave Online: In the original, he sort of bungled his way to success.
Michael Imperioli: Yeah, I don't know if they're going totally that route. I think he's more someone who's got an aggressive nature. That can cause him some difficulties sometimes.
Crave Online: Do you have to buff up to do the action?
Michael Imperioli: Buff up? They weren't buffed up back then. I can run. I can run and catch perps.
Crave Online: What do you watch on TV now?
Michael Imperioli: I watch a lot of reruns. Lately we've been getting into The Odd Couple which also was early '70s but it was shot here. I introduce my kids to a lot of stuff that I used to watch and they like comedies, like The Honeymooners, Seinfeld and things like that.
Crave Online: What do you think of the '70s fashions?
Michael Imperioli: You've got to be faithful to the time. I'm looking at a lot of photographs of what cops wore and you'd be surprised.
Crave Online: What would we be surprised about?
Michael Imperioli: The clothes. A lot of them tended towards conservative but there was a specific look. There was a specific way things were cut and you could kind of even get a sense of what the materials were from the pictures and stuff. It's very different. It's amazing how much things have changed. There was a lot of polyester.
Crave Online: Did you ever go through a bell bottom phase?
Michael Imperioli: I caught kind of the end of that. I was pretty young.
Crave Online: Are you ready to dress like that for the next five years?
Michael Imperioli: It's the job. I want to give myself to it. If I'm gonna do it, I've got to give myself to it and create something.
Crave Online: Have you noticed any differences between doing a network series and HBO?
Michael Imperioli: Ask me in a couple months. Right now, no. Not really.
Crave Online: How did you come up with your Life on Mars hair?
Michael Imperioli: Well, my hair has been long for a while. I stopped shaving when I got cast because I wanted to see what I wanted to do with it.
Crave Online: How do you maintain it so it doesn't become too shaggy?
Michael Imperioli: Well, they'll maintain it when I get to work. Somebody else will do it.
Crave Online: Do you miss The Sopranos?
Michael Imperioli: Do I miss The Sopranos? No, The Sopranos was perfect in its lifetime. I really tend not to look back. I really am a guy who always looks forward. I loved every minute of it and I think it lasted just as long as it should have. I don't think it should have gone on. I see a lot of the guys. Steve was the star of my movie and Sharon Angela was in it. I see a lot of them from time to time. It's still a part of my life.
