He's currently earning raves for his work as melancholic mob boss Russell Bufalino in
Martin Scorsese's Netflix epic The Irishman, but it seems the end of the road could be
near for Joe Pesci's acting career.
Here's why The Irishman might be Pesci's final film.
To be clear, there's been no official news or confirmation about Pesci's retirement,
and there may not be, as Pesci hasn't exactly been one to offer career updates to the press
over the years.
But the actor has entered semi-retirement before.
Since 1998's Lethal Weapon 4, Pesci has appeared in just four feature films: 2006's The Good
Shepherd, 2010's Love Ranch, 2015's A Warrior's Tail, and this year's The Irishman.
Pesci has made a staunch habit of saying "no" to the movie business over the past couple
of decades.
"No."
But it seems he'll at least consider answering the call if he has a chance to work with trusted
friends like "Marty" and "Bob."
He likely wouldn't have even appeared in two of his last four movies, The Good Shepherd
and The Irishman, if not for the incessant urging of his long-time pal Robert De Niro.
It was De Niro, after all, who coaxed Pesci back in front of the camera after an eight-year
hiatus for The Good Shepherd.
Pesci's other good friend, revered director Martin Scorsese, saw what the actor did with
so little in that film.
And thus, the director, who previously worked with Pesci and De Niro in Raging Bull, Goodfellas,
and Casino, was clearly eager to get some of that low-key Pesci goodness on camera in
The Irishman.
But even when Marty and Bob call him up, it's far from a given that Pesci will jump back
in front of the camera.
Scorsese and De Niro apparently had to ask Pesci between 40 and 50 times before he signed
on to appear as Russell Buffalino in The Irishman.
If you're wondering why Pesci finally agreed to star in The Irishman, Scorsese said in
a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly a handful of reasons that may or may not have
influenced Pesci's decision:
"It's not even about the money or about being compensated and appreciated for your value.
It's about the physicality of [making a film] where nobody's giving you anything.
At a certain age and physicality for the actors, it may not be worth it."
Like Pesci himself, his old movie crew is also getting up there in age.
Though Scorsese and De Niro continue to crank out movies at an impressive pace, there's
little doubt that eventually even they will have to slow down – which means that there
will likely be fewer and fewer chances for Pesci to even think about boarding a film
project moving forward.
While Pesci maintained a remarkably low profile in the movie business over the last 20 years,
he's been keeping himself quite busy in other areas.
During Pesci's first sabbatical from acting in the early 2000s, he spent much of his time
making his way into the so-called "sport of kings" horse racing.
Pesci has always taken the sport quite seriously, claiming that he backed into being an owner
and breeder because he enjoyed horse racing so much.
For the record, he still does, and remains a mainstay on the scene.
Though he's had successes and failures in both realms, Pesci would likely claim neither
acting nor horse racing as his true passion.
That title will seemingly always belong to music, with Pesci first stepping foot into
the entertainment business as a singer way back in the '60s.
Pesci was actually pals with singers Frankie Valli and Tommy DeVito when he was growing
up in Belleville, New Jersey, and he introduced the pair to songwriter Bob Gaudio.
Yes, that means Pesci is at least partly responsible for the formation of the iconic vocal group
The Four Seasons.
As Pesci watched his pals rise to superstardom, he made a go of it in the music biz himself,
releasing his first solo album, Little Joe Sure Can Sing!, in 1968.
The album, and his music career as a whole, was a moderate success at best, with Pesci
eventually finding more acclaim as an actor nearly a decade later.
Still, Pesci has returned to the recording booth often since then.
He put out a second album in 1998, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just For You, which
was, of course, released under the pseudonym of his iconic My Cousin Vinny character.
"Did you say yutes?"
"Yeah, two yutes."
"What is a yute?"
"Oh, excuse me, Your Honor.
Two youths."
In November 2019, Pesci released a new album of jazz-tinged crooners called Still Singing,
which finds him belting out standards alongside the likes of Adam Levine and jazz icon "Little"
Jimmy Scott.
Slate recently named Still Singing one of the Best Jazz Albums of 2019.
It's a distinction incredible enough to possibly convince Pesci to keep his music career going
for the foreseeable future, and shy away from acting again.
Whether it was money, the relentless nature of filmmaking, or a simple desire to take
it easy in his late 70s that was holding Pesci back from getting back into acting, his contributions
to The Irishman simply cannot be underplayed.
Many critics agree that the film is nothing if not a first-rate Scorsese picture, featuring
the first truly great De Niro performance in who knows how many years, along with equally
brilliant contributions from Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, and Anna Paquin.
But the fact is that Pesci steals the show with his marvelously understated work as a
quietly domineering mobster.
"He has no choice.
He has no choice.
These are the higher ups."
However Scorsese and De Niro finally convinced Pesci to appear in The Irishman, they were
indeed rewarded for their efforts with a career-crowning performance.
If The Irishman truly does become Pesci's final film, he would certainly go out on top.
As much as we'd like to see the actor carry on in front of the camera for years to come,
we really can't help but feel like The Irishman isn't just a pitch-perfect swan song for one
of the greats of the acting game, but also a well-earned one.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite stars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.