Few gangsters in history managed to achieve the level of infamy and mystery as Meyer Lansky. The FBI thought he was potentially worth unfathomable millions due to his extensive casino empire, but at the time of his death in 1983, his actual net worth was said to be only $57,000. The presumably missing money has never been discovered, and Lansky brought his many secrets with him to the grave.
Writer/director Eytan Rockaway's new film, Lansky, documents and dramatizes the life and times of the man himself. The film operates on two timelines, with an older Lansky, near the end of his life, explaining his story to an author, played by Sam Worthington, with a significant portion of the film dedicated to flashbacks starring John Magaro as Meyer Lansky. For the 1980s segments, Lansky is played by Harvey Keitel, who imbues the character with wisdom, grit, and world-weary humility that can only be articulated by a living legend like Keitel.
While promoting the release of Lansky, Harvey Keitel spoke to Screen Rant about his work on the film, about his youth in New York City, his career as an actor, and a variety of topics. He talks about the importance of education, his lifelong desire to become the hero of his own story, and even reflects on his brief career as a "Coop Tapping" pigeon thief.
Lansky is out now in theaters and VOD.
Did you decide to leave the sumo wrestling world and become a journalist?
This looks like a robe, but it's actually an old shirt of my dad's.
(Laughs)
I'm a big guy, but he, rest his soul, was about 400, 450 pounds when he passed.
Oh my goodness!
And I'm helping my mom move, and I'm wearing all of his old clothes, and they're gigantic.
Oh my goodness. Wow!
It's a little tragicomic story, for you!
Peace to your dad.
Thanks! I don't know if you were around in 80s, 90s, but you probably rode his bus. He was an MTA New York City bus driver, almost 20 years.
Yes. Not only did I, but a young lady who worked for me at one time, her dad drove a bus in New York, in Brooklyn. Hi Lesley!
I know you're not in New York right this second, but do you still hang your hat here when you can? Are you still a Brooklyn boy?
Yeah. I live in New York. We're here for reasons because of the pandemic, and my wife and son and I.
In watching this movie, I knew a little bit about Lansky, but I wasn't a scholar. But some of these stories are so incredible. You think they're too good to be true, like beating the s*** out of Nazis in Manhattan, and keeping them off of the docks... In my experience as a New York City Gentile, I think there's a righteous fire in the belly of, and I don't think it's inappropriate to say, a New York City Jew. Right? That's a special breed of human being!
(Laughs) Jesus! Wait a sec, are you Jewish?
I wish! All my friends are.
You're a Gentile!
Yeah, I'm just honorary. (Laughs)
(Laughs) Oh boy, okay, where are we going with this?
I was wondering, who were the folk heroes when you were a kid, growing up in the city? Was it people like Lansky? Was it cops? Was it some guy who didn't let his store get pushed over? Who were the folk heroes when you were coming up in New York City?
Well, you know... The earliest memories I have are of the cinema. People I saw in the cinema. I felt like I would like to be that person. I'd like to do that heroic deed. I'd like to be as brave as that rabbit is, running down the road! And there were tough guys in the neighborhood, but being a tough guy wasn't all there was to being in the neighborhood. There was a lot of room there, to be this or that, and to be friendly with this person and not that person, or to follow this person's lead, not the other person. I remember, I stole pigeons sometimes. In Brooklyn, we called it "tapping a coop." Do you know that expression, when you "tap a coop?"
No, I've never heard that!
Okay. If you're gonna "tap somebody's coop," it means you're gonna steal their pigeons. I remember doing that because I wanted to feel heroic. I was scared to death. I could have gotten killed! I was maybe 10, 11 years old or so. But I was looking for a hero's journey. I wanted to feel heroic about something. Wherever we could find that, I think there's a light we head toward that can make us feel heroic in life. There's a lot to be said about that, you Gentile!
I'm doing the best I can!
(Laughs)
We'll get to the movie in a second, but is that part of why you ran and joined the Marines at 16? That sounds terrifying to me.
No, no. I was 17.
Oh, 17, okay.
Yeah, I was looking for a heroic journey. I'm looking to feel something special about myself. And the Marine Corps gave me that.
Fast-forward a handful of years. What's the process...
I'm sorry, I have to interrupt you, I'm sorry. I don't want people to think I'm advocating 16-year-olds to quit school and join the Marines. No. You have to finish school. Join after high school and college. Then you can make a choice, a learned choice. My choice was made out of frustrations and angst. And you don't want to give up your education for anything. There's time for you to serve your country in the military, if you choose.
Right. I think, especially these days, the more equipped you are with education, the better chance you have of making a real career out of it, right?
It's a must. Today, especially. In the old days, a high school diploma would do for you. Now, you must go to college. And not only that, but you'll be smarter! You'll make smarter choices! If I can say this to the youth who might be watching us, you Gentile, stay in school and you'll make a smarter choice, if you want to join the military.
100%. Let's fast forward to the set. Almost all of your scenes are with Sam. Sam Worthington, whom I've adored for over a decade now. I know these days, on a lot of movies, you don't have as much rehearsal time as you used to. How do you build a rapport with someone so quickly and efficiently, or is it just, "Acting, baby?" Tell me a little bit about working with him.
It's the same way you and I are doing that now. Sam and I got along really well together. He's really a terrific actor and wants to be the best actor he can be, and so do I. And we met on that ground, of respecting each other's work, and doing this movie. Playing these characters. Family means a lot of Sam, and it means a lot to me, as well. So we had a lot going for us both when we met.
Was that a real diner? Or was it a set? Did you get to eat from there?
Are you hungry?
Kinda!
So am I! It was a real diner, yeah.
Okay.
The waitress was an actress. She wasn't a waitress. She is an actress. A really good one!
Maybe this is a silly question, but you played Bugsy a million years ago...
You mustn't say "Bugsy!" People have to get out of the habit of saying "Bugsy!" He name was Ben Siegel.
Right, they make a point of saying that in the movie, he gets mad.
His name was Ben Siegel. He wasn't Bugsy. Okay, now your question.
You've played contemporaries to Lansky, does that inform you at all, or is that completely off to the side when you're doing this version of this guy?
The reason I got involved in theater, back in New York in the good old days, was because I had a yearning to be a creative person. And the first place I wanted to be was to create myself. So is it a part of each thing? Yeah, sure. The way the shirt you're wearing, it's a part of you, it's a part of your father. You take a little bit from here, from there, and you add it on, and you hope you wind up with a good seven-layer cake.
I'm gonna have to take it in a little bit...
I noticed!
There's so many movies that you're known for. But you've done so much incredible work over the decades. Is there any movie or project, anything you've done that you're particularly proud of, but you feel like nobody knows about it, or it didn't get the attention it deserved? Is there anything you want to shout-out for the Screen Rant reader?
Yes! Yes! And if I tell you, you're gonna get me killed. I can't pick out one! I've been very lucky to have worked with some great talents. I've been really lucky. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. There's not one, I'd say, is better than or more than... No. Sorry! Sometimes just walking across the stage to get to the other side, trying to be authentic, is enough.
I think I have time for one more, very quickly... You were on one of my favorite TV shows, Life on Mars. You and Jason O'Mara, just peas in a pod, fantastic to watch together. But that's the only regular, full season of TV you've done. Was that exhausting, or would you be game to jump into another series if the opportunity came up?
Well... You know, TV is TV. You don't have the time you'd like for this and that. Money is important. The people were terrific, who I worked with. And the story was wonderful. It was a wonderful story. That show began in England, you know. It was a British show. I don't know if you knew or not. But it was really great. And it was a pleasure to work on it, with all those guys. And then they cancelled the show!
As always happens to the shows that I like.
(Laughs)
Thank you so much, it has been an honor and a privilege to get to talk to you. I don't even know what to say, just thank you.
Thank you.