Plenty Of Pain
It seems as though plenty of people got hurt in the making of Goodfellas, but especially the stuntman Peter Bucossi. During a scene where he was standing in for Frank Vincent as Billy Batts, Bucossi ended up quite battered and bruised despite wearing pads. Ray Liotta also needed to take a trip to the hospital after being accidentally hit by Chuck Low in one scene too. Even Scorcese found himself struggling to breathe during the Copacabana scene due to all the smoke affecting his asthma.
A Family Thing
Did you know that Martin Scorcese’s parents are actually in the Goodfellas movie?! His mom, Katie, played Tommy’s mother and is quite a prominent role in the film. However, his father had a bit of a smaller part to play. Charles Scorcese played Vinnie, who is the man in charge of the meat in prison. Not exactly a life-changing role, but fun to play nonetheless!
The Wig Commercial
Ever wondered why the movie starts off with Morrie’s wig commercial? It’s thought that the real Jimmy was an insomniac who would see Morrie’s ads for a window replacement company late at night, and get annoyed that he had money to spend on commercials but not to pay his debts. The wig commercial is based on the original ad that wound Jimmy up!
The Made Men book is jam-packed with secrets we never knew about this classic movie!