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Pearl Film Review: Anthony LaPaglia, Larsen Thompson Are Well Matched

Aug 10 2020

Early life and education

LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Maria Johannes (née Brendel), a secretary and model, and Egidio "Eddie" LaPaglia (deceased), an auto mechanic and car dealer.² LaPaglia's mother was Dutch, and his father emigrated from Bovalino, Calabria, Italy, at the age of eighteen.³ His younger brother, Jonathan LaPaglia, is also an actor, and his other brother, Michael, is a car wholesaler in Los Angeles. LaPaglia attended Rostrevor College and Norwood High School.

LaPaglia was working in Adelaide as a shoe salesman for Florsheim Shoes in the early 1980s. He asked to be transferred to the US and continued working there while studying acting as he was rejected by the prestigious Sydney drama school NIDA. LaPaglia first began his venture into dramatic art in his late teens, when he enrolled in an acting course at the South Australian Castings Agency (SA Castings) in Adelaide. The two-and-half-year course was to be supplemented with a further three months, which would have included a "boot camp" and a trial listing with SA Castings. After completing one-and-a-half years of the course, LaPaglia left Adelaide for Los Angeles.

Career

LaPaglia's earliest credit was a 1985 part in an episode of the television series Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. His first feature film was Cold Steel in 1987, followed that same year by the title role of Frank Nitti in the telemovie Nitti: The Enforcer. LaPaglia had a supporting role as a mobster in the minor hit Betsy's Wedding (1990).

He starred alongside Danny Aiello and Lainie Kazan in 29th Street, a fact-based comedy/bio-pic, as the first New York State Lottery winner, Frank Pesce Jr. This was followed by roles in the vampire/Mafia story Innocent Blood (1992), the comedy thriller So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), the legal thriller The Client (1994), and the comedy Empire Records (1995). LaPaglia appeared in the role of Jimmy Wyler, lead character in the TV series Murder One, during its second and final season. LaPaglia made his debut in an Australian production opposite Hugo Weaving in The Custodian (1993). He played a hit man in Bulletproof Heart (1994) with Mimi Rogers and starred alongside future wife Gia Carides in the romantic comedy Paperback Romance (1994).

During 1997–98, LaPaglia appeared in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge with the Roundabout Theatre Company and later received a Tony Award for his portrayal of the protagonist, Eddie Carbone. LaPaglia also played Tito Merelli in Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway. Before A View From the Bridge opened, LaPaglia was sent a script for the pilot of The Sopranos and met its creator, David Chase, to discuss the role of protagonist Tony Soprano.⁴ However, various factors, including Fox and his Broadway role, prevented LaPaglia from obtaining the role.⁵

Spike Lee cast LaPaglia as a New York police detective in Summer of Sam (1999). During 2000–04, LaPaglia appeared in eight episodes of the sitcom Frasier, including the finale, playing Daphne Moon's brother Simon.⁶ The role won him an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series".

He continued to live mainly in Los Angeles, returning occasionally—especially from about 2000—for roles in major Australian films such as Looking for Alibrandi (2000), Lantana (2001), The Bank (2001), Happy Feet (2006), $9.99 (2008), Balibo (2009), and Happy Feet Two (2011). In 2002, LaPaglia co-starred as a fire captain opposite Sigourney Weaver in The Guys, a film about New York firemen who died in the World Trade Center. He also played the role onstage, rotating with Bill Murray and others. "We did it as a tribute to the men," said LaPaglia. "I've been so lucky to do it, to be part of this experience. But I can't go back to that morning or watch the video. It's too painful."⁷ He also played fictional Australian actor Anthony Bella (who played Nicky Caesar in the fictitious series Little Caesar) in the comedy movie Analyze That, but was uncredited in his role.⁸

In addition to playing the central character in Without a Trace during 2002–09, LaPaglia co-wrote an episode entitled "Deep Water".⁹ In 2009, LaPaglia played the part of Roger East, a real-life Australian journalist, in the political thriller Balibo, about the killing in 1975 of five Australian journalists by the Indonesian Army in the town of Balibo, East Timor. The opening scene depicts East's own summary execution, during the Indonesian invasion.¹⁰¹¹

LaPaglia was originally cast in Quentin Tarantino's new film Django Unchained,¹² but eventually left the project, calling the production "out of control."¹³

In 2012 LaPaglia starred in the ABC drama pilot Americana,¹⁴ but it was not picked up.¹⁵ He next appeared in the feature adaptation of Stephen King's A Good Marriage with Joan Allen.¹⁶ In 2014, LaPaglia appeared in a CBS terrorism drama pilot titled Red Zone starring as a retired CIA operative and current high school football coach who returns to active duty after a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C.¹⁷ It was renamed Field of Play but never aired.¹⁸¹⁹²⁰

From about 2012, LaPaglia began accepting work in Australia more frequently. Following major roles in Underground (2012) (a biopic about Julian Assange) and the comedy Mental (2012), LaPaglia had a supporting role in the Neil Armfield's Australian romantic-drama film Holding the Man, as Bob Caleo. The 2015 film stars Ryan Corr and Craig Stott, with supporting performances from LaPaglia, Guy Pearce and Geoffrey Rush. Holding the Man was adapted from Timothy Conigrave's 1995 memoir of the same name. For his role within the film, LaPaglia was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 5th AACTA Awards in 2015. In that year LaPaglia returned to his home city, Adelaide, to star in A Month of Sundays as Frank, a miserable real estate agent who finds solace and redemption in a chance friendship with an elderly woman (played by Julia Blake) who reminds him of his mother. In 2016, he appeared in his first Australian TV series: The Code, a political thriller set against rising geopolitical tensions between the US and China. The following year he starred in the four-part miniseries Sunshine, an Australian crime drama series screened on SBS,²¹ set in the western Melbourne suburb of the same name, playing the role of mentor to a promising young Sudanese-Australian soccer player. The four-part miniseries is an Essential Media production, directed by Daina Reid and written by Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie.²² In 2018, LaPaglia appeared in the fifth season of the comedy Rake, based loosely on the life and misadventures of Charles Waterstreet.

In 2017, LaPaglia played Vito Rizzuto in the Simon Barry Canadian TV series Bad Blood, which aired on Citytv, in French on ICI Radio-Canada.²³ From 2017 to 2020, he starred in Neil Jordan's series Riviera. Set in the French Riviera, the series follows Georgina Clios, a midwestern art curator whose life is turned upside down after the death of her billionaire husband Constantine Clios (LaPaglia) in a yacht accident. Georgina becomes immersed in a world of lies, double-dealing and crime, as she seeks to uncover the truth about her husband's death.²⁴

In 2023, LaPaglia appeared in the ABC TV series The Black Hand, which explores the activities of the Italian 'Ndrangheta in the cane fields of Queensland, Australia, in the 1920s and 1930s.²⁵ The same year, he appeared in his Australian stage debut as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, directed by Neil Armfield.²⁶

Personal life

Marriage and family

LaPaglia currently lives in Santa Monica, California. He has said that he adopted an American accent to help him get acting work after moving to the US. His current accent is neither distinctly American nor is it Australian, but, rather, a combination of both.²⁷ According to an offhand remark by LaPaglia, he has employed an American accent since 1982.²⁸ LaPaglia is the godfather of Poppy Montgomery and Adam Kaufman's son, Jackson. LaPaglia's first marriage was to actress Cherie Michan. His second marriage was to actress Gia Carides, whom he met at a party;²⁹ the two starred in the 1994 Australian movie Paperback Romance (a.k.a. Lucky Break) and married in 1998. Their daughter Bridget was born in January 2003. In April 2015, newspapers reported that LaPaglia and Carides had split after 17 years.³⁰ He married Alexandra Henkel (his third marriage), who is 13 years younger, on 28 April 2018.³¹

Interest in soccer

In the 1980s, LaPaglia was a goalkeeper in the National Soccer League, playing for Adelaide City and West Adelaide.³² LaPaglia was part owner of A-League club Sydney FC until 2008; flying from California to Sydney to attend their matches since their inception in 2005. He was the narrator and executive producer of The Away Game, a critically acclaimed television documentary exploring the experiences of Australian men's soccer players in Europe.

He plays occasionally with Hollywood United, an amateur organisation of which he is club president, with others in the entertainment industry including Frank Leboeuf, Vinnie Jones, Steve Jones (of the Sex Pistols) and others.

LaPaglia has a minority shareholding in the International Goalkeepers Academy. The Academy was founded and is operated by James Fraser, who represented the Australian national team leading up to the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

LaPaglia has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program. He played in a charity soccer match in 2007 to raise funds for Southern California wildfire relief.³³

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

External links

• Anthony LaPaglia at IMDb
• Anthony LaPaglia at the Internet Broadway Database
• Anthony LaPaglia at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Anthony LaPaglia at the TCM Movie Database
• Anthony LaPaglia Bio at CBS – Without a Trace
• Transcript, ABC TV Enough Rope interview with Andrew Denton
• Anthony LaPaglia speaks to The Riviera Times

References

1. "UPI Almanac for Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021". United Press International. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021. actor Anthony LaPaglia in 1959 (age 62) https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2021/01/31/UPI-Almanac-for-Sunday-Jan-31-2021/4041612062354/ ↩

2. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009[full citation needed] /wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio ↩

3. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009[full citation needed] /wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio ↩

4. Evan Henerson, 2005, "Tracing a friendship" Archived 14 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, sopranos.com; accessdate 9 November 2010. http://www.thesopranos.com/2005/04/24/tracing-a-friendship/ ↩

5. "David Chase & 'The Sopranos' Gang Look Back 20 Years Later: Part I". Deadline Hollywood. 10 January 2019. https://deadline.com/2019/01/the-sopranos-david-chase-interview-oral-history-james-gandolfini-steven-van-zandt-lorraine-bracco-20-year-anniversary-1202532570/ ↩

6. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009[full citation needed] /wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio ↩

7. "Anthony LaPaglia (TV and film actor)". Parade Magazine. In Step With: Anthony LaPaglia. 27 March 2005. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061017192348/http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_03-27-2005/in_step_with_0 ↩

8. "At the Movies: 'Analyze That'". ourmidland.com. 5 December 2002. https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/At-the-Movies-Analyze-That-7144959.php ↩

9. tvguide.com – "Exclusive! Anthony LaPaglia Reveals His Own Take on Trace" – retrieved 21-04-2009 https://www.tvguide.com/news/Exclusive-Anthony-LaPaglia-38493.aspx ↩

10. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009[full citation needed] /wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio ↩

11. LaPaglia leads Balibo five thriller cast, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 28 September 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071206153432/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/28/2045993.htm?section=justin ↩

12. "Anthony LaPaglia joins 'Django Unchained', discusses Joseph Gordon-Levitt's role |". Reservoirwatchdogs.com. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2012. http://reservoirwatchdogs.com/2011/10/31/anthony-lapaglia-joins-%e2%80%98django-unchained%e2%80%99-discusses-joseph-gordon-levitts-role/ ↩

13. Jagernauth, Kevin (17 August 2012). "Anthony LaPaglia Exited 'Django Unchained,' Says Production Was "Out of Control"". blogs.indiewire.com. Retrieved 23 January 2013. http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/anthony-lapaglia-exits-django-unchained-says-production-was-out-of-control-20120817 ↩

14. Nellie Andreeva (18 February 2012). "Anthony LaPaglia to Star in ABC Drama Pilot 'Americana'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 29 February 2012. https://deadline.com/2012/02/anthony-lapaglia-to-star-in-abc-drama-pilot-americana-232885/ ↩

15. Leaked scenes from dropped show, Americana; retrieved 16 March 2014 http://www.spoilertv.com/2012/06/americana-leaked-scenes-from-dropped.html ↩

16. Patten, Dominic (3 May 2013). "Anthony LaPaglia Joins 'A Good Marriage'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 October 2014. https://deadline.com/2013/05/anthony-lapaglia-signs-on-to-a-good-marriage-489736 ↩

17. Goldberg, Lesley (14 March 2014). "Anthony LaPaglia to Star in CBS' Nikki Toscano Terrorism Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 October 2014. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/anthony-lapaglia-star-cbs-nikki-688742 ↩

18. Rice, Lynette (19 May 2014). "Rejected pilots: Look who's out of work (for now)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 4 October 2014. http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/19/rejected-pilots-look-whos-out-of-work-for-now/ ↩

19. Ingram, Hunter (22 April 2014). "CBS pilot 'Red Zone' renamed 'Field of Play'". StarNews Online. Retrieved 4 October 2014. http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140422/ARTICLES/140429907 ↩

20. Rice, Lynette (21 April 2014). "Complete fall 2014 pilot list". Entertainment Weekly. Time, Inc. Retrieved 4 October 2014. http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/04/21/complete-fall-2014-pilot-list/ ↩

21. "Airdate: Sunshine | TV Tonight". 20 September 2017. http://tvtonight.com.au/2017/09/airdate-sunshine.html ↩

22. "Anthony LaPaglia leads new SBS drama Sunshine | TV Tonight". 27 March 2017. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2017/03/anthony-lapaglia-leads-new-sbs-drama-sunshine.html ↩

23. "Bad Blood, une version atténuée du clan Rizzuto | Vincent Larouche | Télévision". La Presse (in Canadian French). Montreal. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017. http://www.lapresse.ca/arts/television/201709/21/01-5135298-bad-blood-une-version-attenuee-du-clan-rizzuto.php ↩

24. Tartaglione, Nancy (9 August 2016). "Sky's Riviera Completes Cast Opposite Julia Stiles in Neil Jordan Jet-Set Thriller". Deadline Hollywood. https://deadline.com/2016/08/riviera-cast-julia-stiles-adrian-lester-iwan-rheon-sky-neil-jordan-thriller-1201800716/ ↩

25. Debi Enker (20 June 2023). "Anthony LaPaglia's personal dive into the Mafia's history in Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/anthony-lapaglia-s-personal-dive-into-the-mafia-s-history-in-australia-20230619-p5dhl9.html ↩

26. Tim Byrne (8 September 2023). "Death of a Salesman review – Anthony LaPaglia leads an electric, devastating tragedy". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/sep/08/death-of-a-salesman-review-anthony-lapaglia-leads-an-electric-devastating-tragedy ↩

27. Davenport, Dawn Meade (16 October 2008). "The Watercooler: How do they lose those accents?". Johnson City Press. Johnson City, Tennessee: Sandusky Newspapers. Archived from the original on 12 January 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009. Anthony LaPaglia, Australian, Without a Trace, CBS. After years in the movies and a memorable recurring role as Daphne's drunken Mancunian brother on Frasier, LaPaglia took the part of New York FBI agent Jack Malone on Without a Trace. Because American accents vary greatly from region to region, and we don't know where Jack grew up, LaPaglia gets away with diction that sounds neither distinctly American nor Australian. https://web.archive.org/web/20090112033136/http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=ENTERTAINMENT&ID=65328 ↩

28. "Chaser gives LaPaglia a g-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 August 2006. https://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/chaser-gives-lapaglia-a-gup/2006/08/25/1156012727498.html ↩

29. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009[full citation needed] /wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio ↩

30. "Anthony LaPaglia and Gia Carides split after 17 years of marriage: Who's Ant's mystery brunette?". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/anthony-lapaglia-and-gia-carides-split-after-17-years-of-marriage-whos-ants-mystery-brunette/story-fni0cvc9-1227291380533 ↩

31. Demeter Stamell (4 July 2018). "Anthony LaPaglia has married Alexandra Henkel... who is 30 years his junior". Mamamia. Retrieved 19 September 2023. https://www.mamamia.com.au/anthony-lapaglia-wife/ ↩

32. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009[full citation needed] /wiki/Inside_the_Actors_Studio ↩

33. "LaPaglia lines up after wildfires". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: Fairfax Media. 28 October 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2009. https://www.smh.com.au/news/football/stars-lines-up-after-wildfires/2007/10/27/1192941398266.html ↩

34. "Anthony LaPaglia (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 21 December 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Anthony-Lapaglia/ ↩

35. "Anthony LaPaglia (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 21 December 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Anthony-Lapaglia/ ↩

36. "Anthony LaPaglia (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 21 December 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Anthony-Lapaglia/ ↩

37. "Anthony LaPaglia (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 21 December 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Anthony-Lapaglia/ ↩

38. Leydon, Joe (11 August 2020). "Pearl Review: Anthony LaPaglia and Larsen Thompson Are Well-Matched in an Uneven but Affecting Drama". Variety. Retrieved 21 December 2024. https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/pearl-review-1234731109/ ↩

39. Grater, Tom; Wiseman, Andreas (30 November 2020). "Justin Kurzel Sets Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis & Essie Davis For Port Arthur Massacre Film Nitram". Deadline. Retrieved 21 December 2024. https://deadline.com/2020/11/justin-kurzel-caleb-landry-jones-judy-davis-essie-davis-port-arthur-massacre-film-1234623099/ ↩

40. D'Alessandro, Anthony (6 August 2024). "Mallory Jansen & Anthony LaPaglia Join Alex Proyas' Sci-Fi Satire Feature R.U.R.". Deadline. Retrieved 21 December 2024. https://deadline.com/2024/08/mallory-jansen-anthony-lapaglia-alex-proyas-r-u-r-1236033129/ ↩

41. Knox, David (1 July 2019). "Gibney, LaPaglia, Marais for Halifax: Retribution". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 December 2024. https://tvtonight.com.au/2019/07/gibney-lapaglia-marais-for-halifax-retribution.html ↩

42. Petski, Denise (13 August 2021). "Florida Man: Netflix Series Adds Six To Cast Including Anthony LaPaglia, Lex Scott Davis; Sets Four Directors". Deadline. Retrieved 21 December 2024. https://deadline.com/2021/08/florida-man-netflix-series-cast-anthony-lapaglia-lex-scott-davis-abbey-lee-clark-gregg-otmara-marrreo-emory-cohen-1234814116/ ↩

43. Whittock, Jesse (31 August 2022). "Netflix's Boy Swallows Universe: Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker & Phoebe Tonkin To Front Aussie Drama From Brouhaha Entertainment, Anonymous Content & Chapter One". Deadline. Retrieved 21 December 2024. https://deadline.com/2022/08/netflix-boy-swallows-universe-travis-fimmel-simon-baker-phoebe-tonkin-1235103993/ ↩