The Uncrowened King of New York II

Second instalment of Sean McCarthy's interview with veteran New York actor Victor Argo. This part includes: working with Abel Ferrera and Christopher Walken, and Argo's new film Lustre, a low-budget poetic homage to New York City.


Seán McCarthy: You have also appeared in many of director Abel Ferrara's films, including Bad Lieutenant, Dangerous Game, The Funeral, and King of New York. Why do you think Ferarra calls on you so often?

Victor Argo: I suppose he likes my work. When I did King of New York, he didn't know me at all. I was recommended by my agent in Italy Vittorio Squillante who co-produced King of New York. I met Abel in California, I auditioned for him in New York, and I got the part. Abel, like most terrific directors, if he trusts you as an actor he'll leave you alone. But I had to ask him:"Who is Bishop?", And he and the author decided that Bishop was pure goodness. There were certain things in the film that I objected to, and I said to him, "Listen. Bishop wouldn't allow policemen to act that way. He's by-the-book, you know?" There were cops sticking the finger at me, or shooting up a bar - Bishop would never allow that! And even though he shot those scenes, on my objection I think he took them out, because Bishop is a by-the-book cop.

Describe working with Abel Ferarra?

You know, Abel has been lambasted by the critics lately, and it really annoys me, because Abel not only dares to be different, he is different. Abel is a couple of bubbles off plumb. You know that expression? And people who dare to be different ...like Scorsese, like De Niro, like Abel ...we expect them to be great all the time, you know? But it's impossible. The fact is ...people who dare to be different deserve to have latitude; they deserve to fail. Everything doesn't have to be great. No matter what I see in what Abel does, there's always something in his films that moves me deeply, or excites me. I just did his movie R Xmas. And in R Xmas, there's a scene at a table while this family is wrapping cocaine up in little packets. And there was some dialogue there ...I had about ten lines. And as I'm watching the scene on film, I said to myself "My God, he cut my lines."And the camera's moving up and down, with dissolves into each new shot. And I was a little pissed because I only had ten lines to begin with! But as the camera moves back and fourth, you pick up little 'snippets' of the conversations. And the scene was terrific, far better than if he had left all the original dialogue in. It was a lovely, beautiful scene. Also, he uses Ken Kelsch, a great cinematographer. I think Ken has a lot to do with a great part of the cinematic style of King of New York. He also did The Funeral which is one of my favourite Abel films.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 94