“I like to work,” he says.
“I think I have a pretty good work ethic.
My whole family works.
Credit: James Dittiger
For the most part, Cannavale has avoided appearing in anything too trashy or egregiously lowbrow.
The one glaring exception?
2006’sSnakes on a Plane, in which he plays an FBI agent.
“Everybody knows that actors have managers, and all that,” says Cannavale.
“And some people listen to them.
I just trust my gut.
I say, ‘I know that you’re used to doing something a certain way.
But I’m different.’
Theonetime I listened to everybody wasSnakes on a Plane,” he says with a laugh.
“I was like, ‘Guys, it’s calledSnakes on a Plane!!!’
I remember this conversation.
They were like, ‘It’s going to be huge!
You should do it.
Gotta do it.
It’s gonna allow you to get cast in other things.’
He passed away very suddenly a couple of years ago.
He was great, a former legendary stuntman, who they got to direct this.
He was such a kind guy and it felt very low-pressure.
I used to joke, for me, the movie’s calledThe Guy on the Ground.
Because I never got to be on the plane.
It was me and Todd Louiso running around on the ground trying to find anti-venom.
But it didn’t hurt me, it didn’t help me.
It just you know, I’m part of a movie calledSnakes on a Plane.
Not much else to say!”
Vinyldebuts Sunday on HBO.
See a trailer below.
A version of this story appeared inEntertainment Weeklyissue #1402, on newsstands now
