Deeds,You Dont Mess With the Zohan,The Ridiculous 6).
Ive seen you at the farmers market.
John Turturro:Yup, I was there today.
I know a lot of the people there.
And thats part of the appeal of John Stone inThe Night Of.
This is a guy whos not larger than life.
Hes a real survivor.
And we were shooting in New York in the winter, so I was cold.
Especially on my feet.
Did that help you with the state of frustration hes experiencing?
It kind of did.
But I thought he was such a beautifully written character within this beautifully written piece.
So then the how of how I did things was given a lot of room for my imagination.
Whos someone like that?
Well, I met with this one star defense lawyer in Brooklyn.
His name is Kenny Montgomery.
You gotta see him, he looks like Idris Elba.
Big, strong guy, handsome, so charismatic.
He should be a star of a show.
Its oftentimes the guy who doesnt look like who youre playing that can really help you.
What did you two talk about?
He was able to articulate for me the cost of what he does for a living.
He told me he cant compartmentalize quite so easily when certain cases take a lot out of him.
He was so precise and it was exactly the things that John Stone is experiencing.
He took me through what was going on in his head when he had someones life in his hands.
I was like, Wow, now I understand a little bit.
Did you see him in the courtroom?
No, he wasnt in trial at the time.
But I almost didnt need to.
He spent a lot of time with me, just talking about the things hed felt.
I would talk to him occasionally while I was working and he was very generous.
Did you look at lawyers in movies too?
I looked closely at Paul Newman inThe Verdict.
I felt like this was the world of Newman, Walter Matthau, Jack Warden.
You know, Sidney Lumet characters.
Guys who were eating sandwiches and holding walkie talkies.
Thats an older New York feeling and a color but the complexity is there.
Its great that you mention Walter Matthau.
I was looking atThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three, as well.
And I listened to the way that Matthau used his voice.
Hes like John Stone, hes a verbal jouster.
In the 70s we didnt have cell phones, so guys were always shouting.
Yeah, theres a real burnt-out, blasted quality to your voice on the show.
I did a big vocal warm up everyday.
I wanted Stone to talk with that lower bottom part of his voice, the most growly part.
You have an amazing facility with Richard Prices dialog.
It just rolls off your tongue.
I know Richard well.
Ive worked with him on a few things.
Ive done readings and Ive read his books.
Its such a tapestry.
What is it about Prices dialog that you respond to?
It comes from somewhere.
There are the words that John Stone says and then theres where the words are coming from.
Hes sarcastic, but its to protect himself.
Hes very observant of the world around him, though he doesnt show off.
And its as powerful when theres less dialog as when theres more dialog.
Its such a dramatic moment, yet its not overplayed.
Thats where the whole things lives.
Its all in the minutia and the moment-to-moment life and the cost.
Plus, I play this guy whos not used to holding someones life in his hands.
Then you have a prosecutor who is.
A detective whos about to hang it up.
Thats a big thing in life the cost of things.
What was the working relationship with director Steven Zaillian like?
You both seem to share a sensibility.
Well, I knew Steve.
I almost participated inSearching for Bobby Fischer, which was his first movie as a director.
We were completely on the same page.
And I was blown away.
I couldnt stop watching it but not just because of the story but because of the behavior.
AndThe Night Ofis very behavioral.
And what was it like to be a part of this ensemble?
What can I say, it was wonderful.
I found a real connection to Riz as a person.
Hes really talented and a very hard worker.
That made it easier to care about Naz as a character.
Bill Camp as Detective Box, just wonderful.
I know him from his first job.
And how many times have I seen him on stage?
It was great to see him, because we already had a history.
And if you look at Jeannie Berlin, shes so unique and completely believable as a prosecutor.
She doesnt look like an actress playing a prosecutor.
She seems so real.
Im a huge, huge fan of both of them.
Youve acted in nearly 100 movies and directed a few, but you havent done too much TV.
Well, I didBronx is Burning(an 8-part ESPN series about the Yankees).
And a TV movie where I played Howard Cosell [Monday Night Mayhem], which was two hours.
And you almost didnt doThe Night Of, right?
James Gandolfini was originally cast as Stone.
And after he passed away, they came you.
Yeah, and I was like Oh, no, guys, I cant.
He was a close friend of yours?
We worked together onRomance and Cigarettes.
I went to his wedding.
I went to his funeral.
How did they convince you to take on this role, which he had started?
Well, they showed me the pilot and I was like, Aww I dont want to watch this.
It was the pilot and he only had that one scene at the end.
I was watching it with one eye closed, obviously.
Did you talk to people who knew Gandolfini?
His managers were encouraging to me.
And I talked to his wife.
My makeup guy on the show worked on theSopranosand wed talk about James on the set.
We would laugh because James hated makeup and I was in that chair for hours a day.
I kinda kept that makeup guy as my rabbits foot.
I wanted to do a good job for myself and for my friend.
The Night Ofairs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
