Ray Liotta on the art of the Hollywood smack-down

Ray Liotta is no stranger to the gangster genre. After all, one of his breakout roles was as Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's 1990 mob classic "Goodfellas."

Now, he's returning to the crime world with "Killing Them Softly," which stars Brad Pitt and opens in U.S. theaters today. Based on George V. Higgins' 1974 novel "Cogan's Trade," Pitt plays the lead role of Jackie Cogan, a hitman who gets hired by the mob to find out what happened during the robbery of a mob-protected poker game. Liotta plays the organizer behind the botched card game.

The 57-year-old actor is usually the one throwing the blows whenever he stars in a gangster film, but, in "Killing Them Softly," Liotta bears the brunt of many beat-downs by characters who question his role in the robbery. And when Liotta sat down with CBSNews.com to discuss the project, he told us that he had a lot fun being on the other side of the punches this time around.

"[My character] gets beat up a lot. In particular...one bad beating. It was interesting to sell that and to do that and make it seem like it was happening. It's challenging because you know it's technical."

Hear more about Liotta's Hollywood smack-down by watching our interview at the top of this story.