Tough Guy Ray Liotta
Actor Ray Liotta's latest big screen release, "Narc," is a gritty crime drama about the world of undercover narcotics officers. In it, Liotta plays a veteran and volatile police detective, Henry Oak.
He visits The Early Show on Monday to talk about his role and the story that inspired the film. Writer/director Joe Carnahan first developed "Narc" in 1994 as a short film entitled "Gun Point." He was inpired by the critically acclaimed documentary, "The Thin Blue Line," about an actual slaying of a Dallas police officer in 1976.
Liotta is the slain officer's partner and mentor. As Oak he is a bare-bones, brass-knuckles cop who has been leading the murder investigation.
About Ray Liotta:
Liotta received widespread acclaim in Martin Scorcese's "Goodfellas." He portrayed the tortured half-Sicilian, half-Irish Henry Hill opposite such actors as Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. His performance helped garner the film an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
His work in Jonathan Demme's edgy "Something Wild" has been recognized with a Golden Globe nomination. Films of note include, "Dominick and Eugene" in which he plays a medical student caring for his mentally challenged brother, and the Academy Award nominated film, "Field of Dreams," in which he was Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Liotta has over 25 feature films under his belt, including comedies, such as "Corrina, Corrina," with Whoopi Goldberg and "Heartbreakers," with Gene Hackman and Sigourney Weaver; thrillers, such as "Unlawful Entry," with Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe; and the futuristic prison drama, "No Escape."
Most recently, Liotta appeared in Ted Demme's "Blow," with Johnny Depp, Nick Cassavetes, in "John Q," with Denzel Washington and Robert Duvall, and in Ridley Scott's worldwide box-office hit, "Hannibal," opposite Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore.
And he completed production on "I.D.," which reunites him with "Cop Land" director James Mangold. The crime/thriller, scheduled for release in April, also stars John Cusack and Amanda Peet.
Liotta has also been recognized for his TV work. He received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Frank Sinatra in HBO's miniseries "The Rat Pack."
In 1999, Liotta founded Tiara Blu Films with his wife, actress/producer Michelle Grace, and producer Diane Nabatoff. Since then, in addition to "Narc," the company has produced a pilot for the HBO series "Baseball Wives," which was recently picked up for 13 episodes to air in 2003. Also in that year, the company will go into production on "Between the Lines," starring country music singer LeAnn Rimes.
A New Jersey native, who began acting while a student at the University of Miami, Liotta credits working on the stage and in musicals with helping to shape him as a performer.