Joe Pesci retired from acting after his heyday in the '80s and '90s, but a few film and TV projects have managed to entice him back to the profession.
Summary
- Joe Pesci retired from acting in 1999 to focus on his music career but returned in 2010 for the film Love Ranch.
- Since his return, Pesci has had a limited number of acting projects, including a critically acclaimed performance in The Irishman that earned him an Oscar nomination.
- Pesci's recent return to TV in Bupkis demonstrates his continued selectivity in choosing roles, as he only participates if he genuinely likes the material.
Joe Pesci stepped away from a hugely successful acting career in 1999, making his return to screens 11 years later all the more surprising. While the actor has dozens of screen credits to his name, including some of the best Martin Scorsese movies, the massive gaps in Pesci’s later filmography speak to a partial disillusionment with the industry. Nevertheless, the actor’s contributions to Hollywood as a supporting actor and leading man have cemented him as a film icon.
Pesci could easily have amassed over a hundred credits by this point in his career. Comedy roles in Home Alone and My Cousin Vinny and meaty dramatic parts in films like Goodfellas and The Irishman speak of a star capable of leaving a lasting impression across a wide variety of genres and tones. Nevertheless, the creative spirit that makes Pesci a great performer also makes the star mindful of his choices and curious about other artistic forms. It’s worth unpacking what caused Pesci to quit acting and how he was enticed to come back.
Joe Pesci Quit Acting For Over A Decade To Pursue Music
In 1999, Joe Pesci announced his retirement from acting to focus on his music career. While Pesci’s screen acting career saw its first speaking role with 1976’s The Death Collector, the star’s involvement with music stretches back even further. In the 1960s, Pesci played guitar for Joey Dee and the Starliters, a band with two certified gold top 10 singles to their name. Though they never shared the stage, Jimi Hendrix was also part of that group's lineup for a time. In 1968, Pesci also released the solo album Little Joe Sure Can Sing! under the name Joe Ritchie.
While Pesci released his second studio album, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You in 1998, his retirement from acting did not trigger a prolific period of new music releases. The break was also likely motivated by a loss of enthusiasm for screen acting. Pesci has never seemed overly enthusiastic about the limelight, rarely doing press interviews, and giving a famously brief Oscar acceptance speech. With his post-Casino career seeing a string of critically panned films, including a Razzie-nominated performance in Lethal Weapon 4, Pesci may have believed that the time was right to step away from Hollywood.
Why Joe Pesci Returned To Acting In 2010
Joe Pesci broke his retirement for an unexpected film in 2010. While the actor had made a cameo in the 2006 Robert De Niro-directed film The Good Shepherd, Pesci’s first major role in 12 years came in Love Ranch. The movie stars Pesci alongside Helen Mirren as a husband and wife who open the first legal brothel in Nevada. According to director Taylor Hackford (via Variety): "Joe didn't have any desire to work, but he was the first person I had in mind […] He's playing the godfather of legalized prostitution, and it convinced Joe to jump back into the fire."
While Pesci did not personally discuss his return publicly, it’s likely that the script resonated with the star at a time when he was ready to return to acting. Unfortunately, whatever Pesci saw in the film did not seem to translate to the final product, which currently sits at an abysmal 12% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
What Has Joe Pesci Starred In Since Returning To Acting
Despite having returned to acting, Joe Pesci is nowhere near as prolific as he was in his pre-retirement era. The star has only appeared in four major projects since Love Ranch. In 2015, A Warrior’s Tail saw Pesci lend his voice to the English dub of a Russian animated movie. In 2019, the actor joined the cast of The Irishman after being asked more than 50 times by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro (via GQ). Pesci stated (via Far Out) that he didn’t want to “do the gangster thing again,” but the actor’s eventual participation in the film earned him widespread critical praise and an Oscar nomination.
In 2023, Pesci made his first TV appearance in 30 years in Bupkis, an autobiographical show starring Pete Davidson about the actor/comedian’s life. Davidson explained (via REAL ONES With Jon Bernthal) that Pesci simply “liked the material enough to do it,” a ringing endorsement from the notoriously picky actor who “doesn’t need to do anything” at this point in his career. Indeed, Joe Pesci seems to feel the same way, with only one other upcoming project on his slate, the boxing movie Day of the Fight, which has not yet found a distributor.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, GQ, Variety, Far Out, REAL ONES With Jon Bernthal
Related Topics About The AuthorncG1vNJzZmirk6eyprrRmqWtZpOkunC2zp5kqZ2jmLZuvdSiq2aZk6m2r7OMq5ytraKjenJ9jLKcmqqjYrmiwMSrZg%3D%3D