I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. The real community is built on the working man, the guy who's the cop, the fireman, the truck driver, the bus driver.

My mom was Sicilian, my dad was Sicilian. Mom was a great cook, but all the women were.

I came here knowing nobody. I worked clubs as a singer and even the doors a few times before I landed some TV roles.

I never worried about becoming typecast. People have said that to me, but I never worried about it. As long as the part is three dimensional, I'm okay with it, whether the role is to play the heavy, the cop.

The key is you have to keep doing the right thing. Do the right thing and stay around long enough, and you'll keep getting parts. And if you don't, you write your own parts, which I'm lucky to do. It's like anything else: you get hot, you get cold, then you get hot again. You just keep working.

Oh, great reviews are the worst. They mislead you more than the bad ones, because they only fuel your ego. Then you only want another one, like potato chips or something, and the best thing you get is fat and bloated. I'd rather just refuse, thanks.

My mother and father told me I was god. I was a good Italian boy who hung out with the same four guys. I was a little god.