When reading Volpone I tried to focus on the questions that were posted as suggestions to ruminate about, specifically who would I cast for each role. I actually had a lot more fun reading the play because I was thinking about which actors and actresses would be perfect for each role. Here are a couple of things I came up with.
First of all, I pictured this whole play as an Italian mafia scene, which probably seems out there to most people but the movie Goodfellas is a personal favorite of mine, I'm Italian, and the whole thing is sneaky and manipulative like the Italian mob. I pictured Volpone as a kind of godfather figure, who was in charge, scheming everyone through manipulation and deals. Therefore, I pictured the character of Volpone being played by Paul Sorvino!
Then, I pictured Mosca as Ray Liotta because for most of Goodfellas he is running around after Sorvino doing favors, helping him in his schemes, and trying to make sure he is happy. This behavior of "being attached at his boss's hip" made me think of how Mosca is called Volpone's parasite and seemed to fit the character.
For the character of Celia, I tried to think of an actress that was attractive and Italian (to go with the Goodfellas theme!) At first, I thought of actress Elizabetta Canalis because she is smoking hot and then I remembered I was pairing her up with Paul Sorvino and those two just did not mix. Plus, Celia's character is very religious and moral- and Canalis is too sexy to represent that! So I decided on Sophia Loren (but back in the day!) because she is age appropriate, still an Italian beauty but in a more classy and reverent way.
To play Voltore I thought Deniro; for Corvino I thought Pesci. Because Corbaccio is supposed to be older I pictured him as Charles Scorsese and his son Bonario as Martin, which worked out perfectly in my mind because they are already father and son.
For everyone else I did not have specific actors/actresses in mind, just a general, overall Italian mob/the movie Goodfellas theme. Obviously, this interpretation does not fit in the 17th century. However, if we were going to rework this play into a more modern version with up to date situations I think the whole Italian mafia theme could be pretty funny and present the overall themes in a new light.
Very fun rumination! I enjoyed your take on who would be fitting actors for the parts. I agree that reading the play would be much more interesting and entertaining while thinking about different actors playing the characters. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think this is really interesting, not just because I love Goodfellas, but because I never even thought of the play from this perspective. This is making me think, how would I cast the play? I was picturing the entire ordeal as less serious than Goodfellas (which has its comedic moments, but is an overall bloodbath). I don't know if you've ever seen it, but Vicky Christina Barcelona reminded me a lot of the overall tone of this play - the dry, blunt humor really mimics whats going on in Jonson's work. I agree with most of your casting choices otherwise, and I think it's really funny how you chose Ray Liotta to play Mosca - his relationship with Sorvino in Goodfellas is practically identical to Mosca's relationship with Volpone in the play!!
ReplyDeleteMy rumination was very similar to yours except I compared the movie Wall Street to Volpone. It is funny how different Wall Street and Goodfellas seem at first, because they are both eerily similar to Volpone. Both movies were made at the end of the 80's which was a very popular time for greed laden stories in cinema. I think that by comparing Goodfellas to Volpone is proof to how timeless a story Volpone really is. There is something about greet and mischevious behavior that we root for. I think that it was much easier to root for Ray Liotta in Goodfellas than Volpone. I wonder if you agree.
ReplyDeleteI think your casting of these characters are awesome. I very much appreciated your reasoning and explanation for your choices because they really made me see and agree with where you were coming from. Great job!
ReplyDeleteLove how you compared Volpone to a Mafia movie! Picturing the Piazza's in Venice, and potential for costuming gives me a great visual of all these characters on stage. I personally love Goodfellas too, and can see exactly what you are saying.
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