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Vincent Piazza

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vincent Piazza
Piazza in 2012
Born1975 or 1976 (age 49–50)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active2005–present

Vincent Piazza (born 1975 or 1976)[1] is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of gangster Lucky Luciano in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire. He has also played Earl Hefner in the comedy-drama Rocket Science (2007) and singer Tommy DeVito in Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of Jersey Boys (2014).

Early life and education

[edit]

Piazza was born in Middle Village, Queens, New York City, and raised in nearby Maspeth.[2][1] His father is Italian, having immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s. His mother is of German descent.[3]

Piazza played ACHA Division I-AA ice hockey for Villanova University, until a shoulder injury forced him to quit playing and leave the university after a year.[4]

Career

[edit]

After retiring from hockey, he began to work with acting coach Alice Spivak and joined the TerraNOVA Collective theatre group in Lion Theatre along Theatre Row in New York City.[5] After appearing in a number of New York Off Broadway productions, including Baby Steps, A Match Made in Manhattan and Much Ado About Nothing,[5] he made his feature film debut in the 2006 film Stephanie Daley and went on to appear in the television movie The Dawn and an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.[4]

Piazza has appeared in three episodes of the television series The Sopranos; the eighth, eleventh and thirteenth episodes of the show's sixth season. He describes his experience working on the show as "incredible" and says he would appear in any prequels or sequels to the series if he was asked.[6] He then featured in the 2007 film Rocket Science as Earl Hefner, the kleptomaniac older brother of the film's protagonist. After auditioning at a casting session held at a New York acting school, he ended up being one of the first actors cast, writer-director Jeffrey Blitz saying: "Vince brought just the right combination of humor and threat to the part ... [I] kept many of the rest of the choices Vince brought to Earl. He's a very physical actor and a very funny one, too."[4] He went on to appear in the independent films Goodbye Baby, Tie a Yellow Ribbon and Apology, as well as guest-starring in an episode of Law & Order, before he landed the recurring role of Tony in Rescue Me's fourth season.

Piazza appeared in the 2008 film Assassination of a High School President in the role of Ricky Delacruz. He had originally unsuccessfully auditioned for a different part, but Brett Simon, the film's director, was fond of his performance in Rocket Science and so suggested that he take on another role.[6] In order to master a Hispanic accent for the role, he visited a woman he knew who runs a Puerto Rican theatre in Manhattan and usually coached Puerto Ricans to adapt American accents, to have her coach him to read his lines in a thick Puerto Rican accent.[6] He also completed a television pilot directed by Brett Ratner, Blue Blood, for which he had a seven-year contract if the series had been picked up by NBC.[6]

Piazza was then cast as a series regular on Boardwalk Empire in 2009 as real life Italian-American mobster Lucky Luciano, appearing in all five seasons. In 2013, Piazza won the role of Tommy DeVito in the Clint Eastwood-directed adaptation of the Broadway musical Jersey Boys. Piazza had to take vocal, guitar, and dance lessons to play DeVito, one of the founding members of the band The Four Seasons.[7]

Personal life

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Piazza was in a relationship with singer Ashlee Simpson from June 2011 to November 2012. As of May 21, 2018, he was engaged to actress Genesis Rodriguez but the relationship ended shortly after they became engaged.[8]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Vincent Piazza in February 2011
YearTitleRoleNotes
2005Color of a Doubt: an Urban FableChris Parker
2006Stephanie DaleyGeoff
2006The DawnScott
2007Rocket ScienceEarl Hefner
2007Goodbye BabyDominick
2007Tie a Yellow RibbonEd
2008Assassination of a High School PresidentRicky Delacruz
2010Polish BarReuben
20143 Nights in the DesertBarry
2014Jersey BoysTommy DeVito
2015The WannabeThomas
2016The InterventionPeter
2017Never HereAndy Williams
2017The Girl Who Invented KissingJimmy
2020CentigradeMatt
2020618 to OmahaEd MerriweatherShort film

Television

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YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Law & Order: Criminal IntentEric NewsomeEpisode: "Wrongful Life"
2007The SopranosHernan O'Brien3 episodes
2007Law & OrderPeter HarrisEpisode: "Over Here"
2007Rescue MeTony6 episodes
2008Blue BloodBobby MoranTV pilot
2009How I Met Your MotherBus BoyEpisode: "The Rough Patch"
2010–2014Boardwalk EmpireLucky LucianoMain Cast
2019The PassageClark Richards
2021Pacific Rim: The BlackJoelAnimated series; voice role
Money, ExplainedScam Artistdocuseries; Episode: "Get Rich Quick"
2022–presentTulsa KingVince AntonacciMain role[9]
2024Batman: Caped CrusaderTony ZitoVoice role

References

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  1. 1 2 Leland, John (September 28, 2014). "Vincent Piazza: 40 Blocks From Home, but a World Away". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2023. A native of Queens, Mr. Piazza, 38...
  2. ↑ Rennison, Billy. "Vincent Piazza dishes on going from Queens to the 'Boardwalk'", Queens Courier, September 14, 2012. Accessed March 15, 2023. "Vincent Piazza — born in Middle Village before moving to neighboring Maspeth shortly thereafter, where his family still lives — grew up watching the films of Martin Scorsese, never imagining he would one day be directed by the film giant."
  3. ↑ Thorp, Charles (June 19, 2014). "Vincent Piazza Embraces His Roots". Men's Journal. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Rocket Science Production Notes". Picturehouse Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  5. 1 2 Jeff Mitchell. "VINCENT PIAZZA". TerraNOVA Collective. Archived from the original on September 10, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Weintraub, Steve (January 28, 2008). "Vincent Piazza – Exclusive Sundance Video Interview". Collider.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  7. ↑ Serico, Chris (June 15, 2014). "Vincent Piazza walked like a man as Four Seasons founder Tommy DeVito in 'Jersey Boys'". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Instagram".
  9. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (March 24, 2022). "Tulsa King: Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza & Jay Will Join Sylvester Stallone In Paramount+ Series". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
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