NEW YORK -- When Federico Castelluccio's name is mentioned, two words come to mind--master and mobster. Put these words side by side and you have yourself a dangerous master mobster. But in Castelluccio's world, the blending of these two talents has been a blessing in disguise. Many know him in showbiz as Furio Giunta, the right-hand mobster of Tony Soprano on the HBO 4-time Emmy award-winning hit series, "The Sopranos" But in the art world, he is known as the master Renaissance painter of Trompe L'oeil, a "fool the eye" process that has been in existence for many centuries. Castelluccio believes his TV fame has definitely played a postitive role in his success within the art world. And after juggling and mixing the two for more than 20 years, he can finally be recognized both for his talents as an actor and as a painter.
"Art fulfills my creative and artistic desires; I fed empty without it," says Castelluccio. Born in Naples, Italy, he was raised around the masters in painting--his parents had old master prints around the house. "Here I learned about painters and how important Renaissance painters really are," he says. "And I hope this doesn't sound pompous, but I always felt I could do it."
He continues, "Renaissance is the height of all art and was based on the study of nature and working from life"--which Castelluccio loves. "I love the study of nature and all my paintings stem (are drawn) from life," he adds. For the most part, Castelluccio doesn't sketch the painting first, he just walks up to the canvas and paints straight from life. He is known for his "Trompe L'oeil" style, which is usually accomplished with a flat piece of paper that lays next to another flat object, which in turn casts a shadow on the object it is laying on, giving it a three-dimensional appearance.
He has been painting ever since he was a small child but got his professional start in the early 1980s. He created a painting for the late, great comedian George Burns and presented the painting to him at the Plaza Hotel in New York. There were a lot of network representatives at the event and George Burns felt something needed to be done.
"We have to do something for the kid--get him an interview," Burns said to some of the "bigwigs" at the event. And because of Burns, Castelluccio ended up with an interview with PBS, which later saw the rest of his work and promptly hired him to paint.
Last month, Castelluccio's recently completed paintings were on exhibit in a solo show titled "Renaissance," giving a tribute to the great masters at the Lawrence Steigrad Gallery in New York, which displayed nearly 20 original works. The "overwhelming response" is evidence that the two careers have complemented one another nicely. Sheila Herzog, Castelluccio's assistant, described the turnout as "a sea of people" saying "we received way more people than expected."
Although Castelluccio's acting career has heightened his painting career, he truly believes people buy his paintings for the quality of the work, and not just because he is a celebrity. "Because a collector is a collector, he or she isn't going to pay more money just because the painting is by a celebrity," he says.
"When I got more into acting (1986), I found that there was a real correlation between painting and acting, especially in the process of creating a character and the process of creating a painting. Both start with an idea. And with that, you make a sketch depicting the way you want to go with it," Castelluccio says. "In acting, you layer the character. You add dimensions and play with the words to come up with a final product or character, and people will then have a clear and lucid description of this character. The same goes for painting; you keep layering and layering until you have a clear picture of what you're trying to say with your painting."
He goes on to say, "Painting makes me richer as an actor." Castelluccio explains that he is a detail-oriented person and when painting, starts with broad strokes and then focuses on one subject. He takes this skill from painting and transfers it to acting by adding minute details to a character. For example, he says, "Furio comes into a room and instead of just standing there, he is bopping his head a bit, or when his character says something like beautiful, he adds an Italian accent to it, bay-vu'-te-ful," in order to add dimension to the character.
In fact, he used this idea during his "Sopranos" audition. Instead of speaking the line in English, he said it in Italian, since his "mobster" character is Italian. Castelluccio, however, was not so sure he made the right decision because actors know that there is an unwritten rule against adlibbing during auditions. But after his first audition, Georgeanne Walken, casting director, enthused, "Federico that was a breath of fresh air," referring to Castelluccio's Italian accent as opposed to a New Yorker "acting" as an Italian.
Castelluccio got a call the very next day to read for the producers of the show.
He felt he gave an "amazing" audition, even if he went against the norm, adding minute details to the script of his Italian character. After all, Castelluccio is from Italy. David Chase, executive producer and creator of "The Sopranos" stopped Castelluccio after the audition and asked, "Where are you from?" After Castelluccio's response, Chase grinned and said, "Thank you very much," and walked away. Two weeks later, he was offered the role. In the end, the writers used Castelluccio's adlibbed parts, writing them into the script.
The very next day after the show aired with "Furio Giunta," he was instantly recognized in public. A young boy around 11-years-old yelled out to him, "Furio, you're my biggest fan," and didn't even realize what Castelluccio was laughing about. To this day, this remains his favorite fan moment.
But even though Castelluccio has dual interests, and loves both aspects of each, his passion is painting. He says he is always painting in his head. He looks around and what he sees, he "paints." He comments, "I came into life painting. Art is apart of me; it's in my blood. Acting, on the other hand, I had to first learn." ABN
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