John Travolta was nearly upstaged by Lindsay Lohan at the New York City press conference announcing the feature film "Gotti: Three Generations" — and Lohan wasn’t even there to talk to the media. (But she did pose for photos.) Travolta is set to play the notorious mob boss John Gotti Sr. in the movie, while Lohan is in discussions to have a role in the film. The filmmakers wouldn’t say at the press conference which role they are considering for Lohan.
At the press conference (held April 12, 2011), Lohan was one of several guests in the audience, which included Victoria Gotti and other members of the Gotti family; Kelly Preston (John Travolta’s wife); actor Chazz Palminteri; and talk-show personality John Melendez. It was announced that Ella Bleu Travolta (John Travolta’s daughter) will have in a role in the movie (details on the role are to be announced), while Oscar-winning actor Joe Pesci will play mobster Angelo Ruggiero, a close friend of John Gotti Sr.
"Gotti: Three Generations" — directed by Nick Cassavetes, written by Leo Rossi, and independently financed by Fiore Films — is scheduled to start filming on location in New York City in October 2011. The movie is expected to be released in theaters in 2012. It was announced that the filmmakers are "very close" to signing an actor to the role of John Gotti Jr., whose relationship with his father will be the focus of the movie.
At the tightly controlled press conference, reporters were told at the beginning that only questions about the film were allowed. A reporter tried to ask Lohan a question and attempted to ask Cassavetes how he envisioned Lohan in the movie, but the press-conference moderator (a publicist for Fiore Films) rebuffed those attempts and said those questions would not be answered at the press conference. But here is what Travolta, John Gotti Jr. and Cassavetes said when they answered questions from the moderator and some reporters.
[April 18, 2011 update: Less than a week after this press conference happened, Fiore Films announced that Cassavetes is no longer directing "Gotti: Three Generations" due to scheduling conflicts with "Yellow," another movie that he is directing.]
[April 20, 2011 update: Lohan has been cast as Kim Gotti, the wife of John Gotti Jr.]
John Gotti, you were approached by many people to make your life story into a movie. Why did you decide to go with Fiore Films?
Gotti: When Mark and I first met, we had a lengthy discussion. We had lunch together. And what I brought away from that lunch is that we were going to have the ability to write history correctly and accurately. And that meant the most to me.
Why is the making of "Gotti: Three Generations" so important to you?
Gotti: John Gotti, my father, was an icon. He was a man larger than life. And he had the ability, when he walked into a room, he owned the room and everything that was in it. He stood true to his beliefs.
Having seen several productions in the past — all the movies [about the Gottis] in the ‘90s — never quite accurately depicted John, the person he really was, how true he was to his convictions, the way he lived his life, and the way he died. And we’re going to have the opportunity. That’s why it means so much to me right now. I feel passionate right now to do this.
What is the most interesting thing that people are going to learn about you and your family in "Gotti: Three Generations"?
Gotti: Well, I believe — and my siblings can attest to it — that we’re a pretty normal family. We really do the basic things that everybody else, normal Americans, do in the household. What they’re going to learn about my father and [me] is that it was a relationship basically where I was, for the most part, raised in visiting rooms in various prisons across the country, as were my siblings, because that was the life that my father chose and had lived.
And what’s most important here is that we are now going to show them … There is one thing that is very important, and I have to say it: Many times you hear people say, "John Gotti was a killer. John Gotti was a gangster. He was this; he was that." Yeah, he was. But he was also a man’s man, which is most important.
He made a choice to be something in his life, and he stood true to those convictions. He never one time deviated from that path. Not once. And in the end, when he had the opportunity to say "uncle," he believed he was right, he stood his course, and he suffered. He suffered greatly. He paid for every sin that he may or may not have committed.
That’s what I want everybody to understand. That’s one of the main things, when I spoke to Nick [Cassavetes] and I spoke to Marc [Fiore, the CEO/executive producer of Fiore Films], "This is what we need: What I want, what’s most important to me in the end, when people walk away after watching this movie, they can draw their own conclusions. They can say, ‘John was a good guy,’ ‘John was a bad guy,’ ‘I liked him,’ ‘I disliked him,’ but he most certainly paid for his sins. He paid for his sins like a man."
John Travolta, you get a lot of movie offers. Why did you want to do "Gotti: Three Generations"?
Travolta: There’s a lot of reasons. But number one is this is probably the most interesting, untold story in this country — and what a character to approach and to understand. Meeting John Gotti Jr. was one of the pleasures I had that sent me over the top recently. We had such a great evening together. We spent about five hours, just discussing family and life. And I even got more compelled to do this.
And believe it or not, my favorite show was "Growing Up Gotti." I saw every episode. [Victoria Gotti] is amazing. The love she has for these boys captivated me. [He says to Victoria Gotti in the audience] I remember when one of your sons was going to box, and you were hysterical over it, the idea of maybe that beautiful face might get hurt or something. And you were running off to the boxing gym to stop it. [He laughs.]
But all this beautiful love that I feel from this family, it’s such an interesting dichotomy to the illusion that the family has. And there are so many things about it. The John Gotti Sr. character is filled with incredible dichotomies.
I like the glamour that he has. I like the humor that he has. He entertained the press very well. He charmed them. He charmed his fans. He had mystery about what he was up to, and I like playing that.
And I think all of these things, where the script captures it, will be wonderful to play. Hopefully, we will give a modern story of a family like this, as opposed to history. We’re always doing historical characters. Although this is modern history, it’s of today, too. And that’s interesting.
We’ve never done a contemporary film like this. So I like being part of it. It’s relative. It’s still relative, and I find that interesting. And at the end of the day, is it worth it? I have to say that there’s a lifestyle that people pay a high penalty for, and maybe at the end of the movie, you’ll say, "You know, for all that you get for it, is it ultimately worth the paranoia and the fear and worth the family at risk?"
All these interesting questions that you have to say. I would love the audience to be challenged with these questions. "Wow, [John Gotti Sr.] was powerful, but was it worth it?"
What was the most surprising thing you learned about the John Gotti Sr. and his family?
Travolta: The depth of commitment [that John Gotti Sr. had] to them. Unlike [John Gotti] Jr., perhaps John Gotti Sr. had a moral code that was stronger to his "code," if you will. That John Jr. fell in love with his family — not that John Sr. wasn’t in love — but this other idea [of being a mob moss] perhaps came first. And I found that very interesting. And I learned a bit about that.
I learned a bit about their commitment to each other, and the fears that [John Gotti Jr.] had of his dad, but at the same time, this ultimate respect that he had and admiration for his father — all these things. We’ve only touched the surface. We have a lot more to go.
This father [John Gotti Sr.] lost a son, and I’ve lost a son. We discussed that in depth and how painful that is and how painful it was for his father. It was an amazing kind of evening. There was a bonding of some sort that I felt was quintessential. But even if I didn’t do the movie, I would love him anyway.
The movie is another thing. I’m one of those guys who gets much more interested in the moment than I do anything else. I like to get caught up in what you’re doing at the time.
Was your dad a John Travolta fan? And would your dad think John Travolta would be a good fit to play him in a movie?
Gotti: Absolutely and absolutely. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, who wasn’t a John Travolta fan?
Mr. Travolta, are you excited about the possibility of working with Lindsay Lohan, and have you been encouraging her to come on board for "Gotti: Three Generations"?
Travolta: I know firsthand — and I think it was on television — Lindsay Lohan happens to be a very big fan of mine from years ago, when she was a little girl. She probably liked [my characters], anywhere from Danny Zuko [from "Grease"] or Vinny Barbarino [from "Welcome Back, Kotter"]. I always thought she was gorgeous and talented and filled with a lot of depth. So I think whatever she would like to do would be great with me.
Nick, how are you going to handle the more violent aspects of this story or things that the Gotti family might not want in the movie? Is there any tension about that, or are you getting all access to the Gotti story?
Cassavetes: Thank you for your question. As a filmmaker, you try to get things right. And I am blessed on this project to have people who have encyclopedic knowledge of the events that happened.
Let me be real clear: We’re going to make a movie that’s going to have a lot of warts. Some people are going to look good. Some people are going to look bad. Most of them are going to look a little of both.
But in no way, shape or form have I run across any one thing that anybody’s been afraid to tell me. Everyone’s been really forthcoming … The hardest part of the movie is that there is so much unbelievable stuff that happened, how do we fit it in all into two hours?
How do you want "Gotti: Three Generations" to be different from other movies about your family and other crime movies in general?
Gotti: The vast majority of the previous productions [about the Gotti family] were from a journalistic or government viewpoint. ["Gotti: Three Generations"] is a little different. This is something where, basically, we have the ability to talk about a father/son relationship and the common ground that we stood on (my dad and I) and the life that we lived.
And we start from the beginning. And we walk through it as accurately as possible. And as Mr. Cassavetes had said, there are warts along the way. And that’s where you can tell the story.
We can sit back and say, "Life was good. Every day the sun rose, the bluebirds sang, and all was well in Mayberry." It didn’t always work out like that. There was a lot of ups and downs and a lot of tears, and there was a lot of happiness.
And we’re going to walk you through it, from the beginning, from the birth of John [Gotti Sr.] — and what I mean by the birth of John is when John, my father, became what he was, when he began to venture into that life, and his path from the beginning to the very end — and my observations and my experience with my father.
Nick, what will be the timeline for "Gotti: Three Generations"? And what will be the main focus of the plot?
Cassavetes: The film takes place over approximately 35 years — as John [Gotti Jr.] said, from when John Sr. was a very young man up until now and today. What I think is important to understand about the story is if you read the newspapers, you know the direction where the story is going and some of the milestones that happen in the story.
But what really is interesting is what John [Gotti Jr.] said: He didn’t know any better. The family didn’t know any better. This is the only life that they’ve had. So to them, it seemed normal.
Let me just go on record as saying that the man at the end of this table [John Gotti Jr.] is a wonderful man. He’s true of character, honor — and he’s tough, too. And I couldn’t be happier doing a story about him.
Mr. Travolta, how will you be preparing your role of John Gotti Sr.?
Travolta: Well, as you see in this room, there’s a plethora of knowledge here that I tap. I’m looking forward to more discussions and stories and understanding the structure of how a syndicate like this works. I need a better understanding of that. I need as much video of the man that I can take to observe his behavior and his style and his specific cadence. And whatever I can capture from his being-ness.
So I have a lot of work to do, but it’s part of the fun of being an actor. This is what you look forward to most: your research and your investigation into portraying a character. How do they walk? How do they talk? How do they think?
How do they feel about everyone? How much paranoia is involved? How much actual of the day is in harmony with others or in disharmony? There’s a lot of great questions to ask — and I can’t wait for the answers.
How do you think the families of people who were hurt or killed by John Gotti Sr.’s activities will feel about seeing this movie?
Gotti: In this script, everybody’s a victim. Everybody’s a victim. And you’ll see it.
Cassavetes: With all due respect, I’d like to say something as well. There’s a reason why we’re all here. There’s a reason why this family has caught not only this town’s attention but national attention: We feel drawn to the Gotti family, even though we do completely different things.
And the reason why we do is because right or wrong — and believe me, it is my personal belief that some of it is wrong — we associate with them because they are what they are. And everybody who identifies with this family identifies with them for this reason [he places a hand to his chest and thumps it]. To live in this life, we have to live in relationship with the government, and every time John Gotti Sr. got on trial and won, we won. And I think we’re going to explore a lot of that in this film.
Mr. Travolta, can you give us a preview of your impersonation of John Gotti Sr.?
Travolta: I feel like Zoolander! I’m not going near it. No, I couldn’t.
For more info: "Gotti: Three Generations" website
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