Summary
Domenick Lombardozzi and Annabella Sciorra are back in the mafia genre withFresh Kills. Having first broken out with his turn asHerc inThe Wire, Lombardozzi has frequently made appearances in the mafia genre, starring in everything from Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated epicThe Irishmanto theSylvester Stallone-ledTulsa King. Sciorra similarly has her own past with the genre, starring as Gloria in HBO’sThe Sopranosbefore also going on to star inTulsa King, as well as the 2019 adaptation of the Vertigo comicThe Kitchen.
InFresh Kills, Lombardozzi stars as Joe Larusso, the patriarch of a family of two daughters and a wife who is also on the rise as a mob boss in 1980s Brooklyn. Sciorra, on the other hand, stars in the movie as Christine, the aunt of Joe’s daughters and sister to his wife, Francine, who frequently offers emotional support for the family amid a number of hurdles involving Joe, including his imprisonment and emotional abuse of Francine.Fresh Killsprimarily focuses on Joe’s daughters, Rose and Connie, as they grow up and have conflicting emotions about their father, bringing a feminine focus to the mafia genre.
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Alongside Lombardozzi and Sciorra, the ensembleFresh Killscast includesParanormal Activity: Next of Kin’s Emily Bader as Rose,Hellraiser’s Odessa A’zion as Connie,Blue Bloods' Jennifer Esposito as Francine, Nicholas Cirillo, Stelio Savante and Franco Maicas. Written, produced, and helmed by Esposito in her feature directorial debut, the crime thriller is a fresh and powerful take on the oft-treaded mafia genre.
In anticipation of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Dominick Lombardozzi and Annabella Sciorra to discussFresh Kills, how their longtime friendship with Esposito bolstered their faith in the project, and their desire to further subvert genre expectations with their characters.
Sciorra, Lombardozzi & Esposito Have Swirled In The Same “Small Community” Of New York Actors
In addition to finding themselves captivated byFresh Kills' script, both Lombardozzi and Sciorra pointed towards their long friendships with Esposito as a major selling point for starring in the movie, with Sciorra even humorously noting that many New York-born-and-raised actors are in “a pretty small community”:
Domenick Lombardozzi: Well, first and foremost, it started just with a long relationship with Jennifer over the years. I have known her over 25 years. But as far as the script goes, I just thought it was interesting taking this genre from a female’s point of view, nonetheless, like an adolescent. I’ve never seen that before, and it’s such a personal film, and I wanted to make sure I was part of it.
Annabella Sciorra: I’ve known Jennifer for a while, too. I think all us New York actors are in a pretty small community. But Jennifer sent me the script, I think it was ‘18 to ‘21, I think it’d be like five or six years ago now, and I loved it. I didn’t grow up in that sort of way, but it felt like it was a long time coming to have a fresh point of view on this mafia trope, which gets probed ad nauseam. I thought it was very, very powerful. We did a reading very early on, right after she sent it to me, and I told her, “I don’t know what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, but whatever you want, I’m in.”
Sciorra ViewsFresh Kills’ Characters As Being “In A Lot Of Pain”
Though the characters all take different paths through the movie, Sciorra ultimately feels thatFresh Kills’ ensemble cast of characters are all “in a lot of pain”,and that the thing that separates them is they are “coping with it in different ways”. For Christine, in particular, she is coping by trying to convince Rose to break out from the mafia world and have a better life:
Annabella Sciorra: I think everybody is in a lot of pain, and is coping with it in different ways. I wanted to be the only person that the young Rose talks to, and then there’s one key thing that I find out the truth about, I wanted to be able to — I talked to Jennifer a lot about this, she breaks it. She’s like, “That’s it, I’m done, I’m giving this girl permission to go, to get out.” Whether she goes or not, you have to go see the movie, but I loved that. I just love that she took that journey and went on it, and really made a decision, which is very brave and not easy at all.
Lombardozzi Wanted To Avoid Playing Joe As A “Very Stereotypical Gangster”
Even with the movie being planted firmly in the mafia genre, and his character seemingly an archetype of it, Lombardozzi’s goal in playingFresh Kills' Joe was to avoid being a “very stereotypical gangster”. Instead, the star leaned into his being “a father” and “a husband”, with the nature of the mafia being part of the character’s struggle to “find the balance between both worlds”:
Domenick Lombardozzi: For me, it was making a decision not playing Joe as the very stereotypical gangster or what people have the impression he is. First and foremost, I wanted him to be a father, a husband, and find the balance between both worlds when he was around his daughters. I wanted them to feel comfortable around their father, but that’s the beauty of this movie. They’re smarter than that, they see the danger, they see all that stuff.
So, for me, it was playing that mafia guy, but yet, “How do I somehow soften up, or maybe blind the eyes of my family?” And I think Jennifer did a great job with the script. A lot of it was on the page for me, I’ve got to be perfectly honest with you. And I was working with great people, with Annabella there, and all the girls, and Jennifer was really hands-on. I was in good company.
AboutFresh Kills
Late 1980s - Meet the Larusso family: Joe, the loving father and up-and-coming mafia kingpin; Francine, the lovingly flawed wife and mother; Connie, the son Joe never had; and Rose, an inquisitive, withdrawn young girl. New to Staten Island by way of Brooklyn and looking to make a better life, we follow Rose, the youngest daughter, as she reluctantly discovers who her father is, her place within this family and the world around her. Her eventual desire to break free from the life set before her not only threatens her existence but makes enemies out of her closest allies: her mother and sister. Like every mob movie you’ve never seen before, this is the story of the women of this life. The fear, violence and rage that dictates who they are and who they become. A search for freedom within a world they may never leave.
