What You Never Knew About the Mob Classic ‘Goodfellas’

Paul Sorvino nearly walked away from Goodfellas before cameras even rolled. The night before shooting, he stared at his reflection and confessed to his wife: “I can’t do this. I don’t have it in me to be that cold.” The weight of portraying Paul Cicero—a quiet but brutal mob figure—seemed beyond reach.

But his agent wasn’t ready to let go. With a few well-timed words and a reminder of what he was capable of, Sorvino paused, breathed, and found the character. That next morning, he didn’t just play Cicero. He became him, down to the chilling stillness.