#fukunaga is a smooth operator

[mintmatcha]

on the porch:

"I have a pretty big scar." The rim of Fukunaga's cup sits against his lips as he speaks, the dark liquid bobbing in time with the conversation. His mouth is set into his typical feline curve, one that grows as he watches you.

You quirk a brow. "How'd you get that?"

With a flourish, he throws his hand over his forehead and sighs. Somehow he manages to keep a solemn face, closing his eyes and furrowing his brow, as he laments: "Bear attack."

"Oh, really?" you snort as you sip your own drink, your eyes scanning over his exposed skin for an signs of said scar. The cool night air has left a scattering of goose bumps across his skin, but it seems flawless.

He opens one eye. "Or I fell down the stairs as a kid. Either or."

Both of you break into giggles. You're aware at the casual way he shuffles closer, trying to hide his movements with the shake of his shoulders as he laughs.

"Where's this mysterious scar, Sho?" you ask.

"My back." he takes a long sip of his drink, tipping the last bits of backwash into his mouth. His voice is low, darker than usual. "Go check it out if you want."

Something feels different. There's a line that your friendship has always teetered on- balancing between friendly and flirtatious. Maybe it's the drinks, maybe its the fact you're standing out here alone- there's an air of excitement building in your chest.

His eyes scan yours, gentle smile never flickering, as you curl your arm around his torso and rest your hand on the plane of his shoulder blade.

"You won't be able to feel it over my shirt." he murmurs. Carefully, you dip your hand low and ghost it under the soft cotton, admiring how warm he is against you. A shiver racks through his body at your touch and he curls into you to escape it, chest now pressed against yours. The pounding of your heart rings through your ribs as you suck in a sudden breath.

"Hey, ice cube." he snarks, "It's on my lower back."

Your hand moves without you, tracing down his spine to the dip of his back. Your palm rests in the dimple above his hip, fingers curling over the smooth skin, and you suddenly wonder if his face has always been this close to yours. If you tilt your face slightly, your lips would meet, but you just let your breaths mingle as you continue blindly searching for this scar. Skin against skin, neither of you is hot or cold anymore; there's a delightful equilibrium.

He takes you by your bicep and guides your hand down lower, until your fingers are dipping just below the denim of his jeans. There's an indentation mark, a remnant of the elastic band of his boxer briefs, and the raised ridge of a scar, sitting just above the curve of his ass. It trails down and cross his hipe; you wonder if he would let you discover the whole thing right here, in front of his friend's house.

"Did you find it?" carefully, he lets go of your arm and lets his own hand fall down to your waist, hovering over your skin for a moment- a chance for you to say no.

Something has changed in the air. Even though the voices of people, muffled by the door behind you, echo, there's a private intimacy between you. Each breath of your lungs you have to manually control to keep even; Fukunaga is almost panting, trembling ever so slightly in anticipation.

"Yeah, I found it." you whisper and he clutches your hip, looping a finger through your belt loop. Then, with just the curl of his finger Shohei pulls you flush against him, leaning forward with crinkled eyes, nose against nose, lips parting with a final inhale-

"Ayo!" the door behind you swings open behind you, crashing into the brick with a thud. You scramble to pull away, startled, but Shohei keeps his hand tight against you, instead just turns to be at your side. Lev stands in the doorway, half hunched over himself with a lopsided grin. "How's it- oh, am I interrupting?"

"No!"

"Yes." Fukunaga contradicts you immediately.

Lev blinks, thinking for a moment, then decides to take your word. "Well, I just wanted to ask to you about-"

The blonde continues to talk, but you can't listen. Your other senses are overloaded with Shohei: his hand on your hip burns for your attention, you can practically taste his cologne on your lips, you notice how his eyes flicker back to you every other second. As you pretend to pay attention, you rest your head against Fukunaga's shoulder and nuzzle in. He straightens as he tries to bite back his Cheshire grin.

"So, are you guys coming in?" Lev tilts his head. His inability to read the room makes you giggle again.

"Nope." The brunette replies immediately, "Not anytime soon."

[fhmns]

ATTENTION

IF YOU ARE READING THIS MESSAGE YOU'VE BEEN SELECTED AS A NEW ALLY OF THE FLY HIGH MAFIA NETWORKING SYSTEM (FHMNS) IF YOU READ TO THE END OF THIS YOU WILL BE SELECTED AS A NEW RECRUIT:

Welcome.

My name is SSFIKN.1 and I will be your guide to the FLY HIGH MAFIA NETWORKING SYSTEM.

In this post, I will be covering the basic information for new recruits, such as you reading this post currently. I will go over topics such as:

-BRANCHES/TEAMS

-CAPTAINS

-ROLES

Let's start with the TEAM in the most power.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The term TEAM(S) and BRANCH(ES) are interchangeable.

AOBA JOSAI/SEIJOH: The main team. They oversee any operations, and are the main bargainers when it comes to trading, and making smooth transactions between other agencies.

Iwazumi Hajime is the bodyguard for the CAPTAIN of Aoba Josai, Oikawa Toru.

Oikawa Toru is the one who holds all the negotiations with other mafia networks, since he is very persuasive and very good at finding loopholes or other things that can guarantee alliances.

Takahiro Hanamaki is in charge of conducting the meetings, if for whatever reason, Oikawa cannot attend.

Matsukawa Issei is in charge of being the bodyguard for Hanamaki, because if Oikawa isn’t attending, Iwazumi has no reason to as well.

Everyone else who’s a part of seijoh is just in charge of getting the materials and items ready for the trade to go smoothly, as well as confirming that they got what was promised to them.

--------- SHIRATORIZAWA: In charge of defense. The CAPTAIN of this team has lost a lot of people, as well as the co-captain, thus they have become very protective of those who are willing to open their arms, and in this case, people have.

Ushijima Wakatoshi is the CAPTAIN of this team, and the person in charge of those on the front lines when enemies attack.

The other two people on the front lines are Tendou Satori and Semi Eita.

Everyone else is in charge of making sure that the other branches are able to make it out safely.

When attacks do occur on the Fly High mafia system, SHIRATORIZAWA joins forces with the branch of Fukurodani to insure that there are as few casualties on their side as there can possibly be.

The members of the SHIRATORIZAWA branch have visited the Karasuno branch many times as a result of their defense, and have become aquatinted quite well with said branch.

--------- FUKURODANI: Fukurodani is in charge of the actual violence. They are to carry out the gunfights and such.

Bokuto Kotaro is the CAPTAIN of his team, and the one in charge of leading his comrades through a fight.

His second in command is Akaashi Keiji, who is in charge of making sure that the plan Nekoma laid out is followed. He keeps everyone’s head on, which is important considering Bokuto more often than not, can get sidetracked by “side quests” that he finds, could also possibly be important.

Konoha Shūichi is in charge of taking those “side quests” Bokuto found, and getting them back to HQ, so that the other branches can determine if it is worth another round of risking their troops lives for or not.

Lastly, Washio Tatsuki is in charge of leading rookies that are part of the Fukurodani team to the end goal. As their senior, he takes it very seriously, and has ended up staying with the Karasuno branch more than enough times because he’s saving one of his kohai’s lives.

--------- INARIZAKI: They are the sneaky ones. They carry out spy missions, whenever Fukurodani is to exhausted, or Nekoma deems that a spy mission is necessary.

Kita Shinsuke is the main spy, and is the one who is more often than not sent out into the field (CAPTAIN).

The second option is Kita is unable to go is Suna Rintaro.

The Miya twins are actors. They infiltrate other systems by going out in pure light and not hiding at all in the slightest, as opposed to the others. Miya Osamu is the main twin who gets sent on missions, as his brother Miya Atsumu has a tendency to lose his temper quite often, and this has nearly cost the mission multiple times.

However, no matter what twin is out in the field, they are always accompanied by Ojiro Aran. After joining the Fly High mafia, he has been shown to be one of the only people who is able to calm Atsumu down, so he’s a very valuable asset.

Everybody else in the Inarizaki branch is in charge of assisting the Fukurodani branch on their missions when needed, which is more likely that they will be than not.

--------- KARASUNO: In charge of medical care. They have very welcoming and caring ppl on their team, so making sure others wounds are taken care of is easy.

Daichi Sawamura (CAPTAIN) and Kiyoko Shimizu head doctor, and Sugawara Koushi is his main assistant.

Asahi Azumane, Yamaguchi Tadashi, and Yachi Hitoka are in charge of moral support and making sure that the patient is fully healed.

Tanaka Ryuunosuke and the other second years are in charge of getting supplies.

Nishinoya Yu and Hinata Shoyo are in charge of getting the people who are injured into the medical room, to have their wounds examined.

Tsukkishima Kei is in charge of research do better understand poisons or other things akin to that that could possibly be used on everyone in the entire system.

KAGEYAMA TOBIO: The newest addition to the Karasuno branch. He has a lot of information on him, this has gotten an entire separate introduction. Kageyama Tobio was originally supposed to be part of the Aoba Josai branch, however, in training, lost the trust of many people. Claimed to be to hostile towards his own allies, which made him suspicious to those around him as to whether or not he was a spy. A jury was held, and Kageyama was almost kicked out of the Fly High Mafia network entirely, but Daichi Sawamura, CAPTAIN of the Karasuno branch offered to take him in. Without any experience in the medical field, Kageyama has yet to learn quite a few things, but is steadily making progress. They have decided that he will work along side Nishinoya Yu and Hinata Shoyo when it comes to getting those who need medical care into the infirmary.

--------- NEKOMA: The strategists. If a trade doesn’t go smoothly, or someone gets kidnapped, obviously the mafia will want to take action to correct the errors. This is where nekoma comes in. Sly like cats, they come up with plans to accomplish the goal at hand to minimize casualties of their own. They could literally care less about the other side.

Kuroo Tetsuro is the CAPTAIN of the team, and the main planner, and Kai Nobuyuki and Yaku Morisuke is his second and third in command.

Kenma Kozume is in charge of hacking things. He hacks into the opponents networks, radio conferences, security camera footage, etc., to make sure that everything is clear for a plan to work.

Fukunaga Shōhei is in charge of delivering the hacking Kenma does to the higher ups, the CAPTAINS.

Haiba Lev, and his sister Haiba Alisa were from a different mafia system before coming to the Fly High mafia system, so they are able to provide insight on how other mafia systems may function, as well as getting allies to help from their previous mafia system, if said system is willing to assist.

Everybody else in charge of finding flaws or loopholes in the plan, and trying to make it as foolproof as they possibly can.

--------- CAPTAINS: Captains are versatile. They can switch branches to assist others. For example, if need be, Bokuto Kotaro of Fukurodani can be placed on the front lines along side Ushijima Wakatoshi, Eita Semi, and Tendou Satori for assistance against enemies. Kuroo Tetsuro can also come assist Karasuno, specifically Tsukkishima Kei, in the medical branch, as he is very intelligent.

--------- BRANCHES: the branches have different abilities and previously shown. However, this doesn’t mean that they are useless in other fields. The Karasuno branch is just as capable of holding themselves high and mighty just like the Fukurodani branch. The Inarizaki branch can very much come up with plans, but it was found that those currently in the Nekoma branch were simply better at doing it.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE EACH BRANCH. EACH ONE IS DEADLY.

---------

The FLY HIGH MAFIA NETWORKING SYSTEM is still in the midst of making a name for themselves, but are steadily reaching the point of being well known.

By reading all the information about the FLY HIGH MAFIA NETWORKING SYSTEM you have begun becoming a part of it.

Are you ready to join?

[austerulous-a]

𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 .

1. What does your muse smell like?

Ha, I always seem to ask writing partners this question!  Annie herself has a rather keen sense of smell, and likes to be clean.  Her body’s natural scent is vaguely sweet but given she perspires considerably during martial training, and hit puberty earlier than most, she became fastidious about personal care at a young age.  In the interests of getting as much sleep as possible, Annie tends to wash out of a sink or basin in the morning, and shower in the evening (it’s no accident that this arrangement also means she’s also less likely to have to use communal showers at the same time as anyone else).  In Marley, she often retained the scent of the plain soap her father purchased, while in Paradis scented soaps became her secret indulgence.  Light, floral fragrances are her favourite, and she likes lilac in particular.

2. What do your muse’s hands feel like?

Having suffered with sensitive, itchy skin as a child, Annie is in the habit of frequently using balm or cream on her hands, which makes them soft and smooth to the touch.  That being said, as a result of domestic chores, her silver ring being a permanent fixture on her right forefinger, as well as her military training, Annie’s palms and fingers have some calluses.  For as long as she can remember, she has had cool hands (and feet) but inheriting the Female Titan seems to have exacerbated this to the point where they are frigid much of the time.  Annie’s hands are dainty, in keeping with a girl of her size and stature, while her fingers are dexterous, slender and deceptively delicate; she is strong, and can deliver a crushing handshake if so inclined (never forget this scene from the Lost Girls OVA).

3. What does your muse usually eat in a day?

Annie has an unhealthy relationship with food, and her eating patterns are disordered; she is the sort to forget to eat or to deliberately skip meals, or to binge when the opportunity presents itself.  Given that Annie’s value lies in her physical capabilities, her father was very controlling over her intake, and critical of both her body and her sweet tooth.  You better believe Gabe Leonhardt is the kind of man who would slap a biscuit out of his daughter’s mouth.  The regular, plain meals served by the military work in her favour then, as they provide some sort of structure and nutritional balance.  Of course, her impoverished background (picking mould off fruit and bread was a common occurrence during her childhood, as food close to spoiling was sold at discounted prices) and her appetite mean Annie isn’t a fussy eater.  She will try almost anything once, even dishes others might balk at, or consider an acquired taste.  Adventurous as she is, Annie carries a great deal of trauma around what she was forced to consume by the Marleyan military, as part of their experimentation on her and the Female Titan.  This included cannibalising parts of her fellow Warriors.  Living amongst refugees after the fall of Wall Maria, Annie stole food, and would split these spoils – as well as her rations – with Reiner and Bertholdt.  Sharing food is one of the easiest and most common ways for her to express affection.  Annie does not drink alcohol, her favourite beverage is limeade and she is particularly fond of lavender, lemon and mint flavours.

4. Does your muse have a good singing voice?

Yes, but Annie has little cause to sing, and it would mortify her to be overheard, so she rarely indulges (never underestimate her fear of being laughed at).  Sometimes, she will sing in the shower, or while doing chores alone, but she is far more likely to hum quietly under her breath.  For the record, I think Misaki Fukunaga’s vocals on Annie’s song (Kanojo wa Tsumetai Hitsugi no Nakade / ‘She Lies Within the Cold Coffin’) is a pretty solid representation of her singing voice.

5. Does your muse have any bad habits or nervous tics?

While she has been raised to be adept at disguising her emotions, Annie does have a number of behaviours that are born out of habit, and can be indicative of her mood – namely cracking her knuckles, or twisting her silver ring.  For a time, she had a ‘tell’ during combat where she would blink twice in rapid succession before making a particularly decisive or devastating blow; her father successfully hammered this out of her.  While not a habit per se, during her early childhood she suffered from excoriation disorder, and as such would scratch / pick at her skin, as well as pull out her hair and eyelashes.  As a young adult, swearing forms one of her more obvious bad habits, along with staring, keeping a wholly irregular sleep schedule and forgetting to eat (or conversely eating too much).

6. What does your muse usually look like / wear?

Whenever possible, Annie will remain in her military uniform both for the impersonality and simplicity of it.  Outside of that, she chooses roomy, comfortable and practical clothes in pale and muted colours.  Hoodies form her preference (she will pull the hood up when she wants to shut the world out, or to feel alone) but tunics, sweaters and jumpers also appear in her wardrobe – basically anything that’s relaxed in fit, and doesn’t cling to her upper body.  She is less concerned with trousers being closefitting, and is content to wear cropped varieties or even shorts in hot weather.  Skirts, dresses and more traditional feminine garb usually only feature in her disguises.  Annie is tactile and has a strong preference for soft fabrics, partly because for the comfort they offer her touch-starved self, and partly because she suffered with sensitive skin (an issue that inheriting the Female Titan resolved for her).  For the sake of practicality, Annie will almost always pull her hair back into her trademark messy bun, and likes a heavy, long fringe to hide behind.  Post-crystal, she moves towards wearing her hair down, finding that it helps soften her hard features.  Ultimately, Annie isn’t big on experimentation when it comes to fashion or styling, doesn’t wear make-up, and is concerned only with being clean, comfortable and presentable enough to pass inspections.

7. Is your muse affectionate?  How much?  How so?

There are times when Annie wishes she could be affectionate, but she genuinely doesn’t know how.  Her father deliberately kept her isolated, and dominated her formative years as a remote, unfeeling and largely inexpressive disciplinarian.  The height of care he showed Annie was silently helping her to wrap her swollen hands and feet at the end of particularly gruelling days, or tending to her when she was sick with fever.  His bedside manner was clinical, perfunctory.  Where other parents might hold their child’s hand, he would choose instead to grasp her by the wrist, often gripping her tightly enough to bruise.  Distance has always existed between them and, prior to the Paradis Island Operation, he placed his hand fondly on Annie’s head only once, and embraced her only once, the traumatic context of both instances sullying the contact.  As a result, she watches expressions of affection – mothers dabbing at their children’s sticky faces, friends embracing or tousling each other’s hair, lovers holding hands – with quiet longing and fascination, more often a witness than a participant.  Normally only close to others in combative situations, Annie is hardwired to associate proximity and touch with danger and / or pain.  It isn’t all doom and gloom, however.  With trusted companions or partners, Annie can and will open up, overcoming her concern with boundaries and rejection.  Mostly she expresses affection through small, fleeting touches; the brush of fingers, sitting side by side or leaning against those she is comfortable with.  Along with quality time, physical touch is one of Annie’s primary love languages.

8. What position does your muse sleep in?

Given the abuse that marked her childhood, it’s no accident that Annie assumes an almost defensive position.  Typically she sleeps on her side with her knees drawn up and her hands raised, vaguely mirroring her combative stance.  On occasion she will sleep her head under her pillow, or hide her face in the crook of an elbow.  While she very often dreams of training with her father, she is usually a deep sleeper and doesn’t move around too much – though the odd slumberous punch or kick isn’t unheard of.  Eerily, Annie will sometimes sleep with her eyes open, and she is a frequent sleep-talker.

9. Could you hear your muse in the hallway from another room?

Most likely not.  Courtesy of her martial training, which demands she be light on her feet, and her father’s fervent subscription to the belief that children should be seen and not heard (along with his punishment / correction of any behaviours that he deemed irritating or undesirable) Annie learned to move quietly, to make herself as small and silent a presence as possible.  Being diminutive both as a child and as an adult, she never experienced the clumsiness that often comes with growth spurts and the shifting dimensions of a maturing body.  There is a natural grace and confidence to her movements, but also something soulless and mechanical that has been instilled in her.  Play and the raucousness of childhood was not something Annie was permitted to indulge in at home and it shows; even during her youngest years, she carried herself as an adult might, stiffly and precisely.  This inherent stealthiness is part of what makes her so well-suited to covert operations, along with the fact that she is plain and slight enough to go overlooked.  That being said, when she is especially exhausted or weary, Annie may stumble or move lethargically, and is more likely to be overheard.

tagged by: @oncejaw​​ like a million years ago – I loved doing this, thank you lovely! ♡ tagging: a ton of people were tagged already, so whoever wants to do it.

[aion-rsa]

The Many Saints of Newark’s Billy Magnussen On How He Found His Paulie Walnuts

https://ift.tt/39ZMSFm

It’s hard to walk in an old gangster’s shoes, even if they are patent leather, but it helps if you have the OG’s custom tailored, classic wide collar mustard-yellow coat. Front-buttoned, with wool blend material, soft inner viscose lining, long sleeves, and open hem cuffs, it is stylish and smart, though not blood resistant. Billy Magnussen is too young for gray wingtips in his hair, but he’s just the right age to flip from one mob player to another. In The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel to David Chase’s influential TV series The Sopranos, Magnussen plays a young Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri, a fan favorite played almost inimitably by Tony Sirico.

Sirico was a real mobster before he went into acting, even did a semester in prison. He brought a street-wise authenticity into the role, which is now lodged in Sopranos fans’ consciousness like a bullet in the back of the head. Magnussen’s Paulie has an extremely memorable introduction in the film, but it’s not in the skull, and it’s messier than a .22. Let’s just say, you should wear denim coveralls when rotating tires.

Paulie Gualtieri, along with Silvio Dante (John Magaro), are part of Dickie Moltisanti’s (Alessandro Nivola) crew in The Many Saints of Newark. The younger versions of series regulars don’t get a lot of screen time in the film. Big Pussy (Samson Moeakiola) is only really there to show us how he got his name. Directed by Alan Taylor, the movie hits some of the historic moments referenced in the series. It doesn’t tackle Dickie’s feud with Jilly Ruffalo. While an eye gouging scene could have been fun, Paulie’s assist in the new film earn him his gangster film button.

In a sit down with Den of Geek, Magnussen, who is also featured in Cary Fukunaga’s James Bond film, No Time to Die, talked about keeping it real, while playing it tough.

Den of Geek: Are you prepared for any of the inevitable blow-back from the fans regardless of how they respond?

Billy Magnussen: No, I did my job. I do my thing. People are going to respond the way they respond. I have no control over that. But I had a wonderful time making this film. And I feel very blessed to be a part of the legacy of Sopranos. It’s huge. And I am just truly honored.

How daunting is it to nab a character that was so enmeshed in the consciousness of a generation of TV viewers?

Well, when you say it like that, it’s a different story. You know what? When I got the job, I had never watched The Sopranos, because I couldn’t afford HBO growing up. And especially in college, I could not afford HBO. So, I never got to watch it. But going into that, once it really became an opportunity in front of me, I dove deep, deep, deep into it. And I personally also fell in love with what Tony [Sirico] did with Paulie Walnuts. It was actually an exciting opportunity for me, to be like, “Ooh, he did that. Let’s see what I can do,” and then play in there, because it’s fun. We’re playing and having a good time.

When you’re prepping for a character that yours will grow into, do you study the subject, or the source?

Both. Definitely. That’s a really great question. I think it’s important. There’s a difference between playing a real person and trying to bring that to life. And then you just study that person. But there is Tony, and then there is Paulie Walnuts. And I think they’re very closely interchangeable. I was trying to find moments of Tony in Paulie Walnuts. That’s the thing. I want to know what he was thinking as he was creating the character and going deeper and deeper into his story.

Read more

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The Sopranos Questions That The Many Saints of Newark Can Answer

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So yeah, it was just a lot of time, taking as much information in, finding mannerisms, building the character, the physical and everything, the cadence of the voice. Yeah. It was just a lot of work. And then you try to get to a point where you don’t have to think about it anymore, and you just kind of do it.

I know that Tony Sirico, he based a lot of his mannerisms on James Cagney. Did you watch a lot of Cagney for this?

I did not know that actually. Thank you for telling me. I did not know that he did that. I never came across that anywhere.

“What do you hear? What do you say?” is from Angels with Dirty Faces.

That’s awesome. No, I did not know that. Thank you for sharing that. Honestly, I was just following his rhythm, just trying to find that spirit, that essence he was bringing into it. And also living in the show, the film as present as possible, with those given the circumstances of the character,

Did you ever get the blood out of the yellow coat?

I don’t know. We got to ask the wardrobe people. I didn’t get to keep it, sadly, but it was a smooth, smooth outfit. I mean, we had one of the best costume designers on this, because everyone … When you have set production or production design like that, you get to just live in these worlds. And it gives you a weird grounding and a sense of freedom as you move through it.

What does wardrobe bring to a role?

I think it brings a lot. It’s – what is this person waking up in the morning and putting on it? What is that attitude? As you put your armor on, to say the least, what is that? And how do I move through the world? And Paulie Walnuts was a confident [character], he wasn’t afraid to be dull, wasn’t afraid to be bright and just out there. So it was fun.

Not afraid to put nail polish on.

Exactly. Right. Is that silly or what?

You’re from Woodhaven, Queens, which used to be pretty big in the mob, did you run into wise guys? I know you moved out early.

It’s funny. My dad has a lot of stories. He really grew up there and with Gotti and all that stuff. He was asked to once be a delivery man for him and stuff. He turned down the job. And it was there, it existed. But again, you just didn’t get in their business. You just don’t need to be in their business and stay away from it. That’s what I was raised to follow. It’s not your business. If they want you to work for them, don’t. Just don’t get in business with them. Those were the rules.

Did you get any pointers from David Chase?

Of course, of course. David Chase is the commander-in-chief of this process. So again, he made a beautiful, beautiful show, The Sopranos. You’re kind of moving through it and waiting for the thumbs up. Or if you don’t get the thumbs up, you still have to keep working. So, it was awesome to have him there to orchestrate the whole piece and make it what it is. And we’re following his lead, so that’s a great feeling. Because I respect the man drastically.

Do you see the characters that he writes in him? Is there a Paulie Walnuts in David Chase?

I have to say yes, because all these characters came from his mind. I don’t think he lived his life that way, but they all came from him. So they are aspects of David Chase, I would say, as any artist, as any writer probably would be. I think, yeah, of course these characters live inside David.

What’s Alan Taylor’s like to work with?

I think he had a hard hill to climb up and a monstrous, monstrous thing to overcome. And I think he is a gentleman.

David Chase told Deadline there might be another film in the formative years of Tony Soprano. Was there any talk of that on the set? Would you do it?

Considering I’m contractually obligated to do it, I don’t think I really have a choice. But I haven’t heard anything. So, I can’t really speak on anything.

When you auditioned, did you have to get the Paulie laugh?

I actually auditioned for a different role originally for the piece. And then I was approached after my audition, would I be interested in playing Paulie Walnuts? And then doing a deep dive on Paulie Walnuts, I was like, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Are you a gangster movie fan?

Of course. Who isn’t? It’s high stakes. It’s all about family, community. Yeah, of course. Love them.

Which are the ones that you go back to? And which were the ones that you see in Many Saints of Newark?

I don’t know. I think The Sopranos it’s its own kind of jam. One of the most brilliant pilots ever created was putting a gangster in a therapy session and really getting into the mindset of this character. So, I think it stands alone, and that’s why The Sopranos is its own little journey. I don’t think you can compare The Godfather to Goodfellas. I don’t think you can. Or do you feel that way?

I compare them all the time. That’s my job. When you’re clicking into moments from the series, do you ever feel it gets too self-referential, or you’re winking at the audience?

No, I think the group of actors were never winking. I think we were just trying to do the justice of what was on the page and what the story was. And as all the great actors that were in it, you show up every day and just play and try to make it honest and real. I don’t think so.

Where do you see gangster movies going? Do you think The Irishman changed the gangster film?

No, I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was a really good take on aging gangsters. It’s kind of a beautiful film in that sense. Especially, we know De Niro and Pacino, their lineage with gangster films and stuff like that and that whole Mafiosa [movie tradition]. I think it was a beautiful nod and a goodnight almost to it. I thought it was very, very wonderful.

You are also in the new Bond film.

I play a CIA operative that works with Felix.

Like The Sopranos, there’s a whole history behind Bond Films. Tony Soprano says he comes in late in the mob game. How does it feel to come into a franchise after all that groundwork has been set in people’s minds?

I look at it as a job and an opportunity more than anything. I don’t know. I hope people enjoy what I get into and what I do with it. That kind of thought mentality, I think it’s a waste of time or my energy, as I’m moving into a production and figuring out the character and trying to do all my work. There’s just so much work I have to focus on rather than all the outside stuff going on. So again, it’s more now having these meetings, that it’s like, I feel the weight of all of it. But in the moment while doing them, you’re just like, “Wow, I’m doing this. I’m a part of this. And I hope I show up and bring my full self to it.”

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The Many Saints of Newark will be released in theaters on October 1, and will be available on HBO Max for 31 days from the theatrical release.

The post The Many Saints of Newark’s Billy Magnussen On How He Found His Paulie Walnuts appeared first on Den of Geek.

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