The Poster Memorabilia blog

The Gall to Laugh in Front of the Goodfellas

One nervous giggle, one bewildered Joe Pesci, and a poster that survived the worst possible reaction.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Don't you just hate it when you laugh involuntarily when you're nervous? And isn't it just the worst when you do it in front of one of the most famous actors ever on screen? Has that ever happened to you? It did to me, and though nothing came of it, I still cringe when I remember it.

I couldn't have picked a worse guy to laugh at than Joe Pesci. The guy's practically made to play the most volatile gangsters on screen, and I know he's just an actor, but I can't help feeling like parts of those characters are inside him somewhere.

“I couldn't have picked a worse guy to laugh at than Joe Pesci.”

Who could ever forget him as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas? And that scene where Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) makes the mistake of calling him funny, and Tommy turns the whole table ice-cold? That line still haunts me: “Funny how? I mean, funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you?”

Phew! I would never want to be on the receiving end of that. And yet, I almost was when I actually met the guy himself in real life!

Joe Pesci retired from the screen around the late 90s, and he stepped almost completely out of the spotlight for the next two decades. He barely appeared in public, which made his iconic performances in Goodfellas, My Cousin Vinny, and Home Alone feel even more like relics of a different era.

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So when he made his big comeback in 2019 in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman—reuniting with Robert De Niro, no less—I just had to see him in person. I wanted to see that he still existed and, hopefully, get his autograph on my Goodfellas movie poster.

I had already gotten many autographs on that poster years before, when the Tribeca Film Festival hosted a 25th anniversary reunion in 2015. Many cast members attended that night, including Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Debi Mazar, and more. Unfortunately, I didn't get all their autographs, but I did get De Niro, Bracco, and Mazar. With Liotta and Sorvino both gone now, the two I missed are the ones I think about most.

Going back to The Irishman premiere, I figured it'd be easier since it wouldn't be the first time I met such legendary actors. I'd already met De Niro, after all. Why would Joe Pesci be any different? The same goes for Martin Scorsese, who also didn't attend the 2015 anniversary event.

Well, it turns out that Joe Pesci can really intimidate you in person. Long story short, I laughed nervously in front of the iconic actor as he signed my poster. He looked at me with a bewildered expression, probably wondering how much of a weirdo I was, but thankfully he didn't ask if I thought he was funny.

I would've fainted on the spot if he had, and then he'd really think I was off my rocker. I don't know what it was about him. He seemed nice enough in person, even smiled for the cameras alongside De Niro, Scorsese, and Al Pacino. But when he was right in front of you, and maybe because I've seen him play gangsters and criminals all my life, I couldn't help but feel nervous.

I luckily got myself together when I met Scorsese a few minutes later, and also got him to sign the same poster. So from an all-time low to an immediate all-time high, that was the weirdest celebrity encounter I've had since moving to New York City.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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