New Yorker, Al Sapienza best known for his award-winning portrayal of Mikey Palmice on “The Sopranos” began his career four months after graduating NYU when he landed a role in the first Broadway Juke Box Musical “Beatlemania” at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1977, playing Ringo Starr.
Sapienza took up the drums in the 2nd grade, the day after he saw the Beatles perform on the “Ed Sullivan Show”. He formed his first rock band in the 5th grade. Then at 12 years old, he decided to become an actor while being mesmerized by the film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.
Saving up his money from “Beatlemania” Al moved out to Los Angeles in 1982, where he studied with the legendary acting teacher Milton Katselas for 14 years. (It was in that acting class where he met his future Singing partner Deborah Rennard of “Dallas” Fame.) During that time Al landed roles in “Pretty Woman”, “Under Siege 2”, “Free Willy 2”, “Knotts Landing”, “Falcon Crest,” “Cagney & Lacey”, and “Melrose Place”, among many others. He was one of the founding members of the “Alliance Repertory Company” in Burbank where he starred in and produced many award-winning West Coast Premier Plays.
In 1998, “The `Sopranos” brought Sapienza back home to NY and propelled him into many Recurring and Series Regular roles on TV such as “Brotherhood” (5 years as Mayor Frank Panzerella), CBS’s “Person Of Interest” ( 5 years as Teragi Hanson’s partner Det. Raymond Terney), and season 1 of “Prison Break” ( as Chicago Mafia Don Philly Falzone), along with numerous Guest Starring Roles in “24”, “NCIS”, “The OC”, “NYPD” “CSI” and many more. Some film credits include “The Big Short”, “Godzilla”, “The Art of Racing in the Rain”, “Taken 3”, “Margin Call”, “Shock and Awe” and “Million Dollar Arm” .
Most recently Al starred on 2 seasons of “Suits” as Tommy Bratton, The premiere season of “Jack Ryan” (As Secretary Of Defense Marcus Trent), and guest starring in “Gotham”, “Queen Of The South”, “Dopesick”, and “The Good Fight”. He just wrapped on a Sony Pictures Bio pic “Heart Of A Lion” the George Foreman Story in which AL plays legendary Sports announcer Gil Clancy. Al is currently filming Season 2 of “Reacher” for Amazon Prime Video.
FMM: From an infamous mafia hit man going head-to-head with Tony Soprano, to a corrupt mayor with a good heart, you have brought to life some of the most memorable characters in film and television. What are the deciding factors when taking a role?
Wow, that’s a great question. Every actor has a different answer to that question. For me, it’s complicated. I take the quantitative approach to choosing acting roles. I love acting, I love being on the set, I love being around creative people. I love the conversations and personalities. If I don’t have another project in conflict, I consider almost every offer. Some are great projects and that’s wonderful, and some are valiant efforts but fall short of the director and writer’s dream, and that is okay too. It can still be fun shooting those also, and often with the small projects there’s a rawness and grittiness that is very invigorating. Some roles are for big money, and some are not, but I love the creative process and I love being productive. I’d rather work on a set, or sing, or play music than almost anything else. So those are the factors in deciding my roles.
FMM: Tell us about your recent role on Season 2 of REACHER on Amazon Prime. What intrigued you about this role?
Whenever I get an offer or audition, I study the work of the creative team. That very often means watching the first 3 or 4 episodes of a series on Netflix or wherever. Well, when the audition came for Reacher, I watched the first 3 episodes, and I liked it so much I stayed up all night and binge-watched the entire 1st season. I was thrilled to get the part. Reacher is about the average guy getting justice. And that intrigues me because in 2023 with our new ultra-liberal Mayors and DA’s, the tax paying victims of crime don’t get justice. It seems the criminal gets all the breaks. Catch and release! Super low bail- The guy who robs the store in NY is the good guy and the store owner who worked his life to save the money to buy the store is the oppressor for selling food! Reacher takes care of the honest, working men and woman. That makes me proud to be on the show. Ironically, I play a “bad guy” lol
FMM: What would people be surprised to know about you?
People think I am a total city guy, when in actuality, I was brought up in the woods. I had a lean-to, a tree fort, a bb gun, and a Honda 50 minibike. I was born in Brooklyn NY, but when I was just a few days old, my Dad built a 3,000 sq foot house adjacent to a farm in Rockland County. There were corn fields, pumpkin patches, and apple orchards to play in. It was great. My Dad owned a very successful restaurant in New York City and had other businesses there, so we were there very often, hence my urban edge, but I was a country boy!
FMM: In 2017, you began a singing duet act called “THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES” with Deborah Rennard famously known for her role as Sly as JR Ewing’s secretary on the successful t.v. series, Dallas. When did your passion to sing begin?
When I was four years old, I was the youngest of five children, so my brothers and sisters had all the hit 45’s and albums from Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vinton and The Four Seasons. I would put on the old “Victrola”, sit on my rocking horse and sing “Sealed with A Kiss” , “Volare” “Sheree” and all those fabulous hits. When West Side Story came out my mother took me to the movies and I was hooked on that soundtrack. My Father would make me stand on the Barber chair and have me sing songs from the film to the Sicilian barbers. And in 1964 when The Beatles came to the US, I was instantly addicted to their music and sang nonstop. I love singing. It puts one into a state of intoxication like drugs or alcohol without any bad side effects.
FMM: Tell us about your roadshow and what we should expect.
The roadshow “The Soundtrack of our Lives”, which I perform with the amazingly talented Deborah Rennard, is a compilation of songs mostly from the 60’s and 70’s that deeply affected our lives and careers. The songs in our show are all number #1 hits, so people absolutely love them. Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Gordon Lightfoot, Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark, Billy Joel, and Broadway Hits. My intention in this show is to duplicate these songs as closely as possible to their original recordings. I’m not interested in putting Al Sapienza’s “stamp” on a number one hit. I’m interested in giving an audience member the incredible pleasure of getting their memory awakened “when they had their first kiss to that particular song”! Our musical director is Joey Melotti, who MD’d for Liza Minelli, Michael Bolton, and Barry Manilow. He makes sure the music is exactly the way it was recorded on those hit records, making this show a “party” that makes people incredibly happy, and that’s why it’s so successful. On June 8th, 2023, we are opening for Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits at The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel NY with 7000 seats :).
FMM: What does success mean to you?
Since I was a little kid, I lived by this credo (which I made-up by myself ) that if I was happy just 51% of any day, I was a winner and I should celebrate. And I could truly say to myself that I have a happy life. I’ve always looked at life as a glass half full and that half full glass is something one can always build on. Johnny Carson said that “if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I love my job; I love the creative process. Whether it’s acting, singing, playing music, writing, rehearsing or just reading a script. In those moments, I am out of reality, and I don’t have to worry about the Democrats or the Republicans or Putin, or greed or global warming. I’m in a creative world and that’s where I love to be and the more, I am in that world, the happier I am, and the more successful I feel. On a much more personal level: success means being a good father, and bringing up kind, loving, educated, productive self-sufficient kids. That’s what success means to me.
