Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 27
COME ON IRENE As Irene Sheeran in
The Irishman, Kurtzuba keeps a watchful
eye on events both outside and in.
YOU’VE BEEN DIRECTED BY MARTIN
SCORSESE TWICE. WHAT IS IT
ABOUT HIS APPROACH TO FILM-
MAKING THAT WORKS WELL WITH
YOUR ACTING? What I find so
remarkable about Marty as a director
is that he creates a world in which
you can completely immerse yourself.
He’s very involved in setting up that
world so you can understand your
character’s choices, but he really
trusts you to do your work, too. The
script, the way the camera works
and what it sees, how it moves, the
attention to detail of the design of the
set, the costumes… Nothing is left to
chance.
DO ACTORS GET TO IMPROVISE DIA-
LOGUE? Marty is a huge proponent of
improvisation. It has to do with cast-
ing. He’s so wise about who he puts
in his films and he knows what they
bring to it, which is why he brings
the same people back. He knows he
can give them the freedom to say the
words in their own parlance because
they’re the kind of actors who under-
stand the story the same way he does.
He’s such a stickler for authenticity.
He uses tremendous actors, but
real people also join the cast in small-
er parts. You can feel the difference
between an actor trying to give you
Gangster No. 1 and a real gangster
who’s saying a couple of lines. In
one of my scenes, Irene meets Frank
for the first time, and there’s a fella
playing the bartender. I said to him,
“You really know your way around a
bar,” and he said, “This is what I do.”
In The Wolf of Wall Street, the big
marching band coming through in
their underwear is an actual march-
ing band that they hired. The finger-
ing on that alto sax is correct.
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO HOLD YOUR
OWN WITH ACTORS LIKE DE NIRO
AND PACINO? It’s crazy, isn’t it, to
be invited to that party? But the
most remarkable thing is that it’s so
unremarkable. At the end of the day,
these guys are just actors, doing what
I do. There’s a lack of pretension
around their process that’s shockingly
refreshing, and they welcome you in
if you do your work.
It was the same with Marty. I felt
intimidated until he first started talk-
ing to me, and then I saw that he’s
just really lovely and accessible, kind
and good-natured. I’ve found that the
further up the food chain you go in
my industry, the less pretense there
seems to be.
YOU’VE ALSO DONE A LOT OF TV
WORK. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES
AND DISADVANTAGES OF TV WORK
COMPARED TO STAGE AND FILM?
There’s so much production happen-
ing in and around the city, it allows
me to stay in the New York City area.
I get to show up and do something
different every time, which can be
really fun, and because I have a body
of work, I can say “Hey, we worked
together” to members of the cast and
crew. I did an episode of Bull and
was on The Good Wife a few times.
I do a lot of procedurals. I’m play-
ing Sergeant McNichols on the show
Blue Bloods right now, and I’m really
enjoying it. The first assistant director
on the show lives in Maplewood, and
our kids go to the same grade school.
WHAT’S COMING UP FOR YOU IN
2020? HBO is airing Bad Education,
an awesome film I was in starring
Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney
that premiered at the Toronto
International Film Festival. I produce
as well, and am working on a couple
of ongoing projects.
YOU CO-OWN WEST LANES
BOWLING CENTER IN OMAHA,
WHICH WAS BUILT BY YOUR GRAND-
PARENTS IN 1955. IS THIS HOW
YOU KEEP YOUR ROOTS IN YOUR
HOMETOWN? I basically grew up
at that alley, and spent a majority of
my childhood doing cartwheels up
the concourse. The family sold it in
the ’80s, then got it back around the
financial collapse [in ’08]. I’m proud
of my brother and father who headed
up the charge and made it a success-
ful bowling center again. My kids
can’t get enough of it, being able to
get their own sodas from the snack
bars without permission! ■
MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE SPRING 2020
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