Forty years in the business, a distinctive face linked to cinema’s unforgettable gems such as Barton Fink, Do the Right Thing, Quiz Show, The Big Lebowski, traversing through Transformers and The Batman, arriving at Split (in which he hints at a role in the third season). John Turturro is a legend of American cinema, both independent and mainstream, and has reached a point in his career where he could approach an Oscar prize that could carry career significance: The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, which has played in Berlin and at Sundance, is stirring discussion for yet another, solid interpretation. Is he nervous?
John Turturro is happy to be part of the conversation, but he isn’t doing it for that
As a guest at the Zurich Film Festival, John Turturro is savoring the praise for the independent drama-thriller The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, directed by Noah Segan, the story of an aging pickpocket facing a haul that lands him in serious trouble. After Golden Globes nominations (not just for several films, but also for Split), an overdue and long-awaited Oscar nomination might be on the horizon? After four decades of work, John doesn’t live his life around the event: “I’ve never pushed myself hard for these things, but in this case I am the lead; I’ll back the film because I love it. These conversations help land the next job. Is it nice to receive recognitions? It’s wonderful, but it’s not why you do it. Just because a film is popular doesn’t mean it will be remembered, but it’s nice to be a topic of conversation. I don’t consider myself a competitive person; I am competing with myself. I want to get the most out of what I can do, but we’re not talking about sports! […] My job is to keep getting better; acting is one of those few things you can improve at. Maybe you don’t run as fast as when you were young, but you gain a lot more life experience, and with age you accumulate it. […] Now I have faced deaths, losses, I’ve become a parent, I’ve married, I know what it means to love someone and not just to be in love. And there’s a huge difference.”
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