There are some roles you simply can't imagine any other actor playing. This is what filmmakers want when they cast, someone who becomes synonymous with the character. A performer who can interpret the material on the page in a way that simultaneously makes it their own and honors the spirit the writer intended. There's no doubt that Joe Pesci is one of the best in the business at doing just that.
1992's My Cousin Vinny, which may or may not be based on a true story, is unquestionably one of Joe Pesci's best films and contains one of his greatest performances. But he wasn't the first choice. Writer Dale Launer actually had someone completely different in mind when his passion project went into production. And that person was one of the most famous and most controversial comedians of the 1990s.
Which Comedian Almost Played Vinny?
Joe Pesci was one of the most sought-after actors in the early 1990s. Not only did he nail the role of real-life mobster Tommy DeSimone in Goodfellas (despite one notable exception), but he was also starred in JFK, Lethal Weapon 2 and 3, Betsy's Wedding, and Home Alone all within just a few years. So, why on Earth was he not the first choice for screenwriter Dale Launer and director Jonathan Lynn's My Cousin Vinny?
The answer's simple... he didn't look anything like what Dale originally envisioned.
"Vinny [Gambini] was supposed to be a heavyweight boxer," Dale Launer said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "It was mentioned in the screenplay, but got cut out. But he was supposed to look like a big thug, like muscle for the mob. I saw him as six feet four and 220 pounds."
This is precisely why Dale wanted controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay for the role.
At the time, Dice was exceptionally popular. He was a regular guest on The Howard Stern Show, sold-out arenas all over North America, made news on the talk show circuit, and even acted in a few movies and TV shows. But his edgy material and often offensive persona rubbed some people the wrong way. And that's precisely why he didn't end up playing Vinny.
"I’m not sure how much of this I can say, but f*** it, why not. The studio vice president had been dating Andrew Dice Clay’s manager. [The VP] met Dice and he said something horrible to her," Dale continued. "She said to me, 'Can we take him off this list?' I said, 'F*** it.' That was it. I think he would have been good in the movie."
Casting Joe Pesci In My Cousin Vinny
Joe Pesci wasn't even the second or third choice for Vinny Gambino, according to Dale Launer's interview with Rolling Stone. After the Andrew Dice Clay debacle, the studio moved in the direction of Taxi, Throw Mamma From The Train, and Batman Returns star Danny DeVito. Of course, Danny also didn't have the look that Dale originally wanted. But he decided to appease the studio's interest and take a meeting with him.
"I had a meeting with Danny. I’m sitting there with a legal pad and a pen. He says, 'The script just doesn’t go.' I said, 'You want more ‘go?’ ' And he laughed. That was pretty much the tone of the meeting. He ended up dropping out of the project because he thought my heart wasn’t in it. And my heart wasn’t in it, because I don’t know what the f*** he wanted," Dale admitted.
After Dice and Danny, the studio, Dale, and director Jonathan Lynn discussed Robert De Niro and Peter Falk. But it was Jim Belushi who there really tried to pursue. Unfortunately, he passed on the project. This is when they finally set their sights on Joe Pesci...
"[Joe] was originally known as a dramatic actor thanks to movies like Raging Bull and Once Upon a Time in America, but he’d recently found huge success in comedy with Lethal Weapon 2 and Home Alone. At the time, he was finishing up work on Goodfellas," Jonathan explained.
"Vinny is an underdog who triumphs in spite of his limitations," casting director David Rubin explained. "He does expose his insecurities in those early scenes, but he covers it in a bravado. So you’re rooting for him to tap into that bravado in the climactic scene. The natural confidence that Joe Pesci has was perfectly suited to that arc."
Joe immediately took to the idea of going from a movie like Goodfellas to My Cousin Vinny. This is because he was able to bring the intensity of his Goodfellas role but integrate it with the comedic chops he'd been developing in the Lethal Weapon movies. Not only that, but Joe had an energy that was both naturally funny and authentic to the character that Dale and Jonathan had envisioned.
"One of my first meetings with Joe Pesci took place at the Mayflower Hotel in New York City," Jonathan said. "We were going through the script, talking about what he would like and what he wouldn’t like. He said to me, 'There’s these two yutes.' I said, 'What?' He said, 'Two yutes.' I said, 'What did you say?' He goes, 'What?' I go, 'What’s a ‘yute?’' He said, 'Oh. Two youtthhhhhs.' I just wrote that into the script."