The Big Sick’s Ray Romano joins the Martin Scorsese ensemble The Irishman
Garnering acclaim for his performance in The Big Sick (which expands nationwide this weekend), Ray Romano, per The Hollywood Reporter, is joining the cast of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. Romano joins Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale and Joe Pesci for the ensemble crime drama.
RELATED: CS Video: Kumail Nanjiani and The Big Sick Cast and Crew
De Niro headlines The Irishman as mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, reputed to have carried out more than 25 murders. Pacino will portray infamously slain labor leader Jimmy Hoffa in what will mark the Academy Award winner’s first time working with Scorsese. It has also been reported that The Irishman may employ extensive (and expensive) digital de-aging techniques so the older actors can portray their characters through the decades. Pesci, meanwhile, will portray Pennsylvania Mafia boss Russell Bufalino, who may have had a hand in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. Ray Romano will play another member of the same crime family, Bill Bufalino. Bill Bufalino works as a Teamster lawyer.
Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, American Gangster) penned the script based on the novel “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt.
Netflix will finance and distribute The Irishman to theaters for an Oscar-qualifying run. De Niro, Fabrica’s Gaston Pavlovich, Jane Rosenthal, Scorcese, Randall Emmett and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will produce. Filming begins in July in New York and will continue through December.
Prior to The Big Sick, Ray Romano reprised his popular animated franchise character for last year’s Ice Age: Collision Course. He can soon be seen starring opposite Chris O’Dowd on EPIX‘s Get Shorty series. A ten-episode first season, based on the book by Elmore Leonard, will premiere through EPIX on August 13.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
