John Turturro Will Pick Your Pocket and Steal Your Heart
Time · Eliza Berman ·
The veteran New York actor on playing an honorable pickpocket, how his hometown has changed, and his love of dance and basketball.
If it seems like no one else could play the role John Turturro plays in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, you can imagine the angst writer-director Noah Segan felt when he sent the screenplay to the actor hoping for a “yes.” Turturro brings world-weariness, tenderness, and New York City street smarts to his turn as Harry, a career criminal whose way of life is disappearing in a cashless, electronic, often colder world. The character may steal to put food on his table, but he’s also loyal and honest in his own way, caring for a permanently disabled wife and practically a saint when compared with the tech-enabled, mafia nepo baby (Will Price) he makes the mistake of stealing from, setting off the movie’s drama and putting his life in jeopardy.
Turturro, who has been a ubiquitous presence in film, TV, and theater for decades, truly seems to be everywhere these days—in an acclaimed production heading for Broadway, in Severance, whose fans eagerly await a third season, in the forthcoming climate-change dramedy A Statement from Spotlight director Tom McCarthy, and of course anywhere the Knicks are. With Pickpocket, he could very well land his first Oscar nomination in a career full of performances that have certainly qualified for consideration, from Barton Fink to Quiz Show to more Spike Lee films than any other actor has appeared in.
Ahead of the theatrical release of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, which hit theaters nationwide on Oct. 30, Turturro spoke to TIME about how his hometown has changed, his love for collaborators old and new, and his nerves heading into this year’s NBA season.