Dominic Chianese Quotes

When I started really singing I was 17, 18 years old. I used to go around trying to be a singer in the Bronx. My knees would shake but I learned by doing.

They would wake me up when I was sleeping, and say sing a song for our friends. I had a sweet voice, I had a nice little tenor voice. God knows what I sang, but my whole family would admire me.

The radio was my big influence. Comedy came from the instinctual feel I had for language.

The anger that Uncle Junior has comes from my background. My father was the son of an Italian immigrant, and I’ve seen the fire of the Italian temperament. It can be explosive sometimes in ways that are both funny and tragic.

My father was an American who could cuss in Italian and make an aria out of it. It was wonderful to watch. But then again, he was a Gemini. I believe in that stuff.

I’ve always wanted to play Don Quixote in some way. It’s a great role. I think the idealism of the man shows that hope that we have in the human breast to achieve something.