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Michael Imperioli
Specialty: Rabbity, Brooding Hoods
Some day, in the not-too-distant future, or perhaps in a dystopian Margaret Atwood novel, the world will be divided into two groups: Those who most closely associate Michael Imperioli with his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, and those who'll always think of him as Spider, the put-upon drink-fetcher in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.
True, he's appeared in many other films, generally serving as the go-to Italian hothead for the past decade in (a) mob movies, (b) Spike Lee Joints, and now (c) famous original Law & Order.
But Imperioli is best represented by Christopher and Spider. The latter part launched his career; the former solidified it. And they don't just bookend his résumé, they demonstrate his two divergent strengths.
Christopher is a classic mafia psycho: passionate, brooding, destructive yet alluring. And, as we all know, the mob is full of those.
Spider is a dipstick who got shot in the foot, then mouthed off to Joe Pesci. And, as well know, the mob is full of those as well. And we also all know what happens to people who mouth off to Joe Pesci, and what happened to poor, itsy-bitsy Spider.
In the nine years between Goodfellas and The Sopranos, Imperioli squeezed in a lot of choice performances, in Clockers and Dead Presidents and The Basketball Diaries, almost all of which fall somewhere on the spectrum between Spider-esque rabbity ne'er-do-well and quasi-Christopherian brooding time bomb.
All of these characters, however, have been linked by one mighty attribute: Michael Imperioli's incredible, awe-inspiring eyebrows.
Don't ever pluck, baby.
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