I think I was drawn to acting just as a way of getting noticed.
That's what I play - blue-collar Italian-Americans. You got to be typecast in order to work. I've been blessed.
I grew up around hardware. I could sell you all the plumbing and electricity you want.
My mother and father were supportive. But in an Italian family, you kind of work with your hands, or you are an engineer or a doctor. But an actor was something they couldn't get hold of. They were afraid I wouldn't be able to make a living, and for many years, they were right.
We're dream chasers. Nobody owes us our dream. But we have to chase it.
If I were to be cast as Cyrano or a Connecticut prep-school teacher or a gay boutique owner, it would only happen if some director I had worked with in the past said, 'Why don't we give Rispoli a shot at it?'
