Johany Jutras
Sebastian Maniscalco returns to Caesars Palace this week.
Monday, Oct. 1, 2018 | 2 a.m.
In the last two years, stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco has been popping up in movies, starting with animated voiceover work in “The Nut Job 2” and then stealing some scenes in this year’s ensemble comedy caper “Tag.” His upcoming roles are a lot different and fairly amazing considering acting in movies is still a new thing for the Chicago-born funnyman, who returns to the stage at Caesars Palace this week.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to get with people who are award-winning actors, which helps when you’re not getting thrown into some small film to get my feet wet. We hit the ground running,” he says.
Maniscalco has a supporting role in November drama “Green Book,” starring acclaimed actors Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. And then there’s the really big one: Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” a film about Jimmy Hoffa starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Scorsese has a history of casting comedians in his mobster movies and “The Irishman” is no different; Ray Romano is also in the film, which is currently in post-production and set to be released next year.
“I don’t have a lot of experience and a lot of this movie stuff is new to me, but I don’t want to act like that,” Maniscalco says. “But here I am getting thrown into these roles with these really talented men and women. Viggo and Mahershala are both unbelievable and here I am, first day on the job, and me and Viggo are doing a scene together. And my first day on the set of ‘The Irishman’ was a scene with De Niro and Pesci, so it’s like, is this really happening? But it’s been a really great experience and I’m learning from all these talented people.”
He may be over-the-top and hilariously expressive when he’s doing stand-up, but Maniscalco says he’s a pretty low-key guy offstage and working in these new dramatic roles feels closer to real life. Except for the part where he’s working with the legendary Scorsese.
“I actually went out for another role and they didn’t like my audition at all, but they gave me a second chance to put myself on film and do it again and that’s the one Scorsese saw and I ended up getting a different part,” he says. “My first day, before the shoot, I got called in to meet him because he wanted to take a look at my wig. I met him in his office and we talked for 25 minutes, and then I came out and the wig guy said, ‘What did he say?’ And I said, ‘Nothing.’ And then I thought, did he think that was my real hair and just didn’t want to say anything? It was one of these little surreal moments.”
Maniscalco, who’s also developing his own feature comedy film about a father and son in a fish-out-of-water scenario, recently filmed a new Netflix special during a run of five sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall.
“I’m really proud of it and I think it’s one of my best, but I never have a good gauge on my performance,” he says. “My family can attest to that. I’ll get offstage thinking I sucked and my sister will say it was great, or sometimes not so great. My family is really honest, especially my father. There’s no sugarcoating any of it. But it was really something special for me and my family to experience.”
Sebastian Maniscalco performs at 8 p.m. October 6 and 7 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace (3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 866-227-5938) and more information can be found at thecolosseum.com.
