Whether it's in the script or not, acknowledges Assante, a cigar often finds its way into hisĬharacter's hands and, should it not, there will likely be one in the actor's hands offscreen. Movies-On the Beach, Hoffa, Passion and Paradise, Gotti, The Mambo Kings, Two for the Money,Īmerican Gangster and California Dreamin' to name just a few-feature his character smoking a The dessert sensation and the delicateness of that smoke I have never forgotten.'Īssante nods and smiles when it's pointed out that more than a dozen, maybe two dozen, of his The owner gave me a pre-Castro Romeo & Julieta, circa 1953, which he had in his vaulted humidor. 'The greatest cigar experience I ever had was given to me by a restaurateur in Miami in 1995. His personal life and in the roles that he's played on-screen-that stand out but, says Assante, Solitude, both alone and in company, and I take it seriously.'įor a man who's smoked cigars for more than 30 years, there have been memorable moments-both in In the process of a cigar, I observe my thoughts. When I want more stillness in my mind, and upon exhaling the sweetness of a cigar I generally amĮditing my own thoughts about something I might be working on or about the person I am listening 'I'll use a cigar to pause before I jump to a conclusion,' admits Assante.

The cigar at his visitor and offers up a 'so, you got that, did you?' raise of the eyebrows. Uses the cigar almost as a prop, a stalling mechanism when he's asked a question, he grins, points

Used as an alternative to pointing a finger.Īt the moment, the Emmy Award-winning actor is smoking a C.A.O. Military officers and gritty, seen-everything police detectives, respectfully disagrees.įor Assante, most recently seen on the big screen in director Ridley Scott's blockbuster dramaĪmerican Gangster, a cigar is an enforced pause, a break in the conversation and, on occasion, is Sometimes,' claimed famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, 'a cigar is just a cigar.' Armand Assante, the 58-year-old gravel-voiced actor best known for playing street-tough wiseguys, steely

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