‘He just had this huge energy’
David Skipwith talks to Robyn Malcolm about working with the late Ray Liotta in his final television role, an acclaimed new true crime drama series.
Robyn Malcolm was ‘‘over the moon and delighted’’ to win a supporting role in the suspense drama series Black Bird, and says it was ‘‘amazing’’ to work opposite the late great Ray Liotta.
The homegrown star of classic Kiwi shows such as Outrageous Fortune plays Sammy Keene, wife to Liotta’s character ‘‘Big Jim’’ Keene and stepmum to James Keene, played by Taron Egerton, in the new six-part crime show (now streaming on Apple TV+).
Malcolm was thrilled to work with Liotta – who remains synonymous with his performance as mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas – in what was his final television role before he died on May 26.
‘‘He just had this huge energy,’’ Malcolm told Stuff. ‘‘I felt he was like one of those people who was going to be around for a million years.’’
Malcolm spent a month filming for the series in New Orleans and was introduced to Liotta and his fiancee, Jacy Nittolo, the night before shooting started.
In an initial two-hour meeting at the hotel bar they set about fast-tracking a connection for their portrayal of the Keenes’ 30-year marriage, a process made easier thanks to Malcolm’s down-toearth humour and style.
‘‘We had a really good laugh. His fiancee is hilarious, I really loved hanging with her,’’ she said. ‘‘The next day when we were on set, he growled at me across the room ‘my fiancee said you were as funny as f…’.
‘‘That’s always a good way to start, and we had a lot of fun that day, mucking around, improvising, and having a laugh.
‘‘Of course I made quite an effort to be as ‘funny as f…’ that day, and of course, like all film nuts, I quizzed him non-stop about Goodfellas.’’
‘‘One [of her sons] said, ‘oh, good acting then’. And I said ‘really?’ And he went, ‘yeah, you just look like one of those really old cigarette mums.’’
Robyn Malcolm
Malcolm was impressed by Liotta’s work ethic and dedication while working under the direction of Black Bird creator and writer, Dennis Lehane, who developed the script from James Keene’s 2010 memoir.
‘‘He was really meticulous. Asking ‘if this is happening to me here, then what’s happening there? And what’s happening there? And how’s that gonna work?’ ’’ she said.
‘‘He wouldn’t leave anything to chance and would challenge people if they didn’t know their stuff.’’
The opportunity to work on Black Bird came
On her son’s reaction to her role in Black Bird years after Malcolm first struck up a connection with big-time US casting director Alexa Fogel, who has assembled lineups for some of the biggest shows of the past three decades, such as The Wire, True Detective, Atlanta, and Ozark.
‘‘She just rang me one day and said do you want to be in the show? And I was like, ‘yes, hell yeah’,’’ said Malcolm.
‘‘And then I found out that I was playing this character who is Taron’s step-mum and Ray’s wife. It’s a little support role, but I was working with phenomenal people.
‘‘So I was absolutely over the moon and delighted to be able to do it.’’
Malcolm, 57, is at ease playing older characters, although her appearance as Sammy provoked some tactful feedback from her teenage sons, Pete and Charlie. ‘‘Pete said to me, ‘did they age you up for that’? And I said, no.
‘‘It was a very long pause and then one of them said, ‘oh, good acting then’. And I said ‘really?’ And he went, ‘yeah, you just look like one of those really old cigarette mums.’
‘‘I was like, ‘wow, yeah, thanks for that’. There’s no vanity in this house.’’
Black Bird has received glowing praise from viewers and critics and Malcolm regrets that Liotta isn’t able to revel in the project’s success. ‘‘I was super sad to hear [of his death]. It’s an awful cruel irony that Ray wasn’t able to see it, appreciate and feel proud of his work. The reviews for his work in this have been deservedly phenomenal.’’
Now currently working alongside Temuera Morrison on the upcoming local series Far North – a dark comedy that covers an infamous methamphetamine importation at Ninety Mile Beach (Te One-roa-a-Tō hē ) in 2016 – Malcolm boasts she has ‘‘the best job in the world’’.
‘‘When the script is great, when you know you’re working with a collection of creatives who are right at the top of their field, there’s nothing better. It’s just pure joy.’’