SO MOOCH MORE TO MARIO
Stoneham’s own Mario Cantone was poised to play the newly appointed White House director of communications, Anthony Scaramucci, on Comedy Central’s “The President Show” late last night.
“This is the most viral I’ve been since I’ve had the chickenpox,” Cantone told the Track.
“The President Show” is a weekly broadcast in which a fictional version of President Trump hosts a latenight talk show straight from the Oval Office to combat “fake news,” and it’s just been picked up for more episodes. The show’s creator and star, Anthony Atamanuik, is a Chelsea native and an Emerson grad, just like Cantone.
“I have a history with him and his mother,” Cantone said, explaining that Atamanuik’s mother, Marlena
Yanetti, was his dance teacher at Emerson.
In preparation for his Scaramucci debut, Cantone said he tapped into his family ties and watched clips of the businessman-turned-presidential
“I know this guy: I’ve got cousins just like him,” Cantone said. “I’ve been watching him a lot, on a friggin loop.”
Included in the repository of Scaramucci fodder was his call into CNN’s “New Day” yesterday morning and a far too candid interview with The
New Yorker, in which the comms guy took literally below-the-belt swings at
Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, using words unsafe for an after-school special.
“I’m going to go on Chris Cuomo’s show (today), who’s my friend and I adore him,” Cantone said.
“He’s been texting me, ‘ Did you watch my interview with him?’ No. I’m not up at 6 in the friggin morning. … I do have a life. I don’t sit in front of the TV and watch the news all day. And I have to make time for my Turner Classic Movies, which is most of my television viewing.” “Eventually, I told him, ‘OK,
Stella Adler, I’ll watch it! Thank you, Stella.’”
So what about all the buzz about Cantone vying to play the Mooch on “Saturday Night Live”?
“Everyone’s saying, ‘SNL,’ ‘SNL,’” Cantone said. “First of all, they have their own brilliant inhouse comedians, and there’s a few of them capable of doing this, so why would they get me?”
“I’d do it in a second,” he continued. “I’d be completely honored, but who knows if Scaramucci is going to be there in October? You gotta strike while the iron’s hot.
“I’m glad Scaramucci came along. It’s a nice thing — in a way.”