South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Haddish brings a little light to film
Tiffany Haddish may have Martin Scorsese to thank for her role in Paul Schrader’s “The Card Counter” — now playing in theaters — at least indirectly.
It was Scorsese who opened Schrader’s eyes to the power of the comedic actor when he cast Albert Brooks in a vanilla — seemingly plain — role in “Taxi Driver.”
Schrader asked Scorsese why and he said he thought Brooks would find something in it.
“You cast a comic, they will break something in a role, even if it isn’t laughs. They will make themselves interesting,” Schrader said. “It’s in their DNA.”
And it’s a theory Schrader has often gone back to, from casting Richard Pryor in his debut “Blue Collar” to bringing Cedric the Entertainer to his last film “First Reformed.”
So when Haddish’s name came up for the role of La Linda, a gambling agent who gets entangled with Oscar Isaac’s mysterious card shark William Tell, Schrader was intrigued.
“She brings a little joy, she brings her charisma,” Haddish said at the recent Venice Film Festival before the film’s world premiere. “Every good drama, no matter how dark it is, needs a little light so people can take a breath, that’s what I was looking to do.”
The actor, 41, consulted with some professional gamblers she knows to learn more about what their agents are like. She wasn’t impressed with what she heard.
“It sounded like a bunch of slimy people to me,” Haddish said. “I wasn’t feeling that. I was like, ‘I’m not making her slimy, that’s for sure.’ ”
Though she has dabbled in some serious roles, it was a bit of a learning curve for Haddish at first. But it was one that she was game for.
“For someone with Tiffany’s background one of the hardest things to learn is you don’t have to hit every line,” Schrader said.
Haddish put it a little more bluntly.
“When we came into rehearsals the first day I sucked. I sucked bad. I was horrible because I feel like that’s where you should be horrible at, in rehearsal,” she said. “We played a lot, and what I love about Paul is he was blatantly honest with me, which is the most refreshing thing in the world. I learned a lot from him, and I’m very, very grateful, Paul, that you let me be in the movie. And that you didn’t fire me on that first rehearsal.”
Haddish is not much of a gambler herself, she said. She keeps her bets to a $20, two-hour limit.
But she did take one big gamble, on herself, when she spent her rent money on an acting class and ended up homeless for a time. “I told myself it would pay off in the long run and here I am in Italy, in Venice!” Haddish said triumphantly. “So darling, it paid off.”
Sept. 12 birthdays: Actor Joe Pantoliano is 70. MTV VJ Nina Blackwood is 69. Actor Peter Scolari is 66. Singer Ben Folds is 55. Singer Jennifer Nettles is 47. Rapper 2 Chainz is 44. Actor Ben McKenzie is 43. Singer Ruben Studdard is 43. Singer Jennifer Hudson is 40. Actor Alfie Allen is 35. Singer Kelsea Ballerini is 28.