| Vincent Gallo | |
|---|---|
Gallo in portrait, August 2005 |
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| Born | Vincent Gallo April 11, 1961 Buffalo, New York |
| Occupation | Actor, Producer, Composer, Director, Screenwriter, Songwriter, Singer |
| Years active | 1981–present |
Vincent Gallo[1] (born April 11, 1961) is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also wrote, directed, produced, starred in and photographed; Arizona Dream; The Funeral; and Palookaville. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gallo was a painter in the New York City art scene showing with famed art dealer Annina Nosei, performed in a rap duo and was part of the first hip hop television broadcast Graffiti Rock, and played in an industrial band called Bohack which released an album title It Took Several Wives. In the early 2000s, he released several solo recordings on WARP records. Gallo is known for his outspoken views and generally sarcastic nature, once stating: "I stopped painting in 1990 at the peak of my success just to deny people my beautiful paintings; and I did it out of spite."[2]
Gallo was awarded the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor at the 67th Venice International Film Festival for his performance as a wordless escaping Muslim prisoner in Jerzy Skolimowski's Essential Killing. His own feature film Promises Written In Water, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in, also screened In Competition at the festival.
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Gallo was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Janet, a hair-dresser, and Vincenzo Vito Gallo, also a hairdresser and professional gambler.[1] Both of his parents emigrated from Sicily, Italy.[3] Gallo lived in New York City 1978–2002 and traveled around most of Europe living in Paris and Rome. Gallo's first creative project was as a member of the New York City-based post-punk industrial band GRAY whose members included famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Gallo has modeled, most notably for Calvin Klein, and been photographed by Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Terry Richardson and Anton Corbijn. He first began painting, then racing motorcycles, performed music, acted in films and finally became a filmmaker.
During Gallo's artistic period in the 1980s, when he worked as a musician and painter in New York City, he also began experimenting with film. He made the short film "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" and appeared in a film called "Downtown 81" (1981) with painter Jean Michel Basquiat. In 1984, Gallo acted in The Way It Is (1984), which included actors Steve Buscemi and Rockets Redglare. After starring in the obscure 1989 film Doc's Kingdom, he began acting in small parts in more well-known films such as Goodfellas, The House of the Spirits, and The Perez Family. French director Claire Denis hired Gallo to act in several films such as the "short film Keep It for Yourself, the made-for-TV U.S. Go Home, and its follow-up feature Nénette et Boni (1996)." [4]
Gallo acted in the film Arizona Dream, with Johnny Depp, in the cult comedy Palookaville, and in The Funeral, and had a lead role in the film Truth or Consequences, N.M..
In 1998, his debut film Buffalo '66 was nominated for, but did not win, an award for "Best First Feature" at the Independent Spirit Awards.[4] Gallo made this drama for $1.5 M, serving as writer, director, lead actor, and composer/performer of the soundtrack. The release of Buffalo '66 "...gained him a solid fan base".[4] Gallo proceeded to act in the crime drama Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby, the science-fiction drama Stranded: Náufragos, the thriller Hide and Seek, and the romantic comedy Get Well Soon. Gallo appeared in another Claire Denis film, an erotic/horror movie called Trouble Every Day.
In 2003, Gallo starred in and directed the film The Brown Bunny, which chronicles a motorcycle racer's cross-country road trip, co-starred Chloë Sevigny. The film, which contained a scene of Sevigny performing unsimulated oral sex upon Gallo, received an overwhelmingly negative critical response to its Cannes premier and became a media scandal, in part due to Gallo's use of a still image from a sex scene on a promotional billboard. According to Andrea LeVasseur of Allmovie, The Brown Bunny "premiered to much derision at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival."[4] Booing at the Cannes screening began during the films opening credits which suggests prejudice. A judge during the 2003 Cannes suggested that if Gallo had not credited himself as director the film may have won the Palm d'Or. The critic explained that it was too difficult to accept a writer-director to also star in his film and receive oral sex during shooting.
A war of words erupted between Gallo and popular film critic Roger Ebert in 2003 regarding Ebert's statement that The Brown Bunny was the worst film in the history of Cannes.[5] Gallo retorted by calling Ebert a "fat pig with the physique of a slave trader" and put a hex on Ebert, wishing him colon cancer.[5] Ebert then responded – paraphrasing a statement made by Winston Churchill – that, "although I am fat, one day I will be thin, but Mr. Gallo will still have been the director of The Brown Bunny."[6]
Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired multi-territory distribution rights for the film in February 2004, and released the film on DVD in North America in August 2004.
Gallo appeared as the title character in Francis Ford Coppola's 2009 film Tetro.
In 2010, Gallo won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 67th Venice International Film Festival for his role in Essential Killing, although he doesn't have a single line in the film. He did not attend the ceremony to accept his award in person, leaving the duty to the film's director Jerzy Skolimowski, who tried to get the actor to reveal himself, leading the audience in a chant of his name. Gallo was not in attendance.[7][8]
Gallo played electric bass and sang in the mid-1970s in several adolescent garage bands such as Blue Mood, a progressive rock cover band named Zephyr (not the late 1960s band) which did one performance in New York State, The Good (with Bernie Kugel and Larry Galanowitz), The Detours and the Plastics.[9] At the age of 16, Gallo moved to New York City and was a later member of the band, Gray, with visual artist Jean Michel Basquiat (who was not yet famous). Gray played at clubs such as Max's Kansas City, CBGB's, Hurrahs, and the Mudd Club. A few of Gray's recordings appear on the soundtrack for the film Downtown 81.[10] In the early 1980s, Gallo performed solo as the Nonsexuals, rapped in a duo called Trouble Deuce under the name Prince Vince (along with Nick Nice, who went under the name DJ High Priest).
Gallo played in a band called Bohack which recorded an album entitled It Took Several Wives.[9] When Bohack disbanded, Gallo turned his attention to acting, directing, and composing in films. He wrote songs for the soundtrack of the 1998 film Buffalo 66. He played in a rock band with Lukas Haas called Bunny, and Gallo put out his own CD which he wrote. performed and produced under Warp Records, titled "When".[9] Bunny did a Japanese tour and recorded an album for Sony with producer Eddie Offord. In Japan, for his 2001 When tour, Josh Klinghoffer and Carla Azar of Autolux supported him as his tour band.
In 2002, he released "Recordings of Music for a Film", which is a remastered version of his older music. He also did shows with Jim O'Rourke playing on bass. Gallo has also performed shows with Sean Lennon, whom he collaborated with on an album they completed in 2004, that has yet to be released. Gallo also curated one weekend of the UK music festival All Tomorrow's Parties in April 2005. His friends John Frusciante and PJ Harvey appeared on the bill. Gallo selected Yoko Ono as a headline act, and also performed with her and her son Sean Lennon at this event.
Gallo's most recent musical project is the band RRIICCEE, with Hole co-founder Eric Erlandson, which plays only improvised music.
Gallo also appears in the following music videos by other artists: "Grounded" by My Vitriol (2001), "Cosmopolitan Bloodloss" by Glassjaw (2003), "99 Problems" by Jay-Z (2004), and "Bitter" by Lit.
Gallo directed music videos for the songs "Going Inside" by John Frusciante, and "Anemone" by L'Arc-en-Ciel.[11]
Gallo also appeared as a model in H&M Spring 2009 Collection alongside Eva Herzigova.[12]
Gallo is a supporter of the Republican Party, and has been seen at a New York fashion show with George W. Bush's daughters Barbara and Jenna.[13] He has stated that his fantasy is "becoming more like the stereotype of the Republican Party."[14] He also wishes to look "more like [American conservative journalist] George Will."[14] In his own words, Gallo "considered himself a radical, always, but an extremely conservative radical."[15]
Gallo is godfather to Chris Squire's son Cameron.[16]
Gallo is known to have dated singer/songwriter Cat Power, who subsequently wrote a song about their relationship, entitled "Mr. Gallo", on her debut album Dear Sir.