So it would be a little bit more like that.” Because what I’m after is their reactions, expressed in both body language and dialogue. You have to present the situation as if it’s impacting them for the first time, and then orientate them so that when the stimuli arrive, they have reactions. They’re not going to hit their marks the same way there isn’t the shorthand there. Every take is going to be somewhat different. And so somebody who has a lot of natural charisma but doesn’t have the tradecraft, you approach them in a very different way.

But I believe it’s the director’s responsibility to modify my approach to the language and orientation of the actor. He hadn’t, for example, done 14 years on stage like Nick Nolte. But you still wouldn’t direct him exactly the same way. Mann: “You did, but no, by that point, he had been at the Goodman Theater studying theater and he had worked at Steppenwolf a little bit, and at Remains, which was Billy Petersen’s theater company in Chicago. Also to start the show in Chicago for about 12 episodes, and then on episode 13 take it all to Las Vegas - that was exciting to me.” There was a lot of discussion between Brandon Tartikoff and myself about how do you hook viewers in in so strong a way that they’re following you - because this is all brand new, this is virgin territory - so that they would follow you from episode to episode, or do you try to be serialized, but then also have a beginning, middle and an end so that self-contained and also serial. I’m not sure but I think we were the first serialized show on network television. And then it occurred to me to do a serial, just like a daytime soap, except do it in prime time. I’m talking about Tony Spilotro, whom the Ray Luca character was based on, as was the Pesci character in Casino. One was, I know this fantastic saga, this true life saga of organized crime in Chicago and its move to Vegas. I remember I was sitting on my porch, and suddenly two things occurred to me at the same time.

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