Danny Aiello recently recorded a Jazz album. Director and writer Kevin Jordan and actor Danny Aiello appeared on Canada AM on Friday.

Aiello hates seafood but loves 'Brooklyn Lobster'

CTV.ca News Staff
September 9, 2005 11:04 PM ET

Danny Aiello's fussy palate almost prevented him from starring in a film he has come to love.

When fellow American writer and director Kevin Jordan first asked Aiello to work on the film Brooklyn Lobster, the veteran actor scoffed.

"He told me it was about lobster fishing, and I hate anything that swims," Aiello told CTV's Canada AM. "I will not eat anything that swims.

"But he came over and said, 'No, read the script, you'll find it interesting.' And Seamus, so help me God, I fell in love with it."

Aiello plays Frank Giorgio, an aging patriarch who is fighting to save his family's lobster farm. Jordan based the screenplay on his family's lobster shop, which his grandfather started in 1938.

Despite the fact that his grandfather was known as "the lobster king of New York," his family has struggled to keep the business afloat since a bank defaulted on a loan intended to help the family build a restaurant extension.

Following a five-year court battle, Jordan's Lobster Dock now faces foreclosure.

"We wanted to tap into a real story about a real family under pressure during the holidays," Jordan told Canada AM. "When you're under pressure, it creates a lot of comedy but it also brings things out in people."

Jordan's father was on the set during the five-week shoot in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island, N.Y., which pleased Aiello.

"I had the opportunity of drawing from him exactly what was needed for this particular part," Aiello said.

The movie has drawn praise from Michele Maheux, TIFF's managing director, who says it "articulates the bittersweet nature of change as it recounts the challenges of living a small-town life…"

Much of the credit goes to Jordan, who has been involved in a handful of productions, as writer, director, producer, actor and cinematographer.

He's best known for writing and directing the film Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish, which won the Discovery Award at the 1999 TIFF.

Despite that success, Aiello was skeptical about Jordan's directing credentials.

"I knew he had written [Brooklyn Lobster ], but I didn't know he was going to direct it, too," Aiello said of the 31-year-old Jordan. "I thought he was too young to have eggs in the morning. I thought, 'How the hell is he going to direct me?'"

But Aiello said he enjoyed working with Jordan.

"When you work with someone new, it makes you brand new. He tapped into things. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't intimidated. He said, 'Danny, why don't we try it this way?' and I would do it."

Aiello says he enjoyed making Brooklyn Lobster more than any of his other films.

Aiello, 72, began acting in his mid-30s and earned a Theatre World Award for his debut in Lamppost Reunion. His portrayal of Cher's fiancé in Moonstruck in 1987 endeared him to scores of moviegoers.

Soon after, he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing.

Aiello recently switched gears by recording a jazz album that has received good reviews.

He stars in Brooklyn Lobster with Jane Curtin, whom many people remember as one of the original members of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the hit late-night series Saturday Night Live.