Harvey Keitel on ‘Lansky,’ Quentin Tarantino, and Why He Turned Down Ridley Scott’s Offer to Direct

With writer-director Eytan Rockaway’s Lansky now playing select theaters and available On Demand, I recently spoke with Harvey Keitel about playing one of the legendary figures of 20th century organized crime in America, Meyer Lansky. During the wide-ranging interview, Keitel talked about why he wanted to play this role, why Lansky made it to old age, what is it about Benjamin “Bugsy“ Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Charlie Luciano that people keep telling stories their story, and more. In addition, we also talked about what it was like studying under acting teachers Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg early in his career, why he turned down Ridley Scott’s offer to let him direct, if it ever gets old when people want to talk to him about Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, and why he loves Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Lansky is about a down-on-his-luck writer (Sam Worthington) that gets the opportunity of a lifetime when Meyer Lansky (Keitel) agrees to tell him his life story. As his st