{"id":657709,"date":"2026-10-26T16:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/657709\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:14:14","slug":"cocaine-is-the-gollum-of-drugs-and-other-things-we-learned-from-anthony-lapaglias-surprisingly-juicy-memoir-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/657709\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cocaine is the Gollum of drugs\u2019 \u2013 and other things we learned from Anthony LaPaglia\u2019s surprisingly juicy memoir | Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe once a year we get a celebrity memoir that is as good on the juicy stuff \u2013 the Hollywood gossip \u2013 as the interior excavation; and boy does Anthony LaPaglia deliver both in his new memoir, The Life We Choose<\/a>. \u201cThey say acting is the cheapest form of therapy,\u201d writes the actor, best known for his roles in Without a Trace, Empire Records, Lantana and Frasier. \u201cAnd that was lucky for me, because, coming up in the way I did, Christ knows I needed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The memoir reveals a lot about his abusive childhood in Adelaide<\/a>, at the hands of his father, Egidio; and how he went from working as a shoe salesman to moving to the US, to work on Broadway and in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re after name-drops, there are plenty. LaPaglia is a big fan of: Kiefer Sutherland (who he claims was once trailed by a \u201c70-year-old ex-bov from London named Moe\u201d whose sole job was to make sure Sutherland turned up on set when he was \u201cshitfaced\u201d); Arthur Miller; Allison Janney; Michael Keaton; Stanley Tucci; Mike Myers; the whole cast of Frasier but particularly Kelsey Grammer; Alan Arkin; Kerry Armstrong (\u201ca genius actress and a complete nutcase\u201d); and Hugo Weaving.<\/p>\n

LaPaglia has mixed feelings about: Val Kilmer (who he claims once deliberately poured coffee on him); John Landis (\u201caggressive and condescending\u201d); the Empire Records director, Allan Moyle (the only time LaPaglia walked off a set); his youngest brother, Jonathan LaPaglia (\u201cextremely boring company\u201d); Harvey Weinstein<\/a> (fair); and his third ex-wife, Alexandra Henkel (whom he won\u2019t even name).<\/p>\n

Here are seven takeaways:<\/p>\n

1. He really does not like Adelaide<\/p>\n

LaPaglia had a tough childhood in the suburb Beefacres (now part of Windsor Gardens) in South Australia. He\u2019s still not a fan of his home town: \u201cThere\u2019s a bad energy running through it. Whenever I go back, I feel the same low-frequency unease that used to spook me as a kid \u2026 Maybe it was weird for a kid, but even during my school years I worried that if I didn\u2019t one day leave Adelaide, I might never be happy.\u201d Though he credits his childhood for helping him become an actor: \u201cI estimate about 80% of the actors I know sprang from difficult beginnings and had poor relationships with their families \u2026 I believe nothing makes an actor better than the deep sense of anger and revenge that often accompanies suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. He loved cocaine<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 1993, when he was filming So I Married an Axe Murderer in San Francisco, that LaPaglia tried drugs for the first time in his 30s \u2013 and really liked them. The memoir includes some incredible lines, including: \u201cCocaine is the Gollum of drugs. You can go along on it for a while but there is a point where it just grabs you\u201d and \u201cI could buy a sandwich bag half-full of the stuff without putting a dent in my rent or grocery bill\u201d. But he became a \u201cbingeing addict\u201d and went on \u201ca four-day solo bender watching David Attenborough\u2019s greatest hits\u201d. One time, his kitchen drawer started talking to him.<\/p>\n

LaPaglia never went to rehab but eventually shook his addiction because he \u201ccouldn\u2019t live with the stupidity\u201d. He has dyscalculia and always struggled with numbers, \u201cbut for years after I quit drugs, I could remember my dealer\u2019s phone number by heart\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anthony LaPaglia in Frasier with Richard E Grant and Robbie Coltrane. Photograph: NBC\/Getty Images3. He almost played Tony Soprano<\/p>\n

In 1996, David Chase approached LaPaglia with the pilot for The Sopranos<\/a> and told him \u201che had me in mind when he wrote the character of Tony Soprano\u201d. LaPaglia loved the script and tried to convince the former CBS chief executive Les Moonves to take the show on \u2013 but while Moonves also loved it, he said it was too racy for network television and that CBS would \u201cgut\u201d what made it great. As \u201cDavid doggedly persisted and I kept trotting The Sopranos around\u201d, LaPaglia was approved by Arthur Miller himself to play Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge on Broadway. \u201cAlmost as soon\u201d as he committed to Bridge, HBO picked up The Sopranos \u2013 and James Gandolfini was cast as Tony instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames was far and away the best choice to play that part,\u201d LaPaglia writes. \u201cI\u2019d have approached Tony Soprano entirely differently. In fact, David and I already had some disagreements about Tony\u2019s personality and motivation. I wanted to portray a guy who\u2019d escaped the mob only to be sucked back in after the death of his mother. I envisaged a more urbane, very reluctant mafioso.\u201d In a weird coincidence, LaPaglia chose Allison Janney over Edie Falco to play Beatrice Carbone in the Miller production; Falco then went on to play Carmela Soprano, Tony\u2019s wife, on the hit show.<\/p>\n

4. Tarantino \u2018flipped out\u2019 at him<\/p>\n

In 2011, LaPaglia was invited to meet Quentin Tarantino<\/a> to discuss playing an Australian slave trader in Django Unchained. LaPaglia even read with Jamie Foxx for the role. But when production on the film was repeatedly postponed, LaPaglia committed to making Underground, a made-for-TV film directed by his friend, the Australian director Rob Connolly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, six months after it was supposed to begin production, Quentin was ready to start filming,\u201d LaPaglia writes \u2013 but leaving Connolly\u2019s film would have dashed its chance at funding. \u201cIt broke my heart to call [Tarantino] and say I couldn\u2019t do it. The last thing I expected, though, was that he\u2019d flip out: \u2018What do you mean you can\u2019t do it?\u2019 \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cQuentin was genuinely astonished that I would pass on a role in his movie to go and shoot some independent thing for Australian TV. I don\u2019t think he was used to being turned down. \u2018Can\u2019t you get out of it?\u2019 he said. \u2018Jesus Christ, just get out of it.\u2019\u201d When LaPaglia persisted, he says Tarantino said \u201cI don\u2019t fucking believe this\u201d and hung up on him.<\/p>\n

LaPaglia now calls his decision \u201ca classic case of LaPaglia self-sabotage\u201d: Django made $450m (A$646m) worldwide, while Underground was barely seen. \u201cWould I have loved to be in the Tarantino family of actors?\u201d he writes. \u201cSure, but I also know families can be overrated.\u201d Tarantino ended up playing the Australian slave trader himself, if you\u2019re being generous about the accent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018You\u2019ll never work again if you hit him\u2019 \u2026 Anne Parillaud with LaPaglia in Innocent Blood. Photograph: Cinematic\/Alamy5. He almost hit John Landis<\/p>\n

Tarantino isn\u2019t the only director LaPaglia had a falling out with. He hated working with Landis on the 1992 film Innocent Blood so much that he started having recurring dreams about the director dying violently: \u201cWhat scared me most was how good I felt when I woke up from them.\u201d While filming he even developed welts all over his body, which mystified his doctor: \u201cI was convinced the hives were a result of intense work-related stress. I was allergic to John Landis<\/a>.\u201d LaPaglia even almost hit him during a disagreement over a take, but the actor Robert Loggia stopped him: \u201c\u2018Don\u2019t fucking hit him, kid,\u2019 he breathed in my ear. \u2018You\u2019ll never work again if you hit him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Losing control at Landis reminded LaPaglia of his abusive father \u2013 so once shooting wrapped, he \u201cbooked a flurry of appointments\u201d with his therapist.<\/p>\n

6. He called Harvey Weinstein a \u2018prick\u2019 to his face<\/p>\n

While LaPaglia was dating \u201can up-and-coming young actress\u201d decades ago, she told him \u201chow she literally had to fight off the famed Miramax producer Harvey Weinstein when he tried to maul her in a hotel room\u201d. Months later he met Weinstein at a charity event in Tribeca and confronted him. By LaPaglia\u2019s telling, he called Weinstein a \u201cprick\u201d and told him he knew what he\u2019d done to his girlfriend; Weinstein \u201csmirked\u201d and said, \u201cWhat are you gonna do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have to do anything about it. It\u2019ll catch up with you sooner or later,\u201d LaPaglia replied, to which Weinstein retorted, \u201cFuck off \u2026 you\u2019ll never work in one of my movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

7. He\u2019s \u2018pretty much broke\u2019 now<\/p>\n

\u201cI never stopped spending like I had an unlimited supply of cash,\u201d LaPaglia writes. Though he once owned houses around the world and had a taste for expensive watches, he now lives in a rented apartment in Santa Monica. \u201cThe properties I once owned have all been sold, as have the toys \u2013 the vintage motorbikes and the garage full of exotic cars. The only thing of value that remains is one Rolex watch. Other than that, I\u2019m pretty much broke \u2013 cleaned out by three divorces and my long-term failure to take direct control of my finances.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said after his accountant died in 2024, he had no idea where his money was \u2013 until the Internal Revenue Service caught up with him and \u201cI realised how much trouble I was in\u201d. He\u2019s since paid back what he owed \u2013 but, he says, \u201cdon\u2019t be like me\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Life We Choose by Anthony LaPaglia<\/a> is published on 27 October (HarperCollins)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe once a year we get a celebrity memoir that is as good on the juicy stuff \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-657709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}