After a minute, Tommy relents, and everyone laughs about it, but the scene still feels like a warning from Pesci: don’t trust that this mouthy, magnetic guy is going to settle into comic relief. In his most famous scene, Pesci essentially confronts the other characters over his own scene-stealing: “Funny how? What’s funny about it?” he demands to know when Henry tries to compliment him on a well-told story. As Tommy DeVito, Pesci plays volatile sideman to the more controlled burn of his frequent on-screen partner Robert De Niro, as well as the film’s younger narrator, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). Pesci’s Oscar for Goodfellas – as best supporting actor, naturally – was both a worthy recognition and a prelude to a pigeonholing, as Oscars so often are. The program is screening his less signature work from the 80s (Easy Money, Eureka), most of his Scorsese collaborations (Goodfellas, Casino and his one recent performance in The Irishman) and one genuine starring vehicle, which I’ll get to in a moment. That’s emphasized in Also Starring … Joe Pesci, a film series running at the Metrograph in New York this month, celebrating Pesci’s work primarily through his supporting performances.

There’s no shame, however, in Pesci’s skill as a supporting player.

Casino vs goodfellas