By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Content Agency
January 3, 2017
Joe Mantegna won a Tony Award for his performance in David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” co-starred in “The Godfather Part III” and is the voice of Fat Tony on “The Simpsons.” But television viewers know him best as FBI agent David Rossi on the CBS procedural “Criminal Minds,” which airs Wednesdays. Born and raised in Chicago, he resides in the Los Angeles area, where he and his wife, Arlene, own a restaurant called Taste Chicago. Fans may follow him on Twitter.
Q. Do you miss Chicago in the winter?
A. (Laughs) I do miss Chicago, but I don’t miss the winters that much. I know there’s a cold snap coming through Chicago and I remember what that was like. I still have a lot of family there, as does my wife. I was there (in 2015) for Christmas. My hiatus normally falls in the April to May timeframe, which are nice months to be there. I always come every June to see the Cubs and (I have thrown) out the first pitch. I go to visit my mother, who turned 101 in September.”
.@JoeMantegna talks abt Chicago, @CrimMinds_CBS & he & his wife’s bucket list: Hawaii, Japan & Korea: https://t.co/Moq1nfdAas @TribuneAgency pic.twitter.com/8EYwbvIInj
— Jae-Ha Kim 김재하 (@GoAwayWithJae) January 3, 2017
Q. How has work impacted your travels?
A. My wife says we don’t go on vacation, we go on location! (Laughs) I have been very blessed to be in an occupation that literally takes me all over the world. I shot a film in Moscow, shot a miniseries in Australia and worked in Canada and all over the U.S. I feel very blessed that the profession I’m in forced me to travel. I don’t know that I would’ve done as much traveling otherwise.
Q. What trip really stands out?
A. I was with the Organic Theater Company and did two European tours in 1974 and 1975. We went to Holland, Belgium, England and Germany. When we were there in 1975, my wife and I made it a point to do some traveling on our own. That’s when we found my relatives in Italy. My grandfather had asked me to please go and visit the relatives. I had all these cousins who were about my age. All these years later, we’re still really close. We’ve been to Italy numerous times and I’ve done movies there. They come here to visit, too. I have family in Acquaviva delle Fonti and I created Acquaviva Productions after that town. We’ve done a lot of Europe — East and Western Europe. Most of my wife’s heritage is Czechoslovakian. We went to Czechoslovakia and did kind of a roots tour for her, like we did for me in Italy.
Q. Did your family travel much when you were a child?
A. We had limited funds when I was a kid. As a family, I remember we would go to Holland, Michigan, or Lake Geneva. We took one big trip, ‘cause my dad’s brother had moved to California. We took a road trip with my uncle and aunt and their kids. We followed each other’s cars and drove down Route 66. We spent a week driving out there, stopping to see the Grand Canyon. We spent a week in California and then another week driving back home seeing more sites. I’ll never forget it. That was one great vacation!
Q. When did you first go to an airport?
A. I was young. My dad traveled a bit as an insurance man and I have memories of picking him up from Midway Airport. My dad loved to read about travel. He always longed to really travel and visit places like Rome and Paris, but he never had the chance. He was partially disabled and passed away before he had the opportunity. So when I travel, I always think, “This one’s for you, Pop.”
Q. What is on your travel bucket list?
A. Ironically, we’ve been all over the place, but we’ve never been to Hawaii. I know that’s on my wife’s bucket list, as is Japan. So I’m thinking that is the best possible trip — since one is on the way to the other when you live in California — Hawaii and then Japan and maybe visit South Korea, too. That would be great. We haven’t experienced that Asian part of the world. Our show is huge apparently in Japan. Matthew (Gray Gubler) has gone there a couple times and they said when he went there, it was like being one of the Beatles.
© 2017 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
One thought on “Go Away With … Joe Mantegna”