Marisa Tomei has said she “really regrets” being “talked into” pigeonholing herself as a "mother role" in films.
The Oscar-winning actor made the revelation in a new interview while discussing her role as in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, in which she plays the mother of Pete Davidson’s lead character.
Tomei also appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as famous Spider-Man character Aunt May.
“I really regret starting down this road and I really regret starting to do that,” Tomei told Collider. “I was, you know, talked into it – not [King of Staten Island], but I mean just that change – and I really always felt like, ‘Oh, I could play a lot of things. Honestly, [playing a mom is] probably more of a stretch than other things.”
Referencing her honesty, she said: “Yeah, I guess I said it all.”
Tomei never revealed who it was who spoke her into pursuing the mother roles in films.
She continued by saying that while she thinks “it was maybe not the right road” for her to go down, she still “[tries] to make the most of it” regardless.
“I think every actor and actress has a lot of dimensions to them and if the scope of what is being written and being made is narrow, and you want to keep working, you do what you can,” Tomei said, adding: ”I mean, I do. I tried it.”
Tomei said that she would rather play “the femme fatale... in a noir” or appear in romantic comedies.
“I really love them, but you know really at a screwball level,” she said.
The King of Staten Island is available to stream on demand now. Read our review here.
