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Robert Pattinson - bohemian Mafia boss, Joe Gallo, in Weinstein's 'Mad Ones'?
June 2, 9:05 PM · 2 comments 2 commentsShareThisFeed

American producer Harvey Weinstein, right, and British actor Robert Pattinson, left, are seen on stage during an auction for the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS benefit at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, during the 62nd Cannes International film festival, in Antibes, southern France, Thursday, May 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Robert Pattinson is being considered for the role of "Crazy" Joe Gallo in the Harvey Weinstein production of The Mad Ones, according to US Magazine.com. When Pattinson puckered up to offer a meet-and-greet and kiss on the cheek for sale at the request of Harvey Weinstein's amfAR auction at the Cannes International Film Festival last month, it appears he may have ingratiated himself to the producer and won himself an offer for a film role in one of Weinstein's future projects.

One of Mr. Weinstein's future projects is The Mad Ones, a gangster film based on a book written by Tom Folsom called The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld. Pattinson would be up for the role of one of three gang bosses, "Crazy" Joe Gallo; the other two being Kid Blast and Larry Gallo. If it seems difficult to envision Robert Pattinson as a Mafia gang boss, perhaps knowing a little more about Joe Gallo will clear up why he is being considered for the role.

The three Gallo brothers worked together in organized crime in New York City in the 1950s and 60s, but it is Joe who is the more unusual ganster of the three. Joe Gallo was not content being a common thug. He aspired to the bohemian lifestyle of the poets, painters, and musicians of Greenwich Village. (Does Pattinson fit the picture a little better now?). He read Kafka, Camus, and Sartre and became a friend of artists and people working in the entertainment industry.

Joe Gallo was a cold-blooded killer, but his dual nature of also having an interest in the arts became so legendary that he was the subject of a Bob Dylan song; Jimmy Breslin's novel, The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight; another film called Crazy Joe; parts of the Godfather; and an Iggy Pop song.

Robert Pattinson is not the only actor being considered for the role. The author of the novel, Tom Folsom, apparently would like to see Leonardo DiCaprio play his Joe Gallo. Weinstein also mentioned DiCaprio and James Franco for the part and commented that "a bunch of guys" could play it.

Likewise, Mr. Pattinson may not even wish to, or be able to, take on the role were he offered it. He already has a pretty full schedule of film shoots with (tentatively titled) Remember Me this summer; Eclipse in the fall; Unbound Captives; and Bel Ami next year in Paris.