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"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." |
I saw the movie "A Bronx Tale" (DeNiro's 1993 Directorial Debut) for the first time this weekend and was struck by the actor playing DeNiro's son. I looked him up on IMDB and this is what I found out:
Lillo Brancato Jr.
Lillo was born in Colombia and adopted at 4 months old. He lived in Yonkers, NY with his parents and brother. He was discovered on the beach by talent scouts looking for a DeNiro lookalike.
After his epic performance in "A Bronx Tale," he appeared in a few more movies and started doing drugs. Lillo was arrested in 2005, when he and his ex-girlfriend's father attempted to break into a house for herion. An off-duty police officer was killed when he tried to stop them. Lillo was acquitted of manslaughter (he claims he did not know his assailant carried a gun) but was charged with attempted burglary and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Lillo will be eligible for parole in 2014.
I am sad to see this is how his story unfolded, given the promise he shows in that movie. But I am still rooting for him to recover and get back into acting.
If you've never seen the movie, I suggest you go watch it now.