WRITER’S NOTE: This article was originally written back in 2013.

While Ray Liotta has played a wide variety of roles throughout his long career, he is still best known for playing bad guys or characters on the wrong side of the law. The perception of him being typecast as a bad guy may continue with “The Iceman” in which he plays real life mob boss Roy DeMeo, the man who hired Richard Kuklinski (played by Michael Shannon) to kill dozens upon dozens of people. But while at “The Iceman” press day held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, Liotta reminded us there is way more to him than just playing evil characters in movies.

Critics and audiences see Roy DeMeo as the latest in a long of mob characters Liotta has played throughout his career, but that’s actually not true. Liotta was quick to point out DeMeo is only the second mob character he has ever played, and that Henry Hill (his character from “Goodfellas”) wasn’t even in the mob but was associated with it. But whether he’s playing a good or bad guy in a movie, his decision to take on a role is always based on one thing.

Ray Liotta: (It’s) the script, the story, what they’re saying, how they’re saying it. Henry in “Goodfellas” just beat one person up and the character I played in this (“The Iceman”) whacked people left and right, wasn’t afraid of anybody, where Henry was a little more timid. So, the script just dictated it to be different. It’s really the script, whatever the script tells you, and that’s why you have to make the right choice. If it seems too similar to something else then it’s better to stay away from it, unless you want to do something that’s similar.

During the roundtable interview, one person mentioned how he loved the Liotta’s work on the television show “Just Shoot Me.” Liotta actually made guest appearances on two episodes as himself, and he ended up falling for Laura San Giacomo’s character of Maya. Truth be told, he has appeared in many comedies over the years such as “Date Night,” “Observe and Report,” “Wild Hogs” and “Bee Movie.” When asked if he would like to do more comedy in the future, Liotta replied he certainly would.

RL: Yeah, I would like to. It’s just getting people to see it. I’ve got different scripts that I’ve been trying to do for years and it’s just really hard to get money, and everybody’s a creature of habit. I just did a movie with the Muppets, me and Danny Trejo, and we’re just singing and dancing with the Muppets and it was so much fun. I’ve done it. It just has to come along. It takes a while to change people’s opinions. I’ve done over 80 movies and there’s been a few where I’m funny and nice, but you can’t expect people to see everything.

So far, Liotta has had the opportunity to work with a lot of great directors like Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Joe Carnahan and Ridley Scott. Working with them has left him with many great memories and given him a strong idea of what he wants from a director which is a great passion for the work of making movies.

RL: It’s much better that way. The best directors that I’ve worked with have the most passion about make-believe situations, and I mean obsessively so. I remember in “Goodfellas,” Marty (Scorsese) every day would have to tie my tie because he wanted it to look a certain way. The best directors know top to bottom what’s going on. I’ve always been taught by what Da Vinci said, that he saw the Statue of David in the marble and chipped away the excess. You know what you’re going to do going in.

“The Iceman” takes place in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, and it is tempting to think doing a period piece like this is like time travel. We always hear about actors getting lost in the moment when they are on the set, and we like to think this happened here since the actors were all dressed in the clothes and driving the cars of that era. Liotta, however, was quick to shoot down this perception as he pointed out there was always something to remind everyone they were still existing in the present.

RL: You’re looking at that, you’re doing your scene, and then you turn around and there’s the crew with their beer bellies and shorts,” Liotta said. “So, you don’t get like that lost in it in terms of that.”

Liotta also made it clear he has no problem auditioning for a role, and that he is still asked to audition for parts from time to time. You would think an actor in his position wouldn’t have to audition anymore, but even he had to do so for the Brad Pitt movie “Killing Them Softly.” But like the smartest of actors, Liotta clearly sees the process of auditioning as a chance to perform.

RL: It didn’t bother me at all. If that’s what’s gonna take then fine. I don’t mind it all. I always liked it, and if I didn’t get something, I couldn’t wait for the next audition just to say, alright you’ll see! There are a few movies I have to do that for and I don’t care. If I want to be in that movie and if that’s what I have to do that then that’s what you’ve got to do… no matter how stupid it is.

Listening to Ray Liotta at “The Iceman” press day was a reminder of just how much he has accomplished as an actor after several decades in show business. His career continues to have a longevity many would love to have themselves, and while many may still yearn to see him play the bad guy in the next movie he does, Liotta is clearly not limited to playing just those kinds of roles. His range extends far beyond what he did in “Goodfellas” and “Unlawful Entry,” and this is something we should not have to be reminded of.