Paul Wesley Says Starring in Goodfellas Remake Would Be a ‘Dream Role’
While Paul Wesley isn't advocating for the remake to happen, he's hoping to audition if it ever does.
Pretty much every actor has a dream role, even if it’s one they don’t expect they’d ever get the chance to actually play. This can be said for Paul Wesley, who rose to fame with his role as the vampire Stefan Salvatore in the hit CW series The Vampire Diaries. Wesley is now becoming more recognized for his recent casting as Captain Kirk in the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, following William Shatner and Chris Pine as the third actor to play Kirk in live-action.
Of course, landing the role of an iconic character like Captain Kirk has been a dream come true in many ways for Wesley, who explains as much in a new interview with InStyle. In fact, had he not been cast as Kirk, Wesley says he may have named the Star Trek captain as his “dream role.” Faced with picking another potential part to play to now serve as his new dream role, Wesley says that it might be starring in a remake of Goodfellas, though he’d want Martin Scorsese back at the helm. As Wesley explained when asked to name his dream role
“Boy, I’ll tell you, if I wasn’t playing Captain Kirk, I may very well have said Captain Kirk. Dream role. I guess if they were to remake Goodfellas — which I hope they don’t — maybe I can have a part in Goodfellas working with Scorsese. I don’t think he would remake his own film, but one can dream.”
Should Goodfellas Get a Remake?
Goodfellas has several unforgettable characters, thanks in part to how well they were portrayed by the film’s strong ensemble cast. Wesley notably doesn’t name a specific role he’d want to play in the potential Goodfellas remake, and perhaps that’s because he’d truly be happy to land any of them. The acclaimed film’s cast includes such names as Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and the late Ray Liotta. Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, and Frank Sivero also starred.
Goodfellas is based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. Director Martin Scorsese co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film adaptation with Pileggi. The film tells the story of the rise and fall of mobster Henry Hill from the 1950s to 1980. It was tremendously acclaimed, garnering a slew of Oscar nominations with Joe Pesci winning for Best Supporting Actor. To this day, Goodfellas is widely considered tobe among the greatest films that’s ever been made.
Time will tell if Goodfellas ever gets a remake, but fans of Scorsese can instead look forward to seeing his next feature film, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is soon to be released. The film will be hitting theaters on Oct. 20, 2023. As for Paul Wesley, the actor will return as Captain Kirk in the upcoming third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+. As for Goodfellas, you can currently find the film streaming for free on Tubi.
