Playing Jesus in the Big Lebowski - John Turturro

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/01/30/John_Turtur... Actor John Turturro describes creating the character of Jesus Quintana for Joel and Ethan Coen's The Big Lebowski. He discusses the importance as an actor of having a good relationship with a film's director, explaining his performance "came out of something very...organic." ----- John Turturro meets with the New School student body in a Town Hall meeting for a Q&A about his career and experiences in the entertainment industry. - The New School John Turturro studied at the Yale School of Drama. He created the title role of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea in his theatrical début, for which he won an Obie Award and a Theater World Award. Since then, Turturro has returned to the stage often, in productions such as Waiting for Godot; performing the title role in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; and in Eduardo de Filippo's Souls of Naples, for which he received a Drama Desk nomination. He recently completed Samuel Beckett's ENDGAME at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Mr. Turturro has also performed in more than sixty films, working with directors such as Martin Scorsese (The Color of Money), Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever), Robert Redford (Quiz Show), Peter Weir (Fearless), Tom DiCillo (Box of Moonlight), and Joel and Ethan Coen (Miller's Crossing; The Big Lebowski; O Brother, Where Art Thou?; and the lead role in Barton Fink, which won him the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the David di Donatello Award.) His current projects include Columbia Pictures The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, opposite Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Mr. Turturro received SAG Award nominations for his television portrayals of Howard Cosell in Monday Night Mayhem and Billy Martin in ESPN's The Bronx Is Burning. He won an Emmy for his guest appearance on the hit series Monk. John Turturro has also directed three films. His directorial debut, Mac, won the Camera d' Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed Illuminata and the recently-released Romance & Cigarettes, starring James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, and Kate Winslet.