Back in 1998, Ray Liotta starred as Frank Sinatra in the HBO movie The Rat Pack, and apparently, he received a very The Godfather-esque warning (Sinatra was the basis for the Johnny Fontane character) during the film’s production. While stopping by Jay Leno’s Garage, Liotta revealed that prior to the HBO film, Sinatra’s daughters had approached him about starring in a miniseries, which the actor passed on.
“The daughters, they wanted me to do a miniseries when they were doing a miniseries about it and I just felt too uncomfortable,” Liotta said. However, he ended up agreeing to play Ol’ Blue Eyes in The Rat Pack, and well, let’s just say Frank’s daughters decided to express their displeasure. Via Mediaite:
“We were doing the movie and I got delivered a horse’s head,” he said. “Obviously it wasn’t a real one, but it was a horse’s head. And, you know, a horse’s head means you’re toast.”
After Liotta discovered that it was Sinatra’s daughters, Tina and Nancy, who sent the fake horse head, he definitely understood the message being sent.
“Oh, you could do this one, but you couldn’t do the one that we wanted you to?” Liotta told Leno while laughing, which is one way to react to a family with rumored mob ties sending you a decapitated horse head. Another is changing your name and fleeing the country, but you do you, Liotta.
(Via Mediaite)