Nick Sandow, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Piazza On ‘The Wannabe’ [EXCLUSIVE]

Nick Sandow wrote, directed and starred in new mob movie The Wannabe, which also stars Michael Imperioli and Vincent Piazza.

‘THE WANNABE’

The Wannabe is loosely based on the story of the young ex-con married couple Thomas Uva and Rosemarie Uva, who infamously held up mafia social clubs in New York City during the John Gotti trial in the early 90s, before meeting their ends.

“Thomas is under so much influence of what was happening in 1991/92,” Piazza told uInterview in an exclusive interview. “The backdrop is the John Gotti trial and here is this young lost soul in search of access to this world, almost in his own effort to keep the myth of the mafia or the last gasps of it alive.”

While Piazza’s Thomas, the ambitious protagonist in The Wannabe, tries to embroil himself within the mob before resorting to robbing it, Imperiloi’s Alphonse and Sandow’s Anthony play men outside of the criminal business. Alphonse, Thomas’s brother, is fighting an impulse to give up on his wayward brother, while Anthony doesn’t know if it’s time to turn his back on his sister Rose (Patricia Arquette).

“I think they’ve had a very bumpy history, with [Thomas] getting into trouble and my character Alphonse trying to help him and kind of reaching a point of being fed up and having to keep a distance to protect himself and his family,” said Imperioli.

Adding of his own character, Sandow said, “He’s very similar to Alphonse in that he’s trying to hold down the family. He’s been through it with Rose and that journey when you have someone who many times derails their own life, and he’s been through that with her and he’s tried to save her on many occasions.”

Stories centered in and around mob life have long been popular for audiences. Sandow believes the popularity is rooted in an American fascination with lawlessness and power.

“I think that the genre is uniquely American,” said the Orange is the New Black star. “It’s a fascination with being above the law and not having to kowtow to anyone, and about power.”

The Wannabe is currently in select theaters.