Back in 2004 I had the pleasure of working with legendary actor Ray Liotta on the show ER. As you can imagine, he is a truly striking and talented guy in person. He stayed very introverted on set, nice and cordial, but still saying very little unless he had to. You could tell he was really trying to stay in the head-space of a dying alcoholic.
We shot the episode in order and in real-time as Ray’s character lived the last hour of his life in the ER. Over the 8 days of shooting his character slowly declined and by the last act, he died in Trauma Room 2 with Mekhi Phifer’s Dr. Pratt staying vigil by his side.
“Why did you do that, Darren?!” (as spoken by Henry Hill in “Goodfellas”)
These consummate actors performed take after take with real tears in their eyes and true emotion filling the room. While most of the crew were out in the hall watching on remote monitors, there were a select few in the Trauma Room as the drama unfolded. Only the two actors, camera operator, boom operator… and me.
While Mekhi and Ray were crying their eyes out on screen, I was huddled in a ball under the gurney, holding a remote control and waiting for my big moment.
Today it was my job to kill Ray Liotta.
As I crouched like a pretzel off camera, I was lucky enough to get to listen to these genuine and heartbreaking performances. It was hard not to get misty-eyed myself, even though I could not see them, the air was thick with emotion. I listened for the final lines and at just the right time I pushed the button, flat-lining Ray’s heart monitor and sending him to TV afterlife.
Take after take I got to kill Ray Liotta. He was a nice guy, but it was my pleasure to have this responsibility.
*****
When we finally finished shooting the episode, my med tech partner Roman and I unhooked Mr. Liotta from all the tape, tubes and wires that had shackled him for eight days. With business over this was our chance to geek-out and get a little something out of this actor we so admired. We walked Ray out of the Trauma Room and before he could leave, Roman called after him, “Hey Ray, can we get a little line from Goodfellas?”
Ray turned slowly to us, fake blood and sweat dripping from his gaunt face and asked, “You mean like a line of coke?” He might have smiled a bit as he turned and left us in the hall. That’s perfect Ray, just perfect.
*****
Months later, Ray won an Emmy for his performance on our show. I am honored to have been a small part of the process.