When asked what he thought of Goodfellas when it first came out in 1990, he said: "I thought it was boring, excessively violent and not a good movie. I thought I was boring, I thought that I had hurt my career, I thought that this movie should not have been made and it's not a good movie". He then said three hours later after thinking more about it, "Do you know, I'm kind of coming through a clearing here and I'm thinking that's not a boring movie, that's a good movie, that's a great movie maybe, and I'm really good in it!" On why he left Law & Order: "One of the frustrating things about that role - one of the reasons George Dzundza left, I assume, and certainly why I left - is that there wasn't enough range...It wasn't a large enough vehicle for me to express what it was I want to express as an artist."