Vallelonga honed all the details of his father’s and Shirley’s trip down South, keeping tabs on every letter Tony had written to his wife, Dolores (which, as the movie shows, were really co-authored by Shirley) — making sure he had the story right for whenever the time came to actually write it. Nick Vallelonga talks us through his arduous efforts to tell his father’s incredible story. Tony Lip and Don Shirley died within five months of each other in January and April 2013, respectively. His life in the early 1960s, when he was the driver and bodyguard for the black classical pianist Don Shirley, was dramatized in the 2018 film, Green Book, where he was portrayed by Viggo Mortensen. Nick's brother Frank Vallelonga plays Rudy, Tony Lip's brother. Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. Shirley gets them out of jail by calling then Attorney General Robert Kennedy. By signing up you are agreeing to our. “He never came out that he was gay. ‘We did this, we did that, this is what happened and that happened on the trip. Nick wrote and produced "Green Book" with Peter Farrelly and Brian Hayes Currie, based on the true story of Nick's father Tony Lip, who went on tour of the south with the brilliant pianist Dr. Donald Shirley in 1962. It was never spoken of,” says Vallelonga, who never heard any stories about the subject beyond the one at the YMCA. Currie encouraged Vallelonga to pull his interview tapes out of storage, then recruited Farrelly for the project. But something differentiated him and his younger brother from the rest of the neighborhood boys: their father was best friends with a world-renowned black piano prodigy in a time and place where interracial friendships were uncommon. “I’m going by what my father told me that Dr. Shirley told him, and then what Dr. Shirley told me. In Variety, Vallelonga disputed the allegations: "There's a lot of information [the Shirley family] doesn't have, and they were hurt that I didn't speak to them. Vallelonga remembers taking photos with the artifacts in Shirley’s apartment above Carnegie Hall. Write to Rachel E. Greenspan at rachel.greenspan@time.com. We moved things around, combined some stuff, but we stayed true to it. And he only wanted certain parts of his life … So obviously, to say I didn't contact them, that was hard for me because I didn't want to betray what I promised him. Though Vallelonga says he does not know why Shirley wanted him to wait, audiences might guess, like Vallelonga does, that Shirley’s sexuality played a role. Nick Vallelonga on his father's friendship with Don Shirley "Green Book," which stars Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, is co-written by the real-life son of Mortensen's character. “He just told it to me casually, and I thought, ‘Jesus, Nick, I’ve known you for 30 years and you’re just telling me this now? 'Green Book' Film Review: Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali Take a Perilous Road Trip Through the Deep South, Mahershala Ali Accepts Viggo Mortensen's Apology for Using N-Word, Viggo Mortensen to Receive American Riviera Award From Santa Barbara Film Festival, Golden Globes Nominations Analysis: ‘Vice’ and ‘Green Book’ Emerge as Curious Front Runners, ‘Green Book’ Named 2018’s Top Film by National Board of Review, ‘Green Book’ Film Review: Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali Take a Perilous Road Trip Through the Deep South. Since [the family] were not on the trip — this is right out of his mouth — he said, ‘No one else was there but your father and I. We’ve told you.’ And he approved what I put in and didn’t put in. “All that went away after he became friends with Dr. Shirley, and after this crazy trip they took together and what happened to them.”. Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr. (July 30, 1930 – January 4, 2013),[1] better known as Tony Lip, was an American actor and occasional author. “They just provided the vignettes. The Craft Inspired a Generation of Teenage Witches. The real Rodolfo Vallelonga plays his and Tony's father, Nicola, and Louis Venere plays his and Dolores' father, Anthony. Co-writer Nick Vallelonga, who based the story on his father’s experience driving Shirley through the Deep South for a tour, spoke to Variety at the National Board of Review gala on Tuesday evening in New York City about the dispute. In the movie, Viggo Mortensen plays Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip went on to become an actor, and is known for his role as New York Crime Boss Carmine Lupartazzi in the HBO series "The Sopranos. I can’t help it that I’m telling it from the perspective of the white guy, because it’s my dad.”. "[5][6], In 2019, Vallelonga apologized for a 2015 tweet in which he agreed with Donald Trump’s false claim that “thousands of people were cheering” on rooftops in Jersey City following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Some critics have characterized the film’s view of racism as “tone-deaf” or “quaint.” In one scene, for example, Lip persuades Shirley to try fried chicken, which the pianist claims to hate, and is validated when Shirley finds it to be delicious. So obviously, to say I didn’t contact them, that was hard for me because I didn’t want to betray what I promised him [Dr. Shirley].”, Vallelonga added, “Plus, the older brother said he’s never seen it. But Vallelonga and Currie said they were always aware that this was an occasionally humorous story about a very serious subject. It’s really about their relationship, and what they were going through during this horrendous time in our history,” Vallelonga says. Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York City. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. The controversy began bubbling after the Shirley family claimed that the movie’s portrayal was a “symphony of lies.” Since, both Farrelly and Mortensen have spoken out supporting the film, and posited that there may be some resentment from the family about their ties with Shirley. “I think that’s the reason he wanted me to wait — he didn’t tell me that, but that’s what I assume,” he says. Vallelonga says that while this entire scenario did happen, it actually occurred one year later, during another stint of road-travel (after the Christmas break that concludes the film). It felt, honestly, weird if we were not trusting Don Shirley’s judgement in going to other people. The Disastrous Swedish Approach to Fighting COVID-19, Khloe Kardashian Reveals Her Coronavirus Diagnosis, You can unsubscribe at any time. There was obviously some creative license because we had to connect the dots.”, “But the most important thing was to fill the film with social issues that are important to people and the humor. So we had to be truthful to the story and the characters.”, “We couldn’t make something up. He had his reasons. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission. “I wanted the feelings to come from the truth, because the story is so amazing that the truth is enough,” Vallelonga tells TIME. And he told me to not contact anyone in his family. [6], Lip died at age 82 on January 4, 2013, in Teaneck, New Jersey. I’ll have that, with extra gravy.”, Yes, he’d eaten a big turkey dinner the night before — but when the waiter left, he explained that one wasn’t enough. Tony Lip attends a bar opening on Nov. 11, 2010. The fact it was a movie became obvious.”, /* >