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Urban Desires: So I know we both know, but the Net folks want to know; so... What's with the name?Roma Maffia: It's real. When my mother was pregnant with me, she didn't know what she wanted to name me, so she looked at a map and she thought, where would I like to be? Rome. Hence Roma.
UD: And the last name?
RM: Not long after, she met my stepfather; Joseph W. Maffia. Hence, Maffia.
UD: You couldn't have made that up.
RM: No, like I sez, it's real.
UD: Tell the people about your initial experience with the highways and bi-ways of beautiful Los Angeles.
RM: I know how to drive. but I didn't know how to merge... So I rode the bus.
UD: Everywhere?
RM: Yes, everywhere!
UD: What, you thought you were in New York?
RM: It was the only way I knew to get around. I could only grub so many rides from so many people, so many times.
UD: I was happy to take you anywhere.
RM: Yeah-yeah-yeah...
UD: Tell about that time you were at the bus stop -
RM: And Ron Howard picked me up?
UD: Uh-huh.
RM: That was the event.
UD: Yeah, but the thing about it is, what are the chances of you sitting at a bus stop in North Hollywood in the early morning, and having Ron Howard - who directed you in The Paper - suddenly appear and offer you a lift?
RM: Actually I was standing at the bus stop -
UD: Oh, that explains everything.
RM: and the chances are next to none.
UD: How was working with Ron Howard?
RM: Terrific. It was unbelievable, it was great, it was, um...
UD: I love your specificity here.
RM: You're turning on me,
UD: No, but what are the details? It was your first major Hollywood movie, wasn't it?
RM: Well, I had worked on Married to the Mob, so -
UD: But that was a much smaller part. This was the real thing. And as our friend Nan put it, you really popped right off the screen in this one.
RM: I know it sounds corny, but it was a present.
UD: You mean like a gift?
RM: Yes.
UD: Okay, but by the time you landed your really big role, it wasn't just luck - all modesty aside - it was about talent. How did Disclosure happen?
RM: Don Lee, the 2nd A.D. on The Paper gave my name to Ellen Chenowith, and she auditioned me.
UD: And when did Barry Levinson get involved?
RM: Well, actually, initially, I didn't know what I was auditioning for, or who was directing. So after I read for Ellen, she asked if I would read for Barry. And I thought "Barry" was her assistant. So I said sure - Barry, Larry, Harry - I had no idea. My friend Michelle was waiting in the parking lot to drive me home, so I asked her if she'd wait. Then all of a sudden I realized it was Barry Levinson... I auditioned for him and what I loved was, at one point he was holding a hand-held camera -
UD: Taking home movies. But whatever you did, it worked Because like, 6 weeks later, you were in front of a panavision camera with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. Not bad for your first "official" supporting role - in what's clearly one of the biggest movies of this year. What was it like working with Michael Douglas?
RM: He was great. He's very generous. He tried desperately to teach me continuity. So did Julie.
UD: The script supervisor. And how was Demi?
RM: I had great fun cross-examining her.
UD: I see. Next witness.
RM: I said I had fun.
UD: And I believe you. This is going to be a controversial movie, especially because - and "Hollywood" is already taking flak for this - it's about sexual harrassment, but the sexual harrasser is a woman. Did you have a problem with that?
RM: No. What do you mean, "a problem?"
UD: Put the gun down. How's this: did working on Disclosure change your perceptions about sexual politics between men and women, especially in the workplace?
RM: It didn't change my perceptions of sexual politics. I became more aware of what sexual harrassment entails. The specifics of the term.
UD: You mean, legally?
RM: Yes. I got help from some great lawyers, who believed that Anita Hill led the way, in exposing that issue.
UD: Have you seen the picture?
RM: Not as of yet.
UD: We hear you're hot. Everyone wants to know "who is that woman?" This is going to be one of those classic overnight success stories, because most people won't have any idea that you've been working in theatre for like, how many years?
RM: 15.
UD: Overnight success. Now, somewhere in here, in your whirlwind bus tour of Los Angeles, you landed a role on that other TV hospital series. Was that fun?
RM: Yes.
UD: Come on, give it up!
RM: Chicago Hope is great fun. It's a star-studded event-
UD: Mandy, Adam, Hector -
RM: I didn't finish answering your question.
UD: I'll shut up now.
RM: Thank you. Mandy, Adam, Hector, E.G., Roxanne and Peter. What a wonderful crew.
UD: Oh! We didn't get the laundry story.
RM: Oh, the laundry story. Well, it goes like this: I had to go to Seattle to finish working on ["Disclosure"], leaving at six in the morning. I had no time to do my laundry, due to work on Chicago Hope. Adam [Arkin] suggests I pack it with me and give it to a fluff-and-puff -
UD: Fold.
RM: Whatever. So I enter the lobby of the Four Seasons -
UD: Which is like, the most expensive hotel in Seattle -
RM: Is that a question?
UD: No? Tell the story.
RM: Yes, the Four Seasons is an expensive hotel. I hand my bag of laundry to the concierge -
UD: A little attitudinal about the underwear?
RM: Who?
UD: The concierge.
UD: No. Who's tellin' the story?! No, Julie was horrified at what I had done.
UD: And then?
RM: I got a bill. For $122.00.
UD: For one bag of laundry?
RM: Yes. One medium size bag of undies. The bill came with a note, telling me my underwear was too torn and tattered. They weren't "responsible." The nerve!
UD: Did it smell good at least? I mean, at those prices...
RM: No comment
UD: And thus, the life of a superstar in the making - Roma Maffia! Any last words?
RM: Do we have to put superstar in there?
UD: You're beautiful.
