Joe Pesci has returned to the screen for the first time in years. While it’s not as exciting as hearing that the Oscar-winner is starring in a new movie, he is revisiting, in a way, one of his most famous roles as Harry, one half of the Wet Bandits, fromHome Alone. This comes as part of a new ad campaign Google has launched for their Google Home products, and this one is pretty meta.
This follows in the footsteps of the Macaulay Culkin ad that saw the actor revisiting his role as Kevin, recreating some of the most iconic scenes fromHome Aloneas an adult. In this case,Joe Pesciisn’t actually playing Harry. He’s playing himself, hosting a party with a bunch of friends who are watching Culkin’s ad on TV. Pesci is commenting on the ad as they watch and gets everyone to celebrate when his small voice cameo comes up in the commercial. Pesci punctuates the whole thing by patting himself on the back.
“I nailed it. I did.”
For years, Joe Pesci has been quite reclusive and hasalmost entirely removed himself from Hollywood. Since starring inLethal Weapon 4in 1998, he’s only starred in a couple of very choice projects, includingThe Good Shepherdin 2006 andLove Ranchin 2010. So, even though it’s just a Google commercial, it’s significant. How exactly Google talked him into doing this isn’t totally clear. Though, we’re guessing it would have something to do with opening up their very deep pockets. Or maybe Pesci just liked the idea of doing something that comes with literally zero pressure.
Starting with his breakout role in Martin Scorsese’sRaging Bull, Joe Pesci asserted himself asa unique and incredibly talented characteractor who would go on to star in a slew of incredible movies over the course of the next two decades. Some of these titles includeOnce Upon a Time in America,My Cousin VinnyandJFK. Pesci won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work on Scorsese’s legendary gangster dramaGoodfellas. Pesci was also nominated for his performance inRaging Bull. As it relates to this ad, Pesci reprised his role as Harry, alongside Daniel Stern, inHome Alone 2: Lost In New York.
2019 will see a more significant return to the screen for Joe Pesci, as he’s set to appear in Martin Scorsese’sThe Irishmanfor Netflix. The movie will also feature Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, who will be digitally de-aged to play younger versions of themselves. Reportedly, it took a lot of convincing to actually get Pesci to sign on for the movie. Just imagine if Google got him off the couch but De Niro and Scorsese couldn’t. While we wait for that to come down the pipeline later this year, be sure to check out the newHome Alonead from the Google YouTube channel below.
