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"shadow of my father" written by his son john gotti jr. i spoke to john travolta and junior where else, dante's. john gotti jr., i know from reading your book, i know from interviewing you before just how much you revered your father and revere his memory. are you happy with john travolta's depiction of dad? >> over the moon with joy. >> really? >> john did an amazing job. >> if he's given you five stars, does that mean it was too shack a portrayal of his father? >> well, sympathy is a different word than empathy or duplication. my job as an actor is to -- to live up to an authenticity. so tha...

So how i feel about john sr. has nothing to do with my portrayal of that. i am viewing through his eyes. so, you know, i have to do all the due diligence to earn that viewpoint. john jr. here helped me tremendously understand his father. because, you know, imagine i'm growing up in new york as well. i'm seeing the more glamorous side. you know, i'm seeing the teflon don and the suits and the glamour and the charm and, you know, all that kind of high-end appeal, but i don't understand the, let's say the structure of the mafia as we know it or la cosa nostra. i don't know the family elements. th...

Sympathy has anything to do with this. >> how did you approach the due diligence? i know from john jr. that you went into the house, you wanted to see the clothes, you wanted to get the whole vibe, but i'd rather hear it from you. >> well, all of that helps you build a character. i mean, that's my technique from day one. my mother was an acting teacher. you know, i grew up knowing how to build a character. so you take all the elements and you only use what's necessary for the piece you're doing. but every single thing that i -- i would listen to everything john said because only through john's...

About being john gotti sr. so i don't know if empathy or sympathy has anything to do with this. >> how did you approach the due diligence? i know from john junior that you went into the house. you wanted to see the clothes and get the whole vibe, but i'd rather hear it from you. >> well, all of that helps you build a character. that's my technique from day one. my mother was an acting teacher. i grew up knowing how to built a character. so you take all the elements and you only use what's necessary for the piece you're doing. but every single thing that -- i would listen to everything john sai...

Easily go into the red. well, john gotti sr. was able to put them back into the black and into profit so nobody ever went out of business. >> do you think that his father would have been comfortable today looking down at how he was able to disassociate himself from the mob and walk away from that life? >> i'm taking a guess, but yes, because of the following, i don't think it was the same game that john sr. grew up with. i don't think la cosa nostra existed anymore. and he observed that whatever the success was of that life was no longer as valid as it was in his day. so my feeling is that joh...