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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joe_pantoliano.jpg]]
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3Joseph Peter "Joe" Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951 in Hoboken, New Jersey), is an American character actor of Italian descent. He is sometimes referred to as "Joey Pants", due to the difficulty with pronouncing his last name.
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5He is best known for playing shady characters, usually criminals or corrupt police officers. Amongst his most prominent roles is probably Cypher from ''Film/TheMatrix'', and Ralph "Ralphie" Cifaretto from ''Series/TheSopranos'' (for which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series).
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7Pantoliano is also known for being upfront about his struggle with clinical depression and substance abuse in relation to it throughout his life, believing that being open about it helps removing some of the stigmas commonly associated with mental illness.
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9!!Film roles with Website/TVTropes Pages:
10* ''Film/TheIdolmaker'' (1980)
11* ''Film/TheFinalTerror'' (1983)
12* ''Film/RiskyBusiness'' (1983)
13* ''Film/EddieAndTheCruisers'' (1983)
14* ''Film/TheGoonies'' (1985)
15* ''Film/{{Running Scared|1986}}'' (1986)
16* ''Film/LaBamba'' (1987)
17* ''Film/AmazonWomenOnTheMoon'' (1987)
18* ''Film/EmpireOfTheSun'' (1987)
19* ''Film/MidnightRun'' (1988)
20* ''Film/ShortTime'' (1990)
21* ''Film/TheFugitive'' (1993)
22* ''Film/BabysDayOut'' (1994)
23* ''Film/{{Bad Boys|1995}}'' (1995)
24** ''Film/BadBoysII'' (2003)
25** ''Film/BadBoysForLife'' (2020)
26* ''Film/{{Congo}}'' (1995)
27* ''Film/TheImmortals'' (1995)
28* ''Film/FlyAwayHome'' (1996)
29* ''Film/{{Bound|1996}}'' (1996)
30* ''Film/USMarshals'' (1998)
31* ''Film/TheMatrix'' (1999)
32* ''Film/ReadyToRumble'' (2000)
33* ''Film/{{Memento}}'' (2000)
34* ''Film/{{Daredevil|2003}}'' (2003)
35* ''Film/RacingStripes'' (2005)
36* ''Film/{{Unknown|2006}}'' (2006)
37* ''Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' (2010)
38
39!!Television roles with Website/TVTropes pages:
40* ''Series/AmazingStories''
41* ''Series/{{Arliss}}''
42* ''Series/DrVegas''
43* ''Series/EZStreets''
44* ''Series/TheHandler2003''
45* ''Series/HardcastleAndMcCormick''
46* ''Series/HartToHart''
47* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''
48* ''Series/HighlanderTheSeries''
49* ''Series/HillStreetBlues''
50* ''Series/TheHitchhiker''
51* ''Series/LALaw''
52* ''Series/{{MASH}}''
53* ''Series/NYPDBlue''
54* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995''
55* ''Series/{{Sense8}}''
56* ''Series/SimonAndSimon''
57* ''Series/TheSopranos''
58* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt''
59* ''Series/{{Chucky}}''
60
61!!Voice acting roles with Website/TVTropes pages:
62* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' (in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'' side-mode)
63* ''Film/CatsAndDogs''
64* ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries''
65* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII''
66* ''Film/RacingStripes''
67* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
68* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''
69** ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow''
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71!!Tropes associated with this actor:
72* AxCrazy: Especially as Francis Fratelli in ''Film/TheGoonies'' and as Ralph Cifaretto in ''Series/TheSopranos''.
73* BaldOfEvil: He's bald and plays a lot of untrustworthy characters.
74* CheshireCatGrin: Has a very wide and toothy smile, which enhances the shiftiness of his characters. Becomes a SlasherSmile if his character is especially AxCrazy.
75* ChronicallyKilledActor: The number of times one of his characters survives to the end of the movie can be counted on one hand.
76* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: For his villainous roles, Joey Pants’ naturally reedy voice works perfectly.
77* DodgyToupee: Despite being bald and not hiding it in real life and most of his films, Joey Pants frequently wears wigs for his roles, which sometimes carries over into his roles as a character trait too.
78* {{Joisey}}: He was born and raised in Hoboken. This presented a bit of a problem to him when he was cast on ''The Sopranos'', whose biggest audience was in New Jersey (where the show was set). In order to afford himself some anonymity, he convinced show creator David Chase to let him wear a toupee inspired by Creator/ChristopherNolan's hair (with whom he worked on ''Film/{{Memento}}''.
79* LargeHam: Let's give it to the man, when the script demands him to be loud, he can be ''loud''.
80* NeverBareheaded: He's quite fond of his sweet headwear.
81* PlayingAgainstType: He's played heroic types only three times. See his long list of credits above for comparison.
82* SmugSnake: Few actors can play obnoxious, overbearing characters who aren't anywhere near as cunning or clever as they think as well as Joey Pants.
83* TypeCasting: If you need a [[SmugSnake smug]] {{slimeball}} of a villain, look no further.
84** Deliberately [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] for ''Film/{{Memento}}''. Knowing how audiences perceive him, Creator/ChristopherNolan cast him as Teddy to throw in doubt on his character's morality, which is constantly in question. It's never made clear if he was an actual villain or not.

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