Jonathan Lynn's My Cousin Vinny is best remembered for the fish-out-of-water comedy mined from sending Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei to rural Alabama, where Pesci struggled to convey the word "youths" to the brilliant Fred Gwynne. What you might not remember is that Vinny also earned Tomei her Oscar, as her portrayal of Mona Lisa Vito earned recognition in the Best Supporting Actress category in 1993. So it's not that surprising that, when asked, Tomei told me that Vito is the one character she dreams of playing again on the big screen, near you. Says Tomei:
Well, you know, I always wanted to do a My Cousin Vinny sequel, even though it's so long ago, it's still... I think Joe and I would still have so much fun. I also want to do a TV show with Jason Alexander. I think off of the Seinfeld thing, I think that we had something that we could do that would be fun.
The question came about during the Spider-Man: Homecoming press junket, where CinemaBlend pointed out that Marisa Tomei's co-star, Robert Downey Jr., has been able to play Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seven times. I asked Tomei if there's an older character of hers that she wishes she could revisit that many times, developing her over the course of numerous films to see where her story went to. I love Tomei's answer, and I join the rest of you in hoping that a My Cousin Vinny follow up could ever come to pass.
This is what Marisa Tomei looked like, accepting her Oscar for her role in My Cousin Vinny:
And this is her talking with CinemaBlend, in behalf of Spider-Man: Homecoming:
Aunt May remains an integral force in the development of our young Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland. Naturally, with Marisa Tomei, she's younger and sassier than the dowdy, silver-haired aunt who is portrayed in the comics (and on screen in the previous Spidey films). Tomei plays May as supportive and caring, a shoulder for Peter to lean on when life gets confusing. But their maintain that dynamic of Peter protecting May from his secret, crimefighting lifestyle. Now, who is her Ben Parker? I wonder...
See Marisa Tomei in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which opens in theaters on July 7.
