John Turturro on working with Spike Lee, the Coen brothers, and Hollywood's 'abusive' directors

John Turturro. Gilbert Flores/Getty Images; BI If you work with John Turturro, there's one thing you should never ask him to do: repeat himself. The seasoned actor's collaborations with legendary directors like Spike Lee and the Coen brothers helped him become one of the most respected performers of his generation. But any director who leans too hard on that prestige and asks Turturro to do a take "like how you did that scene for Spike" or "similar to what you did for the Coens" will quickly be shot down. (And yes, that really happens.) "When I get that, I tell them, 'Come up with your own idea. That doesn't help me,'" Turturro told Business Insider. "That's someone who hasn't done their homework." Studying up on Turturro's career is a big assignment of its own. With over 100 acting credits in film and television, he has plenty of standout roles: A playwright with writer's block in "Barton Fink," a racist pizzamaker in "Do the Right Thing," an honorable hustler in "Rounders," and a flamboyant bowler in "The Big Lebowski," to name a few. John Turturro in "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York." Sony Pictures Classics His latest movie, "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York," in theaters now, features another already iconic Turturro performance. Turturro brings a tender charisma to the aging pickpocket Harry, a man trying to make sense of his profession in a cash-free world. As with many of his roles over the decades, Turturro crafted the character by paying close attention to his environment. Business Insider's "Role Play" series features interviews where acting legends revisit their most memorable roles. See more here. "This guy is carrying a whole world on his back," Turturro said. "The coat he wears — a lot of pickpockets have a nice appearance, but it's armor. There's a samurai element to him. He's a person who has lived a certain amount and is surrounded by a lot of ghosts." You could say he did his homework. For the latest installment in Business Insider's "Role Play" series, Turturro discusses working for a Murderers' Row of famous directors, wearing matching cowboy hats with Dennis Hopper, and the type of role he instantly passes on. On working with 'abusive' directors and watching Bob Dylan argue with Dennis Hopper Turturro in 1991. Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Business Insider: When you started in film in the 1980s, you got to work with amazing directors right away: William Friedkin ("To Live and Die in L.A."), Woody Allen ("Hannah and Her Sisters"), Martin Scorsese ("The Color of Money"), and Michael Cimino ("The Sicilian"). Were you content at that point in your career, or did you have higher aspirations? John Turturro: I had great aspirations. And a few of the people you mentioned — not Marty — were really rough. They were borderline beyond abusive sometimes. There was a lot of violence done to the actors in those movies.  I mean, you got jacked up against a wall in "To Live and Die in L.A." Oh, I got jacked up for real. My father was a builder, so where I came from, if someone did something to someone, even if it was the boss, it got physical. On a movie set, you don't think you have to take it there. But I learned some things from some of those movies, and I realized I wanted to be as free on film as I was on stage. When I did "Five Corners," which John Patrick Shanley wrote and fought for me to be in, Tony Bill directed it. For me, that was the first time that I really asserted myself, speaking out and saying I'm not going to do certain things. That was the first time, at that stage in my life, that I gave a full performance that really landed the way I wanted it to. The attention you got in "Five Corners" led to amazing opportunities, like getting cast in the 1990 Dennis Hopper movie "Backtrack" (also known as "Catchfire"). On that movie, you worked with Joe Pesci, Dean Stockwell, and Jodie Foster. But you did a lot of scenes with Hopper. What was that like? Not many people have seen this one! I didn't know what I got myself into. I changed my character. I made him a nerd hitman, a guy who shouldn't have been in this situation. I would ask Dennis if that was okay, and he would rebel against himself, and go completely against what was on the page. If you told him what you'd like to do in a scene, he would say [speaks in a Dennis Hopper impersonation], "Man, you want to do it, man? You want to do it? Fuck it, man! Just fuck it!" So I asked him if I could wear a cowboy hat, because he was wearing one in the scene we were doing together. He said, "Fuck it, you want to wear it? Just wear it, man! Just do it!" He basically said those two words, "Fuck it," all the time. Joe Pesci, he would go, "What a director; he uses two words to get his whole point across."  I never laughed so much in my life. And Bob Dylan is in the movie. He had this welder's helmet on so you couldn't see his face. Dennis didn't want him to wear the helmet. Bob Dylan told him in the makeup trailer,