John Turturro admits that he's grown tremendously as an actor over the course of his prolific career. On "Salon Talks," the Emmy Award winner opened up on playing Pino in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" in 1989, to his most-recent role, a 50-something divorce looking for love in "Gloria Bell."

"I'm a better actor now than I was then," Turturro told SalonTV's D. Watkins. "There were things I did when I was young that I'm really proud of, but sometimes I would work too hard. I would show too much or this and that. An athlete can't do that unfortunately. By the time they know too much, their body lets them down. That's the great thing about being in the creative field."

In "Gloria Bell," in theaters now, Turturro's character, Arnold, and Julianne Moore's character, Gloria, meet in a Los Angeles nightclub and explore the complications of dating after divorce. When asked about his character's ability to grow, Turturro made real-life comparisons.

"People don't change, but they can grow, you can grow," he explained. For Turturro, it's more than just a character arc. "You're not a different person. You're born a certain way and then you grow and can make changes within your life."

On set, Turturro found his stride with Moore. He related their relationship to that of a basketball team passing the ball down the court. "When you have actors who listen to each other and respond to each other, the space between the actors is created," he said. "If that happens, then you're not thinking about yourself as much."

Watch the episode above to learn more about "Gloria Bell" and why Turturro once told Spike Lee he wanted to play a racist in "Do the Right Thing."


Photography by Jill Greenberg. Watch Jill's TedxTalk on the Female Lens and the problem with only seeing the world from a man's perspective. And find out more about Jill's initiative Alreadymade., a mission to hire more female photographers and content creators.