Ray Liotta, 67, died in his sleep this week while filming on location in the Dominican Republic for an upcoming thriller, Dangerous Waters.
The feature film co-starred Euphoria and Grey’s Anatomy actor Eric Dane, alongside Odeya Rush and Saffron Burrows.
Their casting was announced just a few weeks back, at the beginning of May.
RIP: Ray Liotta, 67, died in his sleep this week while filming on location in the Dominican Republic for an upcoming thriller, Dangerous Waters
Dangerous Waters, from Signature Films, which is directed by John Barr and written by Mark Jackson, was in the midst of shooting when the actor passed away unexpectedly.
The film centers on an out of control sailing vacation that goes off the rails when a teenage girl discovers ‘the dark past of her mother’s new boyfriend,’ according to the synopsis.
Producers were said to have been pitching the project at this month’s Cannes Film Festival to potential buyers, Deadline reported.
Dangerous Waters was just one of many projects currently on the docket for Liotta at the time of his shocking death.
On location: The feature film co-starred Euphoria and Grey’s Anatomy actor Eric Dane, alongside Odeya Rush and Saffron Burrows (Eric Dane pictured in January)
The actor can be seen in the upcoming television drama Black Bird and recently completed two films, Cocaine Bear and El Tonto.
In addition to Dangerous Waters, Ray had two other films in production: April 29, 1992 and The Substance.
It is unclear if his role in Dangerous Waters will be recast or if his portion of filming had been completed. At the time his casting was announced earlier this month, shooting had already begun.
Details: The film centers on an out of control sailing vacation that goes off the rails when a teenage girl discovers ‘the dark past of her mother’s new boyfriend,’ according to the synopsis
It is not yet clear what Liotta died of or when but there is understood to be no suspicion of foul play. He leaves behind his fiancee Jacy Nittolo as well as his daughter Karsen.
Nittolo, a mother of four who he got engaged to in December 2020, was said to be with the film star while Dangerous Waters was being recorded.
Tributes flooded in for the beloved film star, with fellow actors, celebrities and politicians all paying their respects to him on Thursday afternoon.
Liotta’s sudden death shocked fans as he embarked on a huge resurgence in recent years, starring alongside up and coming thespians such as Taron Egerton.
But he was perhaps best known for his incredible performance in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 classic Goodfellas, where he played Henry Hill while Robert De Niro took on the role of Jimmy Conway.
He also featured in The Many Saints of Newark, Marriage Story and No Sudden Move in more recent years.
The actor most recently spoke on social media in an Instagram post three weeks ago where he plugged his new movie Cocaine Bear.
He wrote: ‘Cocaine Bear follows an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of the white powder and goes on a coke-fueled rampage seeking more blow — and blood.’
Iconic: he was perhaps best known for his incredible performance in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 classic Goodfellas, where he played Henry Hill while Robert De Niro took on the role of Jimmy Conway
Liotta was born in New Jersey in 1954 but was abandoned by his mother at an orphanage before being adopted six months later.
He stayed in the state but later moved to New York and then Los Angeles as he followed his dream of acting when he hit adulthood.
The rising star first appeared in The Lonely Lady in 1983 but became better known through the movie Something Wild three years later.
Such was his success in the role he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor prize at the Golden Globes that year.
But Liotta rocketed to stardom and became a household name across the globe for Goodfellas, in which he played a crook called Henry Hill who got in with the Italian-American mafia.
Yet the actor appeared to shy away from his fame in the 1990s and kept a low profile but a resurgence in more recent years.
Tragic: Jacy Nittolo, a mother of four who Ray got engaged to in December 2020, was said to be with the film star while Dangerous Waters was being recorded
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