For all we know, Ray Liotta slept in the studio of Live with Kelly and Michael last night, and that’s the perfectly good reason why he looked like he couldn’t quite grasp why a bunch of people were cheering for him this morning. The star of classics like Goodfellas and Operation Dumbo Drop stopped by the morning show to promote his new film, The Identical, which looks like the ultimate dual-purpose vanity project for a production company trying to make a splash in the Christian movie genre and a former Elvis impersonator who’d like to be recognized as an actual rock star. Basically, as Vince described it, it’s Jackie Jormp-Jomp: The Movie.
Liotta plays the preacher who adopted the twin brother of a huge music star – both played by Blake Rayne, a stage name that Ryan Pelton chose because he wanted it to sound like Bruce Wayne – and he obviously wants the boy to follow him into the profession of teaching the lessons of the Good Book. But before Liotta could share the clip that revealed his character’s relationship with his son, Kelly Ripa wanted to know if the actor remembered his first appearance on the show, which also marked her own debut as Regis Philbin’s co-host. Liotta sort of remembered, which led to this delightful reaction when Kelly and Michael Strahan showed him the clip.
The biggest problem with Kelly and Michael is that guests are only on for a few minutes, because Liotta could have mumbled his way through an entire morning of classic morning talk show hilarity.