Five things we learned at the Marisa Tomei Fan Fusion panel

The Fan Fusion folks were beyond jazzed for the Marisa Tomei panel. It was 11:30 a.m., so maybe the coffee was really kicking in at that point, but there were some awkward gymnastics taking place by people clamoring for a good seat to watch the actress gab about her career.

Tomei is beloved, and rightfully so. She has delivered wickedly exceptional performances for decades, from memorable leads like My Cousin Vinny and The Wrestler to secondary parts that were scene-dominating like the teacher in Crazy, Stupid, Love. She has a subtle fearlessness, and the audience is rewarded with the results of her penchant for taking risks.

And now she’s part of the MCU, playing Spider-Man’s Aunt May Parker, so it was no surprise that people were tripping over one another to get as close as possible. She came out to a big roar from the crowd, along with a couple of low-growl meows from a dude behind me, and was a champ throughout the discussion, which was unfortunately a bit meandering.

Obviously, it’s hard to control an on-the-spot chat while maintaining a fun and spontaneous vibe, so there were a few awkward moments, but here are a handful of highlights.

Tomei on Aunt May Parker

The role has been played by a few actresses, from Rosemary Harris to Sally Field, which gives fans yet another topic to discuss, looking at the nuance each performer brings. At the panel, Tomei was asked about the character and what she got to bring to it, and she did share that the goal was to have her be a community organizer and to show how much of who Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, and what his core values are, come from her. It was the only time in the chat we got to dissect May a bit, and as she was talking about how the character itself has evolved, it took a quick pivot back to discussing My Cousin Vinny.

Anger Management was a ‘sausage fest’

Tomei was in the 2003 flick that also starred Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. When the moderator asked her what it was like to work with those actors, she laughed and said it was a “sausage fest,” which drew a huge, collective laugh from the crowd. She also mentioned how great it was to work with both of them and gave them huge props regarding their acting skills, so it came off more like a fun fact than a diss. She also noted that Sandler had his own basketball court set up so that he could shoot hoops while they weren’t working. “That was impressive, like you can just bring your own basketball court like it was no big deal,” she chuckled.

Joe Pesci has a whole ass singing career

Joe Pesci, national treasure, duh, we get it. If there were a Joe Pesci is Awesome panel, we’d be here for it. With the conversation heavily focused on My Cousin Vinny, we got many Pesci facts, including one not really known to us. The man doesn’t just sing; according to Tomei, he’s great at it, and he’s released some records. Maybe this is common knowledge, but when the conversation gets so into the weeds that we learn that the moderator’s pest control guy can do on-the-spot recitals of My Cousin Vinny scenes, we’ll pluck the singing as a weed to focus on.

Lasagna travels well

The moderator brought up a cute story about Tomei flying off to make My Cousin Vinny, and her mom making and packing a lasagna for her to take with her.

The moderator brought up a sweet story about when Tomei was flying off to make My Cousin Vinny. Her mom made her a lasagna so that she’d have food to eat for the upcoming week. She packed it up, and Tomei took it on the plane with her. When the moderator asked Tomei to tell the story, she replied, “Well, that was the story,” as the moderator had unleashed all the details. However, Tomei found another part to add: Pesci was also on the flight, and she got seated next to him. He thought it was hilarious that she was traveling with her mom-made lasagna. “I didn’t think of it really at all, and he thought it was so funny, I think he laughed the whole time,” she said.

There should be a limit to how many times you can ask, ‘What was it like working with (fill-in-the-blank)?’

Robert Downey Jr., Joe Pesci, Julianne Moore, Jack Nicholson, Mickey Rourke, Emma Stone, Steve Carell, and other ‘high caliber’ actors in Crazy, Stupid, Love were among the asks. While it’s great to get a sense of what on-set relationships were like for Tomei, it would have been cool to hear more behind-the-scenes stories or takes on the films themselves. The question being asked so many times made it seem like we needed to know how awestruck she was, and it was unnecessary.