Once a week or so, I like to treat myself to a nice batch of nostalgia, so I think today is the day I fill my quota, with a quick check in to see where the actor who played Paolo on Friends is now. You remember who Paolo is, right? (No, Ross, I'm not asking you, you can sit down. We all know you remember Paolo.) He was that Italian guy — like literally all Italian, no English — who lived in the same building as the whole gang. Rachel met and subsequently started dating him when looking for that lost cat during "The One With The Blackout," which was Season 1, Episode 7. The now-53-year-old actor's name is Cosimo Fusco, and he was featured in four episodes total from 1994 to 1995, totally wrecking Ross' dream of dating Rachel, and pretty well earning the nickname "crap weasel" — especially after he made a pass at Phoebe during a massage.
But that's all behind us now (seriously Ross, you're hyperventilating), so what is Fusco up to these days? Well kind of a lot, actually. He's been working pretty consistently both before and since, maintaining a pretty even mix of Italian work and American projects like Gone in Sixty Seconds in 2000, a cameo in Alias in 2001, an arc on the TV series Rome in 2007, Angels & Demons in 2009, and a role on The Mentalist in 2012.
And again, that's just the big-name, English language stuff that I felt would be most recognizable; there's a ton of other stuff in there that proves he's been working steadily. In fact, the only years between now and his Friends appearance when he doesn't have credits are 2003, 2015, and 2016.
But it's early yet. After almost three decades in the business, Fusco could be forgiven for taking a year or two off to focus on other things.
I just hope he'll get back in the game, and soon — no one pulls off suede vests and terrorizing David Schwimmer quite like Cosimo Fusco.
Images: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy
