Roxborough resident Vince Riviezzo, a salesman and an aspiring actor, thought an appearance in "Unbreakable" - a 2000 movie starring Bruce Willis shot in Philadelphia - would help him chat with potential clients.

"There's no better actor than a salesman," Riviezzo, 62, said. "And as a salesman, I thought, 'If I can tell my clients I've been in a movie, that's great conversation."

Through his appearance in "Unbreakable," Riviezzo came away with more than a good story for clients. His appearance launched a burgeoning acting career, which he continues to pursue.

Seven years after "Unbreakable," Riviezzo still works as a salesman - he travels to casinos throughout the Northeast selling casino supplies. Now, he also works as an extra in about one new movie each month.

In his frequent television and film appearances, Riviezzo is often cast as a police officer or as an Italian mobster. He has appeared in HBO's "The Sopranos," "The Wire" and "Sex and the City." In films due to be released soon, he plays a hitman in "Bamboo Shark" and a mobster in "The Last Mango."

He plays cops in "Forensic Files," "Hack" and "Shooter", a movie currently in theatres starring Mark Wahlberg.  Although he started out as an extra, Riviezzo has landed a few speaking roles, and he will star as the title character in "The Driver," a feature-length film that is under production. He also plans to appear in a pilot series produced for cable television set in a Main Line hair salon. In that show, he will play a Philly cop married to one of the employees.

"I've been on both sides," said Riviezzo.

"I've been an actor that acts in movies. But I don't mind doing extra work."

In "Duane Hopwood," a 2005 movie starring David Schwimmer that provided Riviezzo with one of his first speaking roles, Riviezzo played a veteran casino comedian fired over a tryst with a cocktail waitress. The role led to an invitation to join the Screen Actors Guild.

His most pressing acting project is "The Driver," which is produced by Connie Lamothe, an actress who Riviezzo met on movie sets. Lamothe sought out Riviezzo to play "Vinnie," the title character in the movie. In the movie, Vinnie works as a driver for a mob-run escort service.

Riviezzo "is very much a salt-of-the-earth type of guy - a real character," Lamothe said. "I really can't think of someone better to fit this role than him."

"Without even really trying, he's just a wiseguy."

While on movie sets, Riviezzo, a self-described "class clown," knows how to make friends with actors, production assistants and directors who can provide more work and time on the screen.   Among extras, he has little patience for actors clamoring for camera face time, talking at the wrong times and not following director's instructions.

"People are goofy," said Riviezzo. "Amateurs talk too much. They think it's about them. They don't realize that they're there to for the flow of the movie as a whole."

Still, Riviezzo seems to find a way onto the screen in every movie he films.  Riviezzo "is the crazy kind of friend that people like to have," Lamothe said. "He knows how to have fun and he's always got something up his sleeve."

"You can best be sure he will find how to get himself into the best position, just by talking to people and schmoozing with people the way that he does."

Riviezzo divides his time between trips to casinos throughout the Northeast and appearances in films and on television.
"My whole life is a vacation," he said.   But he doesn't dream of winning an Academy Award - Ruthanne, his wife of 36 years, and his two sons John, 30 and Vincent, 35, provide plenty of recognition, he said.

"People get fascinated when I tell them I was in a movie," said Riviezzo. "But I'd rather be remembered as a good father."