Richard Roma
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Richard "Ricky" Roma is a fictional character from
David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
's 1983 play '' Glengarry Glen Ross'' and its 1992
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
. Roma has been portrayed by a range of actors, including
Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor best known for starring on CBS's ''Criminal Minds'' since 2007 as FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi. He has voiced the recurring role of mob boss Fat Tony on th ...
,
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...
and Liev Schreiber, although the role was originated by Jack Shepherd. Actors portraying Roma have won and been nominated for multiple stage awards—both Mantegna and Schreiber received a
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, Broa ...
for their performances, while Shepherd earned a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play. In film, Pacino received nominations for both the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in ...
and the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.


Conceptual history

Roma, along with the rest of the salesmen in ''Glengarry Glen Ross'', was written based on playwright
David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
's previous experiences selling "worthless"
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
real estate from an office in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Mamet described the colorful dialogue used by the character—which has also been described as "following in the steps of
Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
's ''
Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...
''—as having been influenced by overheard conversations and street slang.


Plot

Richard Roma is a cutthroat and successful real estate salesman who derives his success from eloquent and convincing pitches, preying on insecure clients with illusions of power and machismo. During the events of ''Glengarry Glen Ross'', Roma is in contention for a prize to be awarded to the top "closer" at his firm, having just closed a large sale to a man called Lingk. Overnight, the firm's office is burgled, and promising real estate
leads Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
are stolen. Lingk arrives at the office during the investigation, forced by his wife to cancel his land purchase during his cooling-off period. Roma attempts to distract Lingk in hopes of trapping him in the sale, but well-intentioned comments by the firm's manager, John Williamson catch Roma in a lie, and Lingk demands a refund on his purchase. Furious, Roma berates Williamson in front of the entire office, and storms out, threatening to quit.


Reception


Character

Writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Mickey Rapkin considered Roma to be the central character of the play, describing him as "the salesman’s salesman, a shark in a sharkskin suit". Mantegna has stated that he feels Roma is not a "sleazy" character, but simply a man who can convince customers to follow through on their dreams. Reviewing a 2012 revival at the La Jolla Playhouse, Charles McNulty of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' compared Roma to a
Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (; ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer who was born in the Republic of Venice and travelled extensively throughout Europe. He is chiefly remembered for his autobiography, written in French and pu ...
-type figure, adding that "when Roma puts the moves on a prospective buyer, it's as though he's making love to them". ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' Mark Lawson wrote that Roma is an amoral character, considering him a "super-schmoozer". In the same article,
Aidan Gillen Aidan Murphy (born 1967 or 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles as Stuart Alan Jones in ''Queer as Folk (British TV series), Queer as Folk'' (1999–2000); Tommy Carcetti in ''The Wire'' (2004–20 ...
, then portraying the character in the
Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a listed building, Grade II listed West End theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.
in London, described him as a "cunt with a romantic, poetic streak".


Depictions

Portrayals of Roma have often been received positively by critics. Schreiber's portrayal in the 2005 Broadway revival was praised as that of "a most crafty spider indeed", with the actor's grasp of the character's Chicago accent praised for its subtlety. Gillen's 2007 turn as Roma has been described as "sweaty and aggressive with a hard, rodent-like quality", with reviewer Lyn Gardner of ''The Guardian'' finding the performance excellent.
Manu Narayan Manu Narayan (born August 16, 1973) is an American actor, film producer, singer, songwriter, composer and saxophonist. He currently guest stars as Hari Sahni on the hit Apple TV series Your Friends & Neighbors (TV series), Your Friends and Neighb ...
's 2012 depiction was described as "adding velocity" to a "high
testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...
" production, coming across as rhythmic and an effective focal point in the piece. Reviewing the 1992 film version,
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
praised Pacino's acting, writing "any kid can play a war hero. But it takes a real man to play a busted-down real estate salesman".


Accolades

Shepherd's original performance as Roma earned the actor a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play in 1983. On Broadway, both Mantegna and Schreiber have won the
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, Broa ...
while portraying Roma—Mantegna at the 38th Tony Awards in 1984, and Schreiber at the 59th Tony Awards in 2005. Pacino's role in the film adaptation earned him several award nominations, including the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in ...
and the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, both times losing out to
Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...
in ''
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by David Webb Peoples. It stars Eastwood as William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after ...
''.


Footnotes

{{reflist, 30em Characters in plays Theatre characters introduced in 1982 Fictional salespeople Drama film characters Male characters in theatre