Why Armand Truisi From Tulsa King Looks So Familiar

The Paramount+ series "Tulsa King," along with being one of Taylor Sheridan's newest series, was also notable for being the first TV leading role for Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone. Stallone plays mobster Dwight Manfredi, who comes out of prison after 25 years to meet a host of new, colorful characters.

One of the major characters he encounters in the first season is Armand Truisi. Armand is an old acquaintance of Dwight when he goes to prison, and tries to warn him about an attempt on his life in jail, but fails to notify him in time. When the show begins, Armand has left the mob life behind and is now living in Tulsa when he spots Dwight at a mall. After confirming that it is Dwight, Armand tracks him down. Worried that Dwight will reveal his secret mob past, Armand takes a shot at him while he's taking a driving test. Dwight unsuccessfully pursues his shooter, ultimately finding the car after Armand tries to burn it. This leads him to find Armand himself, as well as his family.

The role of Armand Truisi is played by Max Casella, and here's why he looks so familiar.

Max Casella began his career with guest roles on TV shows such as "The Equalizer" and "Kate & Allie." His first major role, however, came on the ABC medical dramedy "Doogie Howser, M.D." On the show, Casella played Vinnie Delpino, best friend to Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris). Vinnie and Doogie have been friends since they were kids, and his loyalty to Doogie is evident from the fact that he never mocked Doogie's ambitions to become a doctor. While the two hit some bumps in their friendship over the course of the show, they both remain supportive of each other as Vinnie pursues his own career as a movie director, despite the objections of his father. Casella appeared in all 97 episodes of the show's run.

During the airing of "Doogie Howser, M.D.," Casella also appeared in the 1992 musical "Newsies," alongside Christian Bale and Bill Pullman. In the film, Casella plays Racetrack Higgins, the second in command to Jack Kelly, played by Bale. Higgins is the emotional core of the Newsies team, often cheering up the group when things look bleak. The character is based on the real-life individual Ed Higgins, who acquired the nickname Racetrack due to his tendency to reference the horse racetrack in his speeches.

Max Casella followed up his work on "Newsies" by appearing in another true-life story in 1994, the biopic "Ed Wood." In the film, directed by Tim Burton, Casella played production assistant and actor Paul Marco, who was a real-life figure. Marco is tasked with finding a new stand-in for Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau) on Wood's (Johnny Depp) film "Plan 9 From Outer Space" after Lugosi passes away. Dr. Tom Mason (Ned Bellamy), a chiropractor, eventually takes on the role. The real-life Marco also appeared onscreen in the film "Plan 9 From Outer Space."

Casella also made a guest appearance on the comedy mystery series "The Cosby Mysteries," and was also seen in the military comedy "Sgt. Bilko," where he stars alongside Steve Martin and Phil Hartman, playing Specialist Dino Paparelli. He re-teamed with director Jonathan Lynn on the latter's subsequent film as well, the 1997 law comedy "Trial and Error." In the latter film, Casella plays Dr. Brown.

Max Casella returned to musicals with his next role, appearing in the 1997 filmed stage musical "The Lion King," where he plays Timon opposite Tom Alan Robbins' work as Pumbaa. The 1999 comedy "Analyze This," marked his return to film, as he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, playing mobster Nicky Shivers. Casella did not return for the sequel.

Casella made further guest appearances on the police procedural "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and the law procedural "Queens Supreme" before adding another true-life story to his filmography, the 2005 biopic "The Notorious Bettie Page." In the film, where he stars alongside Sarah Paulson and Lili Taylor, with Gretchen Mol in the titular role, Casella plays Howie.

His next big role, however, came in TV on the HBO mob drama "The Sopranos," where he appeared as Benny Fazio Jr. Benny first appears on the show in Season 3, emerging from a stint in jail to reconnect with his friend Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli). He works with Christopher to rob a charity concert, shooting at a security guard during the robbery but not hurting him.

Benny ultimately starts working with Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as both a driver and guard, helping both him and Christopher get a fellow mobster arrested. He ends up getting beaten up by Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) as a way to intimidate Tony. Benny's last appearance on the show sees him involved in Phil's murder, helping the shooter get away.

Max Casella worked with George Clooney in the 2008 comedy "Leatherheads" and with Sam Mendes in the 2008 marriage drama "Revolutionary Road." He also made guest appearances on "Medium" and "Hawaii Five-0." He returned to Mafia storytelling with the period mob drama "Boardwalk Empire," playing Leo D'Alessio. Leo is a criminal based out of Philadelphia who is part of the D'Alessio brothers. The five brothers try to move into Atlantic City, working with Mickey Doyle (Paul Sparks).

The brothers, including Leo, move to rob a mob-run casino, running afoul of Eli Thompson (Shea Whigham) when he comes to collect the take. Leo ends up shooting Eli, though not fatally. The success of the casino heist pushes the brothers towards taking over bootlegging in Atlantic City, ultimately leading to a failed hit on Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi). The brothers are given up to Nucky in a trade, and Leo ends up killed by Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt).

Prior to his work on "Tulsa King," Casella has also been seen on the Amazon Prime dramedy "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" as Michael Kessler, a lawyer who works with Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) and is friends with Abe Weissman (Tony Shalhoub). He also appeared on the Netflix heist miniseries "Kaleidoscope" as a petty criminal named Taco.