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Capone was somebody you could actually pal around with if you're on his good side, and all that comes across really nicely. He's a little scary, too, but he's funny on purpose sometimes, which was true of Capone. Most people don't portray Capone as being charismatic or likable in any way, but Stephen Graham is fun and funny. De Niro was over the top in 'The Untouchables.' Stephen Graham looks like Capone a little bit, and he has the energy and the charisma. I think he's maybe the best Capone I've ever seen. What's your overall impression? Was Stephen Graham a good choice for the role? Is HBO's portrayal of the famed gangster accurate? To find out, we consulted Jonathan Eig, author of this year's new biography 'Get Capone: the True Story of Al Capone.' Eig spoke with us over the phone from his home in Chicago. But we also see Capone as we've never seen him before: a jocular little guy who's just trying to get his foot in the door. As played by the rambunctious Graham, Capone is volatile and menacing he bursts Darmody's eardrum just for fun (and Darmody's his friend - don't ask what he does to snooping journalists). But by 1925, Torrio would retire and leave Capone in charge of the Chicago Outfit, a criminal empire built on Prohibition money.Ĭreator Terence Winter (of 'Sopranos' fame) adapted the screenplay from Nelson Johnson's book 'Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.' It argues that Prohibition created Atlantic City it created rich mobsters and two-faced politicians and unpredictable criminal masterminds like Al Capone. When Prohibition began in 1920, he was a small fish, just one of Johnny Torrio's many employees. Capone is the paradigm of the small-time gangster who made it big on illegal liquor. Yet the real-life Capone, just like the myriad characters in 'Boardwalk Empire,' owes his ascendancy to Prohibition and the boundless profits of bootlegging, a national business that introduced a new sophistication to organized crime.

#Boardwalk empire haircut series

The series is about Prohibition-era Atlantic City, and Capone's a Chicago guy. They strike up a conversation about their time in the war. Jimmy Darmody, the up-and-coming lackey of Atlantic City treasurer 'Nucky' Thompson, strolls up to a short guy leaning against a dark car in the nighttime. Some of the show's characters are fictional, but many are based on real gangsters and politicians from the Prohibition era, the most recognizable being Al Capone.Ĭapone, played by English actor Stephen Graham, is introduced in the first episode, though for an epically violent gangster, he sure makes a casual entrance.

'Boardwalk Empire,' HBO's stunning period drama, tells a tale that's largely true.