James Woods Inspired by Mafia

James Woods is using his childhood memories of Mafia negotiations to form his new hardball TV attorney character, Sebastian Shark. The revered movie star will portray the charismatic legal eagle fighting to bring Los Angeles' most powerful people to justice in new drama SHARK.

Woods admits he only had to recall secret FBI/Mafia meetings his aunt set up in his youth to prepare for the role. He explains, "When I was a kid, my aunt was secretary to the public defender for 28 years and I was around the legal system. "She was sort of the Switzerland of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island was what we used to call the parking lot of the Mafia. "Whenever the Mafia wanted to talk to the Feds (FBI) or the superior court judges, or whatever, they always did it through my aunt. "I learned early on that justice is a lot about negotiation. It's not dissimilar from our business in Hollywood. It's full of a lot of strange and scurrilously awful people who somehow manage to keep the wheel going. "That's how this character operates."