In its latest issue — on newsstands now — Paul Sorvino opens up to Closer Weekly saying he is far from his famous character in director Martin Scorsese’s classic 1990 crime drama Goodfellas. In real life, Paul is a very different kind of family man.

“There are many things that I’m not, and one of them is a gangster,” the 77-year-old actor tells Closer in an exclusive interview.

His most important current role is as husband to actress and political strategist Dee Dee Benkie, his third wife, whom he wed in 2014.

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Paul in Goodfellas.

“If I had to do it all over again, I suspect I probably wouldn’t have married until later in life,” says Paul. “My marriage now is the dream of my lifetime.”

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He’s also proud to play papa to his three grown children, actors Mira, 49, Amanda, 45, and Michael, 38. “If you don’t know how to love your children without stint, you shouldn’t have children,” he tells Closer. “If you can love your children, you’re halfway there.”

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Paul and Dee Dee in 2014.

Although Paul says he is grateful for his notorious role as brutal mob boss Paul Cicero in Goodfellas, it is often a conundrum, because “I don’t want my legacy to be as a guy who kills people,” he explains.

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“My actual world is very different — I’m a sculptor, painter, poet, opera singer, actor and author. I’m a loving person. I’m not a violent person — unless you hurt my family,” he tells Closer. “Then I go from teddy bear to grizzly bear.”

For more from Paul, including what he thought of Goodfellas the first time he saw it, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now!

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