Vince Colosimo was on the cusp of becoming a bona fide Hollywood star until Melbourne actor failed

Australian actor Vince Colosimo’s career once again hangs in the balance years after he squandered opportunities for Hollywood fame and fortune.

On Thursday, the man best known in Australia for playing underworld gangsters Alphonse Gangitano and Chopper’s Neville ‘No Cash’ Bartos indicated he would plead guilty to driving while under the influence of methamphetamine.

Given this will be the second time around, Colosimo could face work behind bars.

In November 2017, Colosimo was convicted and fined for driving through Melbourne’s CBD while suspended and under the influence of ice. Photo leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court on 3 November 2017

Actor Vince Colosimo is back in the spotlight at Celebrity Apprentice Australia and two new films are coming soon

Vince Colosimo was kicked out of Celebrity Apprentice in May – around the same time the news about his latest drug driving was published

Colosimo should have enjoyed one of his best years in a long time behind not one, but two expected film releases.

He was also the poster boy for Celebrity Apprentice Australia this year, which was the perfect opportunity for him to remind Australians how cool he is.

Colosimo’s star had already faded in 2017 when he was caught driving while suspended for the third time – this time being hit on the ice.

Judge David Starvaggi told Colosimo he shouldn’t be on the road and that driving under the influence of drugs was a basic problem that ‘even a kindergartner could understand’.

“You’re building a nice little history for yourself here,” he said.

‘You’re risking a prison sentence… if you come back here for the fourth time, it won’t be fun.’

The fourth time it was slated for late October, with Colosimo facing the prospect of spending Christmas behind bars.

Go back to 2008 when Colosimo was at the top of his game.

It was the year he would cement his name in Australian television legend with his role as ‘The Black Prince of Lygon Street’ in the original and best of Underbelly series and appearing alongside mega-star Leonardo DiCaprio in Body Of Lies.

The importance of the role can’t be underestimated – and it proves to be the pinnacle of her push to the big time.

It has been directed and produced by Ridley Scott, who directed films such as Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise and Gladiator – a film that features another Body Of Lies star in Russell Crowe.

Vince Colosimo worked with Leonardo DiCaprio on Body of Lies. Source claims the Aussie is not helping itself

Vince Colosimo as Alphonse Gangitano in the first and best Underbelly TV series

History will show that whatever happened during the filming of that film has kept him from more coveted roles in Hollywood.

Sources told Daily Mail Australia Colosimo and production star DiCaprio were literally burning like home.

In fact, the pair reportedly had so much fun during the photo shoot that it became a problem when a drunk DiCaprio failed to support him on set after a drinking session with his new Australian partner.

Colosimo’s Australian accent has also been a problem in Hollywood, where years earlier his partner Anthony LaPaglia had hit gold playing Jack Malone on the US television series Without A Trace, which ran from 2002-2009.

Colosimo has worked with LaPaglia in 2001’s Lantana – an Australian film that received good reviews and was financially successful both at home and abroad.

LaPaglia pulled her New York accent so well for a tv role that she actually had to hire an accent coach to relearn how to speak like an Australian when she scored the role years later for the Australian drama series The Slap.

Colosimo impressed during a guest appearance on the LaPaglia show during the second season.

So many Colosimo characters are in discussion to become the main players in the series.

All he needed was a few fixes to his Australian accent.

But sources say the proud Australian wouldn’t have one and Hollywood kissed him goodbye.

Colosimo to appear in new Wog Boy movie with partner Nick Giannopoulos (pictured)

Anthony Lapaglia (right) gives Colosimo a break when he gives him a show on his series Without a Trace.

Back in Australia, Colosimo continued to get acting gigs, but as many struggling actors on Australian soil might say, they don’t come often and when they do, they don’t pay enough.

In 2014, the same year Colosimo was credited with appearing in television’s ‘Shappelle’, ‘Fat Tony & Co’ – a terrible money-taking on the original Underbelly series – and ‘It’s A Date’, the actor admitted to cleaning construction sites for cash.

His lawyer Patrick Dwyer told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court Colosimo needed to work very hard just to stay afloat.

‘The acting life wasn’t very profitable,’ he said. ‘He sands, he paints, he cleans buildings between acting roles.’

It was Colosimo’s first major role in a real-life courtroom and a stunning fall from grace.

For years Colosimo was rumored to have spent time working in the Prahran market, packing boxes among the pigeons.

In 2018, after the dust settled, Colosimo could not help but complain that he had fallen victim to rotten journalism.

Vince Colosimo in January 2022, when he believes this year will be fun and simple

“I thought the coverage was going too far,” he told The Age at the time.

‘Let’s add this, let’s color it this way, let’s decorate it a bit. I feel like people aren’t being careful enough, and the cost to me doesn’t matter.’

He claims the negative publicity he received at the time nearly killed him.

‘Someone’s having a bad time, and they’ve done things they’re not proud of – isn’t that when you help them instead of pushing them to the ground?’ Colosimo whined.

He told the publication he was just dabbling with ice at the time, but was done.

‘Sometimes you have to test the water before you know if it’s too cold or too hot. But other times you take a bit of a jump – I always do, I’m a curious person – without knowing the cost. Now I know how much it costs,’ he said.

Colosimo claims he has never been addicted to ice and does not need professional help to quit.

‘I’ve been addicted to things in the past, but not that,’ he said.

In January, Colosimo made headlines again amid claims an opportunistic con artist threatens to destroy his career if he doesn’t hand over $50,000.

Sources told Daily Mail Australia that the woman made alleged threats against Colosimo’s longtime partner, Sabella Sugar, who was told to hand over the cash or face the consequences.

Sugar appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court shortly after he was granted an intervention order against the woman that lasted two years.

Shortly after the story surfaced, Colosimo told a Melbourne newspaper that he was single, which surprised Sugar of course.

Vince Colosimo and Sabella Sugar were enjoying the view of Paris when he was supposed to appear at the Melbourne court

Whatever the case, Colosimo appeared in the photo with Sugar living the good life with him in Europe at the Cannes film festival in May.

It just so happened to coincide with Colosimo’s latest trial date elsewhere in Melbourne, which he missed.

Colosimo was charged with driving without a license and drugs in April last year.

Prahran Highway Patrol members intercepted his car on St Kilda Street, St Kilda at around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 3.

The car was confiscated on the spot.

Angered that the actor did not appear before the court, the prosecutor reminded the clerk that Colosimo now faces prison.

In October, after he’s back in sunglasses and walking the red carpet for two films, Colosimo will sit before a judge and play the role of a broken man once again.

The price of failure may be the freedom.

Colosimo is portrayed in the psychological thriller The Second, an original Stan . film

#Vince #Colosimo #cusp #bona #fide #Hollywood #star #Melbourne #actor #failed