Vince Colosimo clears building sites to make ends meet, court hears, as actor fined $1000 for driving while suspended
UPDATE: VINCE Colosimo, once a Hollywood hitter, now clears building sites while waiting to scratch together a buck making movies, it was revealed in court today.
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AS MELBOURNE drug dealer Neville Bartos, actor Vince Colosimo famously told Eric Bana’s Chopper he had no cash.
Once a Hollywood hitter, Colosimo now clears building sites while waiting to scratch together a buck making movies.
The revelation came as Colosimo appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on two counts of driving while suspended.
The actor was fined $1000 without conviction and banned from driving for another 14 days.
He has four months to come up with the cash.
REAL NEVILLE BARTOS SAYS CHOPPER NEVER SHOT HIM
CHOPPER READ IS HAUNTING PENTRIDGE PRISON
Colosimo has enjoyed a stellar career and worked alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Leonardo DiCaprio.
His television and movie roles span three decades and have seen him play everything from a small town cop in A Country Practice to gangland thug Alphonse Gangitano in the original Underbelly series.
But Colosimo’s lawyer Patrick Dwyer told the court his client needed to work very hard to stay afloat.
“Acting life is not highly remunerative,” he said. “He sands, he paints, he cleans building sites in between acting roles.”
The court heard Colosimo had never fronted a real court before in his life and had taken the matter incredibly seriously.
Apart from a few speeding tickets, his real-life criminal record would make some of the characters he’s played laugh out loud.
But it was Colosimo’s lead foot that saw him stripped of his demerit points and put off the road for three months.
He was first caught behind the wheel on May 15, when police spotted him driving his black Saab in High St, Northcote without wearing a seatbelt.
The court heard Colosimo believed he had taken the demerit bond option, which would have allowed him to continue to drive.
When he was caught again on July 3 in Buckley St, Essendon, Colosimo again played dumb.
This time he claimed he had received a letter notifying him his licence was suspended but disregarded it as a VicRoads mistake, believing he still had one point left.
But magistrate Franz Holzer condemned Colosimo for trying it on a second time.
“If he was in doubt in May he should have had it cleared up by July,” he said. “The law applies to everyone.”
Mr Dwyer said Colosimo had pleaded guilty at the earliest stage possible, and outlined his responsibilities to his young family and elderly parents.
“It was a reasonable mistake,” he said.
