LI's Victoria Gotti will narrate, co-write, coproduce her own Lifetime biopic
Victoria Gotti, left, and Chelsea Frei, who will play Gotti in a Lifetime movie. Credit: Composite: Getty Images / Brad Barket, left; Getty Images / Theo Wargo
First there was "Growing Up Gotti." Then there was "Growing up Gotti Ten Years Later." In between, there were books, books, books — she wrote five or six, but who's counting? What's left for Victoria Gotti, daughter of John, longtime resident of Old Westbury?
As if you need to ask: The Lifetime movie, of course. Arriving Feb. 9, “Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter” is exactly what you think it will be about, or, in the words of Lifetime, it "takes us deep into the world of what it was really like to grow up as the daughter of mob boss John Gotti, revealing the glamour, glitz and unique hardships of her world. Sharing never-before-revealed stories about her life" etc.
Here's the twist: Gotti will narrate her own Lifetime-ized story. Lifetime says this has been done before, in last year's "I Am Elizabeth Smart," where Smart — played by Alana Boden — narrated the story of her own kidnapping ordeal.
But Gotti's unique role (she'll also coproduce and co-write) would already appear to suggest that her father — the Gambino crime family boss who died in 2002 — might be subject to some historical revisionism here as well. Or in the words of the news release: "Victoria had a front-row seat to a life the world became fascinated with, all while trying to reconcile the loving father she adored with a man the outside world was determined to bring down."
Victoria will be played in the movie by Chelsea Frei (star the YouTube summer series, "Sideswiped") while her father will be played by longtime "General Hospital" star Maurice Benard (he's Sonny Corinthos on the soap).
And in case you're wondering, no scenes in the movie will be filmed on Long Island, according to a network spokeswoman.
