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Boardwalk Empire is stuffed full of fascinating, dangerous, and charismatic characters. They range from notorious real life gangsters (such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel) to fictional scene stealers (such as Gyp Rosetti, Chalky White, Valentin Narcisse, and Richard Harrow). But one character in particular manages to have the perfect blend of the most interesting real-life story and the ability to capture our attention among a room full of eccentric and violent personalities. As we explore both the real-life story of Arnold “The Brain” Rothstein, as well as Michael Stuhlbarg’s incredible performance as Rothstein, we’ll see why this character stands supreme as the most interesting, complex, and compelling character in the entire series.
Who Was the Real Arnold Rothstein?
Arnold Rothstein was a New York mobster who made millions via illegal gambling and bootlegging operations. Rothstein cultivated the reputation of a gambler who was smarter than everyone else, but the reality is that he often fixed card games and horse races to ensure he’d win. No predetermined outcome netted Rothstein more notoriety than the infamous 1919 World Series, otherwise known as the Black Sox Scandal. Members of the Chicago White Sox were bribed to purposefully blow the series. The incident made headlines across the country and helped Rothstein become a household name.
One of the most interesting things about Rothstein is that despite being an intelligent schemer, he was also a compulsive gambler who often lost big at card tables around the country. In Boardwalk Empire, we see an example of this in Season 4, Episode 4, when he loses hundreds of thousands of dollars playing poker and needs to be pried away from the table by Meyer Lansky (Anatol Yusef). In real life, Rothstein had a tendency to demand to be paid back when he won and conveniently forgot the score when he lost. In the end, he was reportedly gunned down by a poker player who was owed $300,000.
Rothstein stands out as one of the most influential figures in the history of organized crime, credited with helping to form crime syndicates and make black market industries run like large corporations. His reputation inspired the creation of two iconic fictional characters, Meyer Wolfsheim in the novel The Great Gatsby and Nathan Detroit in the musical Guys and Dolls. Thus, it’s not hard to see why the writers of Boardwalk Empire were eager to include Rothstein as a character, despite the fact that Rothstein is not mentioned in the book upon which the series is based.
Arnold Rothstein Plays a Vitally Important Role in ‘Boardwalk Empire’
Not only were the Boardwalk writers intent on including Rothstein in their series, they also made him a regular supporting character. It’s obviously difficult to know for sure the precise interactions and deals struck behind closed doors by historical crime figures, but there is not a tremendous amount of evidence that the real Rothstein and Enoch “Nucky” Johnson (the inspiration for Steve Buscemi’s character Nucky Thompson) were as close in real life as they are in Boardwalk Empire. The decision to keep bringing the Rothstein character back into the story is a clear demonstration of how much the writers valued this character. Rothstein visits Atlantic City many times, helps Nucky wage war on Gyp Rosetti (Bobby Cannavale), mentors Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza), seeks Nucky’s aid in using political connections to evade criminal prosecution, and (perhaps most importantly) forks over tremendous amounts of money to Nucky in exchange for a steady supply of liquor.
As characters, Rothstein and Nucky Thompson are a compelling duo. Both are far more intelligent than most of the goons in their orbit. Both carefully plot out business deals, never fully trusting the other but also content to do business with someone who can deliver on promises. Like sharks catching the scent of blood, both are adept at recognizing the other’s weaknesses, such as when Rothstein realizes that an assassination attempt on Thompson has rattled him or when Thompson watches Rothstein succumb to a gambling addiction.
While Rothstein and Thompson have many great scenes together, perhaps the most memorable is this argument from Season 3, in which any pretense of genuine friendship between the two is obliterated by Rothstein. Though they are both too sociopathic to be actual friends, the two form an undeniable bond that lasts for the first four seasons of Boardwalk. Even when they are at each other’s throats, there’s still an underlying sense of mutual respect. As we watch characters drop like flies throughout the series’ five-season run, Rothstein remains a constant presence in the show until his off-screen death between Seasons 4 and 5. Even then, the only reason the character is written off the show is because the real Rothstein was murdered in the time span between the two seasons.
Now that we understand why Rothstein was a fascinating historical figure worthy of inclusion in the series, and now that we’ve seen how important his character was, the cherry on top of the case for Rothstein being Boardwalk’s most compelling character is Michael Stuhlbarg’s remarkable portrayal. If you’ve seen Stuhlbarg in one of his other roles, such as in the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man, you’ll notice that he tends to portray meek or intellectual characters. While Arnold Rothstein certainly possesses the intellectual trait, he is far from meek. In fact, there is a sinister, creepy quality to Rothstein that makes Stuhlbarg’s performance so entrancing.
Stuhlbarg has the perfect balance of politeness, formality, and good manners mixed with cold-bloodedness, ruthless violence (at his behest), and savage cruelty. Taking a cue from a true anecdote, the show references on several occasions Rothstein’s love of milk and cake. At one point, Nucky remarks that Rothstein eats like a child. While there has long been an association between villainous characters and milk, it feels especially off-putting in Rothstein’s case. His genteel and quiet demeanor, combined with his childish indulgence of milk and cake, gives us the strong impression that Arnold is a sociopath. He imitates the manners of polite society to be more effective at stealing, killing, and manipulating. Stuhlbarg provides depth and nuance to his character that is matched perhaps only by Steve Buscemi. Although many talented actors (such as Spencer Tracy and F. Murray Abraham) have played versions of Rothstein over the years, none have done so as well as Stuhlbarg. His performance seals the deal in making Rothstein the most compelling character in a series filled with them.
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