Note to all our posters:
This thread has been created as a place to discuss the character of Bobby Goren and how Vincent D'Onofrio brings him to life onscreen. Thank you to affect for starting this topic.

We also discuss news items about Vincent and our admiration for his talent. If you wish to discuss his filmography aside from LOCI, please do so in the thread specifically dedicated to it: Vincent D'Onofrio's Film Work. Thank you!

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CI is by far, my favourite tv program, that is with Eames n Goren. Im hopeful D'Onofrio will be around for a long time..his character is very interesting, he;s unique as a detective. I remember thinking Hill sTreet Blues should never end, NYPD Blue, etc, but they did , and so will CI, including VDO. Why are people so a
fraid of change?Instead of brooding how many years VDO will stay on, why not revel in the moments of his here and now? And when hes "gone", we can watch reruns (I'm asking for the DVD set) . I ask myself, will I be spoiled for the character of Detective Robert Goren (when VDO moves on to other things?) Are there detectives with the psychological intelligent genius of Goren?Certainly Park Dietz, the man who Goren was stylized after, was/is, altho he isnt a detective, per se. Ladies, swoon over VDO, but dont forget about his brilliance, the character has a brain! lol...btw in Calgary at Mount Royal College, the CI series is part of a psychology course.Imagine going to school and getting to study Bobby studying people!

Ditto.

I know he has children, but is he divorced, married, single???? I'm just wondering for my dreams..... :)
UPDATE 1/22/07:
gee, i'm sorry liking him for his TALENT, his portrayl of BOBBY GOREN, admiring his work as a seasoned actor AND thinking he is cute was such a big deal! I posted plenty of other comments based on DET GOREN and EAMES and also what a mess this season is.
Viewers went 4 weeks without any G/E episodes! I think G/E can see how the changes on the show have turned off loyal devotees and want to walk away from this messy season before it's canned! One story line I'd like to see is G ADMITTING to EAMES that he has feelings for her. anybody that has watched the episode called "F.P.S." KNOWS that there is something going on...Goren was basically breaking down from missing Eames for so long. I think it's his baby!!!! sorry if i offended anyone. i do not understand why we are encouraged to post are thoughts& opinions and then are told not to think that way???? how can i express myself??? no wonder i haven't been writing on these boards and I'm a absolute fan of the show! I watch re-runs and re-runs every day! I live for CI marathons on cable.... :blink:

oh---i think the reason there is so much less focus on GOREN is because THE NEW CAPT. THINKS HE IS THE STAR OF THE SHOW! i do not recall deakins getting 1/2 as many lines as this new capt DOES. also, his " pet" (logan's partner) who is sooo unbelievable as a cop bugs me. he gives her more street credit than GOREN? come on! i like her as an actress in everything else i've seen her in, but i just don't buy her as a cop nor does anybody else i know. logan needs barek back. i think the constant tension and lack of respect this new capt has for goren has been written in on purpose--to give goren a reason to leave the show! i sure hope he doesn't! i won't bother to watch anymore if goren leaves because of the bad casting and huge voids (like CARVER) that need to be filled. :(

In '87 I was a drama student at EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY IN GREENVILLE NC--I knew as a senior that I could do really well and was telling everybody about my oscar speech. I gave it up after meeting my husband and decided that he was more important then going through with acting. This career choice made him very nervous and upset. I dont regret my decision. But to see Vincent on CI and the great work he does on other works of his, makes me wish that I got to work with him once before I left. Vincent really knows how to make a character real. He give his all and some to make sure the characters he creates come across so real that you forget who 'he' is. Another thing I like about Vincent is he will help others around him in getting the best out of a scene. I dont think this is him pushing himself on others but just wanting the best for the scenes and the best for the show. Because when it all pulls together and looks good then everybody in it looks good. Vincent is the MAN.--GO MAN GO--

I'm pretty sure he's single. He doesn't have a ring on his finger and he hasn't mentioned wives or kids or anything of that sort.

I believe what I've read about the man and that is, when he's not working on CI and his own projects he's busy being a father to his 6 year old boy Elias and his 14 year old daughter Leila. Also his 18 year old nephew Hawk just moved to NYC to start college, and Vincent is of course looking out for him like any good uncle would.

Please try to remember, as much as we enjoy the character he plays, he's got a right to his privacy. So if you want to fantasize, stick to fantasizing about characters not real people.

I read the post wrong. I thought she was talking about Detective Goren. Either way you are right he deserves his privacy and if you want to fantasize, fantasize about Bobby. I do that with Casey Novak from SVU.

Are we in love with Robert Goren or V. D'onofrio? It's hard to separate since he plays the character so much but I know I'm interested in meeting Robert Goren. Who really knows V. D'onofrio? Have you seen the other characters he has played? From The Cell to Whole Wide World to Thumbsucker, etc. etc. etc., this guy is a VERY talented ACTOR!

There are lots of smart detectives that I'm attracted to on TV (for example, William Petersen on CSI). But do I want to take these guys home with me? No way! We DON'T KNOW THEM except as characters! What if you won a date with one of these actors and the guy just talked constantly about himself all night? I imagine you would lose your fantasy and then what fun is that? (plus the poor guy opens himself up to REAL-LIFE REJECTION because he is not the person you think he is). I like to make up stories about me and Robert Goren. The sex is amazing. He is THE most caring and supportive partner and he loves being with me to lighten his world after a hard day at work. He thinks I'm brilliant and absolutely beautiful AND I don't have to pick up his dirty socks off the floor! Believe me -- a real person just could not be like that because the ACTORS are human beings and are just like the rest of us - just trying to grab some happiness each day in a very judgmental world.

But that's just my opinion.

I know absolutely nothing about the guy personally, but I kinda like him, too. The only things I think I've seen him in are this and Adventures in Babysitting, though.

There is just something about that guy. The eyes, I think. But he acts kind of, um, odd...on the show. Never saw him interviewed or anything.

Does he act like that in real life? The "interesting" phrasing and all? Or does he act like the kind of guy you could talk to in the car?

I don't think I'd go out with the character...but the guy is cute! If he weren't famous and just lived across the hall, and he asked me out, I'd go.

I've noticed something in a few older episodes and I was wondering...

In one show, when Eames was out on maternity leave, Goren and his temp. partner are checking addresses on a computer. Goren is a "slow scroller" and Bishop is getting anxious. So Goren looks at her and says, "Do you want to scroll?" She says, "No. It's okay." And Goren can tell it's NOT okay. "Look Eames has her thing. She likes to drive. Eames drives. You want to scroll. Scroll." And Bishop's like, "No. You do it."

Then in another show (I think it's the one with Fisher Stevens as the disc jockey who supposedly committed suicide. Tatum O'Neal played his wife), there is a screen saver on a computer and Goren is trying to get it to go back to a certain picture and he gets all frustrated because he can't get it to work and Eames shows him how and finds the picture.

There's another show when Goren is asking Eames if they can do a certain function on the computer and she says, "Yeah, just do this..."

Finally, Goren uses Eames' phone to take pictures of some evidence at a suspect's home (it's the one with Robert Carradine as the chess master guy) and later, Eames tells him, "Next time you use my phone to take pictures, try not to delete the ones of my nephew..."

Is this a subtle way of telling us that Goren is not good with technology?

That's a funny thought. And it kinda humanizes the guy. Like, everybody sucks at something. *G*

I definitely think he has a thing with computers. Doesn't he seem to do all of his research through books and almost not at all with the internet?

nicole wallace is his achilles heel

So is Eames, in the traditional sense of an Achilles heel meaning vulnerability, a weak spot, or a chink in the armor. His mother is another. If you want to get to Goren, go after the women in his life.

so true

It may even be a little inside joke. I've read that an interview Mr. D'Onofrio gave several years ago where he said he wasn't much of a computer guy, and that he left that kind of stuff to his wife. (As I said, it was several years ago and things may have changed, so...) <shrug> I still think it's fun to think that's it.

I think his Achilles Heel is his mother. But that sounds more like Oedipus - Goren would have known the answer to the Sphinx's riddle too.

So I guess, his Achilles ****... I'm mean heel would be Nicole.

That really was a typo, but a little ironic too....

I guess I was using the Achilles Heel thing in the wrong context. Achilles' heel of course would be something that could bring him down and wound him.
Computers don't do that.
Maybe the word I'm searching for is more "baffles him" or "confounds him". I just think it's kind of funny that he is so smart and knows a little about everything...but he can't find a picture on a screensaver. *G*

Of course, Goren could be like my husband and so many other men on this planet in always needing a womans help to get things done right the first time.

I think Goren is so into the criminal mind that the outside world is just a little harder to figure out.

good thoughts...
goren is just an odd guy.....that's why i love him so much!!!

Kind of like the stereotypical genius who can solve the mysteries of the universe, but forgets to eat or get dressed in the morning.

I think Goren is the kind of guy who is constantly learning, either from books or from people. But he's also a guy who treasures peace, security and stability. The Internet is a great place to learn stuff, but it is a messy, chaotic, ever-evolving place - as opposed to the public library that has probably always been a retreat and sanctuary for him. So I'm guessing his experience with computers is pretty much limited to what he's been forced to learn by the NYPD (for their Intranet and paperwork). For recreation, and some research, he still relies on the old familiar library card.

On the other hand, he does have some understanding of how computers work (see f.p.s.), but I would be willing to bet he learned it from reading an article in some journal or magazine.

I'd love to see him play chess against a computer, tho'.

In an episode, I cant recall the title, but it had to do with a cat burglar, theres a scene where Eames and Deakins are talking in the Captains office, and Goren arrives with new info about the case..he steps backward into the door..Deakins and Eames exchange smirks, then Goren fumbles the files in his hands..is this to show Gorens excitable character (about the case), or is Bobby developing some mysterious disease? I enjoy the character disclosure, the more we see Goren as an everday guy, while being a detective genius, the more he endears himself to us. Whaddya think?

I just hope that nothing's physically wrong with Vincent.

I think it ws in part of being the only one who is on all the time and he is slowing down and he actually collasped on stage during a shooting and had to go to the hospital he was exhausted and it finally cought up to him working all those long hours but i hope he is ok now and that never happens again cause it scared me alot.

I find it strange how pretty much any conversation here can end up being about VDO`s exhaustion (YES that`s an exaggeration, just in case somebody doesn`t get that). Anyway, there`s a clip over at the Reel I think from the scene the poster means. Didn`t he drop the files, or is that what you meant?
I doubt Goren is developing some mysterious disease hehe, but I thought it fit well with a kind of nervousness/unrest combined with wanting to make his point as quickly as possible. So yeah, I think it had to do with his excitable character . I agree it was nice to see that "side" of him, just as I`m looking forward to him being occasionally wrong this season (wasn`t he wrong sometimes in the past? about little stuff? I keep wondering).

The episode was Silver Lining & yes, Goren was very excited & intrigued

by the professionalism & expertise displayed by this particular criminal.

I, too, love when VDO portrays Goren in that way!

Yup. Especially about 'girl things'.

I was just looking through this message board when I saw this subject...and I was stunned. It's amazing how freakishly fixated people can get. Then I read your reply. Thanks for putting it so nicely. For a second I was afraid that I was conversing among unbalanced fans. These actors do have a right to their privacy, and it isn't any of our business. I can only imagine the uncomfortable feeling that must go through an actors head when they read messages like these, especially when they are actors like D'Onofrio and Erbe who are more interested in feedback on their craft then on any insane fantasies. Unfortunately many of the great actors throughout time have to put up with this stuff at some point in their careers. Maybe someday someone will come up with a pill or something for people who spend their time fantasizing about this sort of stuff, something that will make them plug into their own lives a little more. True happiness cannot be found on the tube people. Now can we get back to talking about the show. Law and Order is like an institution. I've been watching it since it practically went on the air. Most other programs leave you flat, but all the L & O shows just have that flow that keeps you watching. Thanks to the writers, actors, producers, and here's a shout out to the guys who bring them their coffees, it must be insanity working your way through the city on an open set with a hot cup of jo. Thank you too!

I think vincents physical condition is fine. Yes, he dropped the files, and I think he was simply excited about the case. Ladies, if he had some mysterious disease, we wouldve seen development of it long ago. (this is an older show) In any event im sorry if I scared anyone...evil laugh. , though at the time it had me wondering...

My sister collapsed once cause she was overworked she recovered quickly i don't think there is anything wrong with him.

I've found Goren's quirks to be irritating over time.

frustratedviewereshere,

After reading your posts on different threads, I've reached a conclusion: You just don't like LOCI. Period. I don't mean to criticize you or anything, it's just a friendly advice here, you should find a show you enjoy watching, identify with the characters, etc, because everything about LOCI seems to upset you!

For example, I'm not crazy about CSI, I used to like it in the beginning, but to me it became repetitive over the years and Grisson, who was quite an interesting character (somewhat like Goren) lost his unique personality. So I just don't watch CSI anymore, because I know I'll look at it with a very critical eye and see flaws everywhere.

I would like to see more of that. Now, I don't mean that Goren needs to turn into a bumbling goof, but getting so excited about a case that he drops the files and backs into the wall because his mind is focused elsewhere. Vincent D'Onofrio is the master of those subtle facial expressions that make scenes like that amusing. I know the show isn't a sitcom and I don't expect to be LMAO throughout the show. I DO enjoy a little humor now and again.

Which is where I came to appreciate Kathryn Erbe/Eames...One of my favorite lines from her was while she was on maternity leave but still working at the desk. Goren was listening to a tape and was getting frustrated and was banging his hand on the desk. Eames looks up at Bishop and calmly says, "You want me to stick a dart in 'im?" I've been a fan of Kathryn's ever since.

Watch that episode again. There is a piece at the very beginning where another detective has information about evidence that was collected from the body of the victim. Goren makes a couple of suggestions, minor details that you would expect only him to have noticed that the other detective has already picked up on. It seems that that's when the "fumbling" first begins. It's like another guy's as smart and quick as he is. That just seems to put him off his game. Dropping the files, bumping into the door in the office, I always interpretted it as him being impressed with how good that thief actually was. No mysterious illness. No fumbling and stumbling. Just flustered for a bit.

I.ve found Goren's quirks to be endearing over time, I think its one reason fans love his unique character. I wonder... would some of those quirks actually be Vincents real life traits? Can actors separate their actual selves for the screen? Entirely?.....

I've wondered that myself. Obviously Goren is just a "character" for Vincent, but I've seen interviews
and other movies where certain traits show, whether they are intentional or not is not my call to make.
I'm mainly referring to his animated hands when he speaks and the way he'll sometimes pause in the middle of a sentence and take a breath through his nose.

A couple of years ago he was on the Craig Kilborn show and said one of his jobs used to be as a bouncer and was showing him how he used to "talk" unruly patrons outside. Said he wasn't a bouncer, "I was a talker." Watching him "talk" Kilborn over to the side of the desk was hilarious. You just can't make that stuff up!

God, I am so anxious? worried? excited? to see where the actor VDO is going with the character Goren this season. VDO told the ladies on The View TV show a few years back that he is friends with his character Bobby Goren.

If he truly likes & respects this character he portrays, would he allow Leight or TPTB to send him towards a mental breakdown?

If he thinks it's the right direction to send the character, and if he wants to play it that way, then I would say yes, he'd probably enjoy portraying a breakdown for Goren.

I know exactly what you mean by those arms!!!

I think they make a great team and balance each other out. The chemistry definately works!!!

I like him just at the edge. I don't want to see him tumble down that cliff.

Mmm, he's been right on that edge for five years, or at least drifting back and forth along side it. If he does go over it, D'Onofrio will make it an interesting ride. And I think it'll be fun to see the inside of that tortured mind.

(Gawd, I'm sick )

No! No! No! I cannot believe that VDO would want the character of Goren, a character he claims to like & respect, to wind up in a loony bin. He has always portrayed him as odd, quirky, but inherently strong.

On the edge is fine - temporarily weak & vulnerable is OK too. But permanently a mental case, no way.
It's crazy, but I care too much for the character of Bobby Goren to see him in such pain. VDO can get his acting kicks with some other character portrayal if he wants.

Having a breakdown does not make someone a permanent mental case. It just means the circumstances in your life temporarily exceeded your capability to handle them. The way this season started, they seemed to be piling a lot of circumstances onto Goren. And since he's on the edge so often, it really wouldn't take that much to push him over. Something as big as losing his mother or Eames, two people who play such a major role in his life, would be more than enough.

I like the character of Goren, too. But this is L&O, where characters don't last forever. And neither do actors' contracts. When D'Onofrio decides to leave, they're going to do something to write out the character. This would be a novel and fascinating way to do it, and reasonably well in-keeping with the character's history. And I'm sure D'Onofrio would make it worth watching.

VDO has stated in several interviews that he will stay on the show as long as Dick Wolf will have him, especially with the easy every - other team concept. The money's good & he can still pursue other projects.

You may be right, CvlSvrnt, VDO might love portraying Goren having a nervous breakdown. He could get better while Eames visits him in the hospital/psych ward. Personally, I would detest this plot line.

I would personally love seeing that plot line pushed to the edge, too, (not instantly thrown there as in the first two episodes!!!) to the point that we see Goren making the hard climb back to himself. I don't know about the Eames visiting him thing, though, as 1- it could get a little Hannibal and Clarise if they do the natural thing in having him give her case opinions and 2- it could be written as a too touchy feely thing, rather than carrying any kind of edge. Oh, and if they had Nicole show up to gloat, well, that'd make me sick... (PLEASE kill her, already!)

I like the stand-offishness that Goren showed in In the Wee Small Hours, where he told Eames about the Carmel Ridge call re: mom, but did it in an angry 'look, if you want to know - HERE!' kind of way, resentfully letting her in a bit but still emotionally, and physically, throwing up the wall of "This is my mom" and refusing her help. The fact that she forced him to accept her and Carver's presence anyway, forcing him to pull back further than he may have wanted to in confronting the judge, was just fantastic. If that sort of dynamic could be worked into the whole thing, I'd love that.

Hey - What about a leave of absence taken under the pretense of dealing with his mom's death, meanwhile Goren has holed himself up somewhere trying to keep the squad from finding out about what's happened to his MIND (major edit). Eames, the meantime, will continue to investigate very complex and complicated cases with the Samantha Buck detective as partner, and Ross continuing to throw in his two centst, all the while wishing that she had Goren's pyschological insight and manipulative skills to help the cases to quicker conclusion.(<----maybe one episode of that) Goren, meanwhile, doesn't return when he was supposed to, so Eames becomes concerned and goes to his now abandoned aand empty apartment and starts to try to seek out the whereabouts of her partner. At the same time, she starts to receive odd mailings or dropped off correspondence with insights and tips around cases she is on, which she, of course, keeps from Ross and Buck (d'amn I wish I remembered her character's name), launching her own little investigation into just where the **** Goren is... Maybe? Possibly? No?

EDIT: We, of course, are seeing what's going on with Goren throughout this.. Just a random framework scenerio that I'm throwing out here

Neither do I jessegrl. The Goren losing it completely scenerio is just too obvious a plot path to take and it would be very disappointing because of that. Goren stressed out with all that's been going on or is going to happen with Mom -- sure. But Goren with a total mental melt down? Nah. I just don't see it. Or rather I don't want to see it.

If and when the time comes for the Goren character to depart, let it be a unique and unanticipated path.

Wait! Wait! I've got it! Here are some completely fun ways for Goren to depart.

Sick to death of the job, Goren begins to question exactly what good he really does in the scheme of things. He plots and executes the perfect crime and retires to Bora Bora. The last scene we see of Goren he's lazing on the beach in the sun, beautiful native girls all around him, a big grin plastered on his face. LOL

Or Goren suffers from some rare form of amnesia (sound familiar?). He can't remember who he is at all, but recalls that he likes to dance. He starts teaching dance classes at a local Fred Astaire dance studio. Anyone want to Tango?? LMHO

Hey now! My scenerio wasn't for a departure, just for how they might do the breakdown thing, should they decide to go there..

Cool scenario...

Samantha Buck = Lynn Bishop

Well, if we're gonna go that route, how 'bout he gets jostled on the subway and pinned between the platform and the car and dies of crush syndrome over the course of an episode

Y'know, I've always thought that would be cool if they did an SVU crossover. Goren and Munch get to talking, Munch mentions that he used to work homicide in Baltimore, Goren casually replies that he's been there and found the subways rather crowded. Just a throwaway line, like "Don't bite your fingernails." It's not like they haven't gone there before.