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Ray Liotta is known for his intimidating onscreen presence in such movies as Goodfellas and Something Wild, not to mention several tough-guy roles in between. But the tables are turned for Ray in the new Brad Pitt movie Killing Them Softly, and he's content to be the one taking the beating for a change.

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"When I've been in this type of genre movie before, I'm usually the guy who's the aggressor, who's chasing down the people and giving the beatings as opposed to taking them, so [this movie] was different," he tells ET's Christina McLarty.

Intent on showing the pain and fear involved with a pivotal scene in which he gets roughed up, Ray explains, "I did it all. I wanted to do as much as I could." While pleased with the end result, he jokes that the day-long stunt left him "very sore."

In Killing Them Softly, out Friday, three not-too-bright guys decide to rob a Mob-protected card game run by Ray, causing the local criminal economy to collapse, and an enforcer (played by Brad) is hired to track them down and restore order. The film is based on the George V. Higgins novel Cogan's Trade.

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As for his down time while shooting in The Big Easy, Ray says, "It's a great city. The days I wasn't working, there was a casino there. I like playing poker – I'm not very good at it – but that was interesting, that was fun."