LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ray Liotta, known for his iconic role in “Goodfellas” and currently the star of NBC’s “Shades of Blue,” will play Colonel Sanders in KFC’s new ad campaign.

Liotta was selected for the role for his celebrated ability to play multi-faceted characters, according to a press release from KFC.

“When they asked me to take on twice the role of any Colonel before me, I thought ‘man, this is really going to be interesting,’ ” Liotta said in the press release. “But as I got into character and put on that infamous Colonel mustache I really was able to have fun with it and enjoy playing the person that is seen in commercials and billboards across the nation.”

The KFC ads featuring Liotta begin airing Sunday.

Liotta’s most notable roles were Henry Hill in the crime drama “Goodfellas” (1990),  Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams” (1989), and Ray Sinclair in “Something Wild(1986)He also starred in “Unlawful Entry” (1992), “No Escape” (1994), “Cop Land” (1997), “Turbulence” (1997), “Narc” (2002), “Killing Them Softly” (2012) and “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” (2014).

For historic comparison, this is the real Colonel Sanders, the guy who invented the original recipe:


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