Over the past 40 years, Joe Mantegna has won a Tony award for the classic play “Glengarry Glenn Ross,” had prominent roles in movies including “The Godfather Part III,” and has spent the past decade as the lead investigator David Rossi on CBS’ hit crime procedural series “Criminal Minds.”

“I’m not a political person, but I believe in the Constitution in all its forms, and I support the Second Amendment.”

But there’s one role that means more to him than any other — that of a working-class Latino man named Gomez who buys a magical white suit in “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit.”

Based on a classic short story by Ray Bradbury, the production originated as a play at Chicago’s Organic Theatre Company in 1973 before being adapted as a Disney Channel movie in 1998, and on Thursday night, Mantegna will pay tribute to the film when he introduces and discusses a screening of it in the Community Room of the South Pasadena Public Library (It can also be seen on demand at Amazon Video).

“It was a magical piece of work and I got to know Mr. Bradbury very well,” Mantegna, 68, tells LifeZette. “Ray fully embraced it, and on his deathbed [in 2012], he kissed me, called me like I was his son, and told me it was his favorite movie of any that had been done because we were so true to the script that was done. Our interpretation was so true to his heart for the story.”

Mantegna says the story was largely based on Bradbury’s own experiences growing up in East Los Angeles. “Back when he was a child, it was more mixed but still had barrio aspects to it. He was writing from the heart, his own experiences, and life in Los Angeles.”

Of course, the role of Rossi on “Criminal Minds” has also become vital to Mantegna. In fact, he takes the role so seriously that he recently made his third trip to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, to keep abreast of the latest techniques used by the real-life team his show emulates.

“We have a saying in theater: If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage. That holds true with television and film,” says Mantegna.

“The writing has to be of a quality to warrant people continuing to follow it. We’ve kept our quality of writing high and take it very seriously, because we represent a real organization – the behavioral analysis division of the FBI. I’m as involved as can be with it because it’s like anything else, if you do your job well there will be a following. People will gravitate to it and it will grow.”

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Mantegna’s other main gig these days is his work hosting the reality series “Gun Stories” on the Outdoor Channel. While he spoke just two days before the Orlando shootings, he maintained a staunch defense of gun rights.

“I’m active in terms of shooting sports, and I’m a firm believer in that when done in its proper forms, its highest level — there’s a lot of misconceptions about shooting sports,” says Mantegna.

“People don’t understand that shootings in streets have nothing to do with this. People think hunters hate animals, but in truth, they are the greatest conservationists of all. They make sure we have all the ducks, deer, geese, rabbits and everything else in the world. I’m not a political person, but I believe in the Constitution in all its forms, and I support the Second Amendment. Unless someone shows me something better, I’m going along with it.”

To hear more of Mantegna’s interview, streaming on Radio Titans’ “Kozversations” series, and including his thoughts on maintaining a 40-year marriage in Hollywood and the role spirituality plays in guiding his choices, click here.