Al Pacino met real-life gangsters as part of his research for the role of Michael Corleone.
The 84-year-old Hollywood veteran was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as soldier-turned-mafia man Don Michael in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 operatic Cosa Nostra epic “The Godfather.” However, he says in his memoirs that he had little knowledge of the method. He ended up playing the character until he met a real mafiosa in his home, where he was forced to drink alcohol and be shown a gun.
In his book Sonny Boy, he talks about the difficulty he had in getting to the heart of the role: Before filming started, I took long walks across Manhattan from 91st Street to the Village and back, just thinking about how I was going to play him.
“Most of the time I went alone, but sometimes I would meet my friend Charlie Laughton downtown and we would walk back uptown.
“Michael starts off as a slightly goofy, slightly bumpy young man that we’ve seen before, getting by.
“He’s there and not there at the same time. Everything from when he volunteered to take out Virgil Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, drug dealers and corrupt cops who conspired to kill Michael’s father, Vito Corleone. Suddenly, a huge explosion occurs inside him.
“This is detailed in the novel because the book allows you to give the story as much time as it needs. Wait and see how it unfolds. But in the movie I What were you planning to do?”
Al only appeared on screen after being taken to a gangster’s home with ties to his “Godfather” co-star Alfredo Lettieri, who played heroin trafficker Virgil Sollozzo in the 85-year-old Francis’ film. He added that he was able to understand what to do.
He said: “Before we started shooting, I got together with Little Al Lettieri, who was going to play Sollozzo.
“He said to me, ‘You should meet this person.’ Good for what you’re doing.”
“I kind of knew what he meant by that, so I agreed with him.One day we drove to the suburbs just outside the city.
“Little Al took me to a traditional, beautiful and well-kept house. He took me inside and introduced me to the head of the house, who looked like a normal businessman. He gave it to me.
“I shook his hand and said hi, and he was very welcoming. He had a loving family. He served us drinks and snacks on fine china. He had a wife. “He had two young sons my age. I was just a crazy actor who would come over to his house and try to absorb as much as I could. did.
“Our conversation remained polite and superficial. I never asked Little Al why he brought me here, but before we came he I thought about what I said and how this visit could help with what I’m working on. “Little Al knew some guys, some real guys. And now he… introduced me to one of them.
“I got a taste of how this thing looks and works in real life, not how it’s portrayed in the movies.
“It wasn’t like the hosts were going to go into such details with us. We ended up drinking and playing games.
“Many months later, photos from that night emerged, showing me in a sweatshirt, drink in hand, laughing and little Al showing me a gun. A boys’ night out. .”
