Unveiling the Godfather’s Secret: How Francis Ford Coppola Launched Robert De Niro to Stardom

Director Francis Ford Coppola tells how actor Robert De Niro landed the role in The Godfather: Part II (1974).

Coppola directed perhaps the most famous film in contemporary history, The Godfather, in 1972 with a stellar cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton.

There were a number of problems during the production of the film. For example, the producers were not completely convinced that Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, in the main roles of Vito and Michael Corleone.

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“The Godfather: Part II”, a new challenge

Two years later, in 1974, Robert De Niro joined the film “The Godfather 2”. After Marlon Brando won the Oscar for best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Vito Corleone (“The Godfather”, 1972), Robert De Niro “upped the ante” and won the golden statue for the same role , Vito (young,, this time), in 1974.

Robert De Niro came to Coppola’s attention after his role in “Mean Streets”, a film directed by another sacred monster of cinema, Martin Scorsese (“Raging Bull”, “Goodfellas”).

“He gave an incredible audition for the role of Sonny Corleone, he was the only one I imagined,” said Coppola, referring to the early days of production on the first film in the series “The Godfather” (1972).

However, Coppola initially offered De Niro the role of Paulie Gatto, but the actor turned it down, considering it not a complex enough score.

Although Robert De Niro did not star in The Godfather, Coppola did not forget him and definitely wanted him in The Godfather: Part II (1974).

“I’ll never forget how I took on the challenge of giving De Niro the role of Vito Corleone, which belonged entirely to Marlon Brando. I thought it would be a controversial move as everyone would have expected Marlon to play the part as well. But he wouldn’t have been so young.”

It was a huge challenge, but De Niro exceeded Coppola’s “all expectations” and also won the Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone, back faroutmagazine.co.uk.

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Photo Source: YouTube Captures / “The Godfather Part II” Trailer